Help, finding underground plastic propane lines

Factual Questions
1

So. I have two plastic propane lines going to the house.

I buried the metallic strip with them. A locator stripe of ‘Mylar metal??’

I tied them off to the propane tank and regulators into the house. But now, I can only find one end. When the propane people put in the tank and hooked things up, they BURRIED the ends of the metallic tape (assholes). Can’t find um. Been digging for two hours.

I have to have a private locate service (100 miles away) done for those propane lines (no, my propane company won’t do it). 811 won’t do private lines.

My question. Will it be possible to locate those lines in the ground if both ends of the metal ‘finder tape’ aren’t exposed? Do they need to find both ends to run current through it to find it? It’s about 2 feet deep, under packed roadbase.

Opinions welcome, tired of digging.

2

Is the whole run under the roadbase gravel? Dig a trench 2’ deep 1 shovel wide by the propane tank between it and the house. You should come across them.

3

Could you unhook it at the end closest to where you are looking and feed a steel cable through it that might be detectable?

4

Thanks. But I’m really wondering that since it has a metal ‘finder’ tape laid along with it, if both ends of the finder tape needs to be exposed. That it may need current run through the tape to find it.

I have a back hoe coming in. It’s not something that will be gentle.

If the line is broken, the whole line must be replaced. It’s against code to splice it UG.

5

What about a prospectors metal detector? They can be hired very cheaply, and if you know what you are after, they can be tuned and calibrated to be very sensitive

6

The tracer wire doesn’t need to be exposed on both ends, as long as you can find it at one end or the other it’ll be traceable. The signal sent through the wire will allow you to trace it for the length of the wire, and even if it is broken somewhere along the path of your propane lines, the signal can “jump” if the distance isn’t too great.

7

Thanks everyone. I feel better now. I can definitely find one end of it.

8

If you have no available conductor at all, you could fill it with saltwater and turn it into a conductor that way.

I mean, I’m glad you’re all set for now, but perhaps somebody else can use the idea. For the ages.

9

You mentioned having a location service come in (from 100 miles away). You can rent pipe locators from equipment rental stores. They are easy to use. You can even buy a unit for less than $50 on eBay. (The one I use was purchased used for about $30.)

Jut check the instructions for the unit(s) to verify proper operation. (Some do not do well with a single end.)