On Sun, 06 Nov 2016 15:33:48 -0700, Charles Bishop
wrote:

If it's really as deep as 4-ft, there's some pain indeed, most
residential lines anywhere I've ever seen aren't close to that deep,
however.


Rental places have machines for excavation. You can rent them by the
hour or a full day. That beats hand digging and will still save a lot
compared to having a plumber do it.

It's a 3" pipe, probably 4' down on average, and you need to get the
pipe out, even if in pieces, and new pipe down (ABS).

How wide would you make the trench, and is there a machine you know of
that would do this work that can be rented?

Oh, there may be sprinkler pipe in the path of the trench.

--
harles

The old pipe will come out as you dig, and probably in pieces. That dont
matter, it's junk anyhow.

You need a trench wide enough that you can stand in it to level the base
with hand tools and to stand in it while you glue the new pipes
together. 18" to 24" wide should work. A Backhoe Loader is your best
bet. (See here)
http://www.heavyequipment.com/heavy-...tion-trenching

Call DIGGERS HOTLINE before you dig, to identify any underground pipes,
wires, etc. Look them up in your local phone book.