Frost Free Hydrant Installation

My frost free hydrant broke and I had to change it out (we couldn't get the top off to fix it). Now that I have done that I really don't want to ever do it again. The bury depth is 6 feet so we had to dig a big 6 foot hole that I could fit into.

I've seen this website: http://www.yardhydrantmadeeasy.com/ which looks to make changing them out very easy but I'm wondering if the same thing could be accomplished with some pipe insulation and pvc pipe. I'm thinking about wrapping the pole with pipe insulation and then putting 6" pvc around it to the depth of the connection. I'd then drill a hole in a pvc cap and put the hydrant pole through that. Do you think this would work? Would this allow air around the pipe that might lead to freezing in winter?

Any better suggestions?

Thanks

Carolyn

Hum.... I would worry about the facet myself. They make frost proof facets for using on a building, my question would be if one of these could be used in your set up.

I did a search and didn't find any home-made versions like you describe.
So I had another idea -
How about never filling the hole around your hydrant. Use bricks to keep the soil from falling in, and fill around the drain with a small amount of rock. Next, fill the rest of the space with easy to remove insulation. Cap the top of your hole around your hydrant with a cut section of plywood to look nice. Then if you ever need access again it's a simple job to get to your plumbing.

When I replaced my two yard hydrants with the frost proof type I back filled the large holes with easy to remove washed rock. We don't get the freezes here in Western Oregon like most places do, but I still don't want to dig up that heavy clay ever again so I feel your pain.