anyone who has wired an outbuilding or workshop?

A Minimum of 72 hours before you want to start this project, call 800-432-4770. This is the toll free # that gets all of your underground utilities marked for FREE. (As opposed to paying to have them repaired latter if you didn't.) In addition, call your local building department and find out what you can/cannot do yourself. Must less aggravation to do it right from the start as opposed to correcting something latter. Cheaper to go that route also. Personally I would install pipe and wire. Direct burial cable has a nasty habit of getting damaged and just plain wearing out, much sooner than wire in pipe. Also, if you run pipe larger than you current needs require, it would make increasing the power latter much less expensive.

But I get the impression you may already know that much.

Good luck with it.

You may think the lines are ran around your house they take the shortest route , call your utility company they will come out and tell you were the lines are! You maybe able to use a ditch watch on most of the job but when you get close to the lines hand work comes into play. Dig enough dirt out so you so you can work with ease, besides if you are going to use RMC you won't have to dig but a foot down. Check your local codes you will have to have the work inspected !

That is going to be a job where you dig VERY GENTLY by hand (shovel) when you get to where the utilities are. Remember the call before you dig law just in case something is where it isn't supposed to be, to cover your own butt. : )

Hope that helps ya.