A trenching assembly featuring a novel auger arrangement. The arrangement comprises an auger assembly and a digging chain rotatably connected to a trenching boom. The digging chain rotates, driven by a motor, to dislodge soil and creating a trench. The dislodged soil, or spoil, builds up near a projected path of the digging chain. The auger assembly operates to move the spoil from a projected path of the trench. The auger rotates independently from the digging chain and is positioned such that a projected width of the digging chain intersects a threaded length of the auger assembly. The auger may rotate faster than if driven by the digging chain, allowing the auger to have a smaller diameter than conventional augers. Further, the auger can be used in conjunction with a backfill blade to refill cleaned trenches without operation of the digging chain.