I'm in that 60-70 area - why it's so damn expensive and why I'd never dig it myself - 30+ feet, 5 to 6 feet deep. That's some Charles Bronson chit in the Great Escape.
You ain't kidding, no way I could dig out that deep even when I was in good shape. That's rent a backhoe time. Here in FL, they just kick enough dirt over the pipe to keep lawnmower blades off it. We have a tonne of PVC pipe run up the outside of walls exposed to the elements. Freaked me right out when I came here. The good ones put a loop of hose pipe at the low end to give it some expansion room. Works like a charm.
For mine they punched a hole in my basement floor and then one out where my cast iron met the new city plastic. No trench. Somehow they break up the cast or leave - and simply slide new plastic in place - one giant piece at 30 feet (fed through basement window) and then connect and fill in the hole out by the sidewalk and my basement/cement. Done. They did my water line at the same time as it was original to the house in 74.
That makes it easy.
Ren - you can use a string to cut pvc in hard to get to places - I put a couple of toggles made from a stout branch on each end like a garrote. Use some work gloves if you don't like the toggle idea. Cut the top half with skil saw and it makes getting the string going easier but it's not necessary, just easier.
A person who's happy will make others happy. Anne Frank
