Holey crap this sucks

"OPPOsaurus WRX" (opposaurus)
03/10/2019 at 12:06 • Filed to: None

The top is clay with gravel and the rest is clay. Is hard enough so the big bar can’t poke into it.

I have a long way to go. This is what I’m trying to prevent:

DISCUSSION (19)

farscythe - makin da cawfee! > OPPOsaurus WRX
03/10/2019 at 12:22

have you tried placing c4?

explosives are always the answer

MoCamino > OPPOsaurus WRX
03/10/2019 at 12:29

Have a Home Depot nearby? Rent one of these. $53 for four hours.

https://www.homedepot.com/tool-truck-rental/mobile/1-Man-Auger/M240H/index.html

TheRealBicycleBuck > OPPOsaurus WRX
03/10/2019 at 12:31

A sharpshooter is what my grandpa, the plumber, used for clay. Oklahoma clay is red, but it looks like the same consistency as what you’re dealing with. If you go get one, don’t be cheap. It will bend under load. I have a MUTT digging tool. You can find them at Home Depot. It’s basically a heavy sharp chisel on the end of a big stick. It works well for breaking up clay but can’t scoop anything. Digging becomes a two-part process - break it up with the MUTT, dig it out with a shovel.

The Ghost of Oppo > OPPOsaurus WRX
03/10/2019 at 13:09

Is that a square shovel or a spade?

XJDano > OPPOsaurus WRX
03/10/2019 at 13:52

Last summer I was doing a similar thing, but it was to bury our dog. I decided to borrow a similar thing from my work next time a dog dies.

Kinja'd!!!

OPPOsaurus WRX > farscythe - makin da cawfee!
03/10/2019 at 13:58

Tat crossed my mind. Unfortunately I am sh ort in supply

OPPOsaurus WRX > The Ghost of Oppo
03/10/2019 at 14:02

Square shovel. My round shovel and hand shovel are both missing, possible under the snow in the ve gitable gar den

OPPOsaurus WRX > XJDano
03/10/2019 at 14:03

Tats certainly not a fun hole to dig either

OPPOsaurus WRX > TheRealBicycleBuck
03/10/2019 at 14:11

I was getting good progress with the post hole digger.

I really have to slam it down wiggle it back and forth and pull out.

TheRealBicycleBuck > OPPOsaurus WRX
03/10/2019 at 14:47

I started with a post hole digger when I built our fence. Then I realized there was no way I would ever finish, so I rented an auger. They make small two-man augers that you could get into your basement, but it’s probably not worth the rental.

Tekamul > OPPOsaurus WRX
03/10/2019 at 14:51

Kinja'd!!!

Distraxi's idea of perfection is a Jagroen > OPPOsaurus WRX
03/10/2019 at 14:51

Get a digging bar. Six foot long by inch and a half diameter straight wrecking bar with a point o n one end and a chisel blade in the other - weigh s about 50lbs. They’re really effective for breaking up clay - you just lift it a couple of feet and drop it, and let its weight do the work. It’s a core workout, but at least you do it standing up so it’s not hard on the back.

OPPOsaurus WRX > TheRealBicycleBuck
03/10/2019 at 15:52

It wasn't ready but I'm about done. I need to get a few inches it but it's raining and the hole it's filling up

OPPOsaurus WRX > Distraxi's idea of perfection is a Jagroen
03/10/2019 at 15:54

I have one, no chisel just the pointed end. Even that is n’t easy getting in

gogmorgo - rowing gears in a Grand Cherokee > OPPOsaurus WRX
03/10/2019 at 16:36

I’ve had not bad experiences digging holes with a combination of the big lining bar (the big pry-bar thing) and the post-hole digger for lifting loose stuff out of the hole.

The bottom of a mountain valley is a couple inches of organic soil, then river rocks in a matrix of clay and silt, and it’s not uncommon to hit frost a few feet down expect in late summer and early fall . Digging holes by hand is brutal to impossible. Digging them with small equipment is better until you hit a 200-lb b oulder . Get in with an excavator and you’ll inevitably encounter a rock the size of the excavator every 50 or so holes, if you don't just straight up run into bedrock . It’s good fun. Or that other word, that means the same as fun, except exactly the opposite.

Distraxi's idea of perfection is a Jagroen > OPPOsaurus WRX
03/10/2019 at 16:45

Ok, I t hought when you were referring to a “big bar” you meant the one visible in the photo, which doesn’t look like a full size digging bar.

In that case it’s time to go to the rental shop and break out the jackhammer :-)

TheRealBicycleBuck > OPPOsaurus WRX
03/10/2019 at 19:29

Time to bail!

OPPOsaurus WRX > Distraxi's idea of perfection is a Jagroen
03/10/2019 at 19:55

The bar is up side down in the photo. The top is thick and heavy

The Ghost of Oppo > OPPOsaurus WRX
03/11/2019 at 09:26

oof, that’s not fun