Learning Center

Dig a trench to a design

Survey the trench line (or load a saved survey), design it in Slope-IQ, save it and dig to it with live bucket depth. The design dialog is the same as for Ditching, minus the pass estimate; the dig screen adds a green achieved line as you reach grade.

  • DIG™ Kit
  • Ditch Assist Lite

In the app Home › Excavation › New Survey / Load Survey / Design

For a trench that has to follow the ground and drain (a culvert, a drain line, a ditch dug with the excavator), survey the line, design the bottom in Slope-IQ™, and dig to the design with the bucket depth live on screen.

The design dialog is the one from Ditching (Slope-IQ design). The differences in Excavation: there's no Est. Passes badge and no Auto-Nudge™ (you dig it in one go), and the dig screen draws what you've dug to grade.

Before you start

  • Connected to the DIG™ module (Connect), RTK Fixed
  • To survey with the machine, the bucket held clear of the ground at a steady height, or walk the line with a Bluetooth GPS rover (Bluetooth GPS)
  • Know which end is the outlet

Time: about 10 minutes on the tablet, plus the time to survey the line and dig.

Survey the line, or load one

Open Excavation and connect first (Open Excavation). Then either survey the line now, or load one you saved.

To survey now: tap New Survey

Under How would you like to grade?, New Survey is the first wide button (Survey a centerline, then design with Slope-IQ). Tap it. The Survey screen opens: tap START SURVEY, follow the trench line, tap STOP, then name and save it. Every survey works the same way, step by step: Survey a route. Slope-IQ Design opens after you save.

How would you like to grade? window with six wide buttons; the first reads New Survey, Survey a centerline, then design with Slope-IQ
  1. New Survey. First button.

To use a saved survey: tap Load Survey / Design

Load Survey / Design is the second wide button (Open a saved survey or design). Tap it. The Load window opens.

The same window; the second button reads Load Survey / Design, Open a saved survey or design
  1. Load Survey / Design. Second button.

Tap Load beside your survey

The window opens on its Surveys tab, with your surveys listed by date. Tap the green Load button on the right of the one you want. Slope-IQ Design opens on it.

Already have a design? Tap the Designs tab at the top, then Implement beside the design to dig it straight away (any workflow's line designs are listed). Import survey file (XYZ / XYZP), top right, brings in a survey from a file.

Load window on the Surveys tab: saved surveys with points, length and time, each with a green Load button, a share icon and a bin; the Designs tab at the top right; a map preview on the right
  1. Load. Opens Slope-IQ on that survey.
  2. Designs. The tab for saved designs.

Design and dig

Check the trench bottom design

Slope-IQ Design opens on the survey. BestFit (top left, picked to start) draws a bottom that drains at least MIN GRADE % with the least digging; Guided and Freeform beside it let you place it yourself. The row of boxes under the chart sets the depth, grade and trench shape: tap − or +, or tap a number to type it.

Slope-IQ Design in Excavation: OUTLET DEPTH: OFF and Outlet: Auto at the top right, BestFit, Guided, Freeform at the top left, the profile chart, boxes DEPTH OFFSET 0.0, MIN GRADE % 0.05, BOTTOM WIDTH 8 ft, SIDE SLOPE 6.0:1, MIN DEPTH 0, MAX DEPTH 11 in, a DESIGN strip, and Cancel and Implement Slope
  1. BestFit / Guided / Freeform. How the line is drawn.
  2. MIN GRADE %. The bottom never drains flatter than this.

What each box does, and how to get the outlet right: The design cards, Pin the outlet at a set depth (the OUTLET DEPTH and Outlet: Auto buttons at the top right). DEPTH OFFSET goes to ±360″ for deep overburden.

Tap Implement Slope

Implement Slope is the dark-green button in the bottom right corner. Tap it.

Slope-IQ Design with the dark-green Implement Slope button in the bottom right corner
  1. Implement Slope. Bottom right.

Name the design and tap Save & Implement

The Save Design window asks for a name. Type one ("Culvert trench"), then tap Save & Implement, the green button at the bottom right.

Save Design: Name this design before implementing, Culvert trench, Cancel and Save & Implement 1 2
  1. Design name.
  2. Save & Implement.

Tap Skip (or Calibrate)

Calibrate GPS? follows (no Auto-Nudge window in Excavation). Same day, same base: tap Skip, bottom right beside Calibrate. Otherwise put the cutting edge on the benchmark or on untouched surveyed ground and tap the orange Calibrate.

Calibrate GPS? Drive to a point you previously surveyed where the ground has not been altered, lower your implement to that ground, then calibrate. Skip and Calibrate 2
  1. Skip.
  2. Calibrate.

Put the bucket at the start and tap Start

The survey line is on the map and the design on the profile chart. Put the bucket at the start of the trench, then tap Start, the big green button at the top of the right-hand column.

Dig screen with the design loaded and stopped: the survey line on the map, the profile chart with Edit Design, and the green Start button at the top of the right-hand column
  1. Start. Top of the right-hand column.

Dig to the chevrons

Down chevrons and CUT: dig deeper. Up and FILL: you're below the design. The numbers across the top left of the screen add Dist, how far along the trench you are.

Digging to the design: two big down chevrons, a 5.7 inch CUT label, the profile with the design line, the gauge readout +5.7 CUT
  1. 5.7″ CUT. Still to dig here; down chevrons each side of your dot.
  2. Readout. The same number, with current and target elevations.

Watch the achieved grade fill in

Where the bucket gets down to the design, the profile chart draws a green line on the design and shades the dug area green. Bits that stay red you haven't reached yet: go back to them. Don't chase every bounce; the line follows the steady depth.

Dig screen with the profile chart: the red design line, a short green achieved line with green shading where the trench has reached grade, and the orange Edit Design button under the chart
  1. Dug to grade. Green line and green shading.
  2. Edit Design. Change the design; you can keep your progress.
  3. Still to dig. Red design line.

Each spot remembers the last reading, so a pass back over it shallower updates it. Swinging the bucket out low over a finished bit can also overwrite it. Changing a design mid-job: Edit a design and keep your progress.

Tap Stop when you're done or walking away; the job saves and comes back from Resume Job with the achieved overlay.

Surveying an excavation route with the excavator or a Bluetooth rover and building the Slope-IQ trench design.

If something goes wrong

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