"Snuffy "Hub Cap" McKinney" wrote in message ...
I've got to put down about 50 feet of 4-inch french drain along the sides of the house. The plan is to dig down 5-inches, lay a perforated drain pipe, cover it with screen material and gravel.

Normally I would get out the old pick and shovel, but the wife is out of town right now. All the ditch diggers I see online are for heavy duty ditches. Any suggestions what would work good on a small job like this?

Thanks for the good ideas. To answer some of the comments....

This is a very small job. The water all drains away from the house already, then across the yard into a garden and then out to the street gutter. I would rather the water go straight to the street and not take garden soil with it.

There the house is raised foundation. No basement. The way the lot is graded, a drain 4-6 inched deep is below the foundation.

Soil is hard packed clay.