wrote:
My next door neighbor and I want to put in some 3 or 4 inch PVC pipe
into the ground to carry away rainwater from the gutters away from the
back of the property to the front lawn where it can find it's way to
the driveway & street sewers.

It's about 100 foot length and for most of it the pipe woud be just
under the surface.
for the last 30 feet or so the ground rises so that would require
deeper digging.
I don't think the depth would get over a foot at the steepest part of
the lawn.
We'd then angle the pipe downhill until it emerged from the ground
again (my street is sloped)

Would the trencher Home Depot rents be sufficient for this - anybody
have experience with it or are there other types of trenchers to rent
from other stores that would be better suited.
I could always go the shovel & pick route or try to hire someone, but
am interested in anybody's personal experience and/or knowledge. thanks

I did 20' at three different downspouts, 60' total in an afternoon with
a shovel.

Use a flat landscaping shovel to cut away the grass in a straight line
and set to the side. Throw the dirt neatly to the other side. Lay in
your pipe. Set the sod on top. Rake the dirt over top piled high so
when it rains and everything settles it will fill in the gaps. Two
months later the only way you can tell I did anything is by the three
green discs in the yard.

A trencher is going to shred the grass and leave you nothing to cover
up the trench after you lay the pipe. You will need a good size
trencher to make a ditch wide enough for 4" pipe. Even though I hate
to dig this is one job probably best done by hand.