digging a small trench foundation by hand?
RobertL
Can anyone give me idea how long it would take a healthy man to dig a
trench foundation 5m long by 450mm wide, 1000m m deep?
I'm trrying to decide if it's worth hiring a digger for the job.
thanks,
Robert
RobertL
using a spade of course... not literally by hand.
R
The Natural Philosopher
> Can anyone give me idea how long it would take a healthy man to dig a
> trench foundation 5m long by 450mm wide, 1000m m deep?
>
a fit labourer..probably a day or so.
Me? about three one of each in any given week, and teh rest spent flat
on my back gasping.
> I'm trrying to decide if it's worth hiring a digger for the job.
>
Its worth it.
Just about possible with a mini digger though a 3.5 tonner would be ideal.
> thanks,
>
> Robert
>
>
John Rumm
So much depends on the state of the ground and local soil conditions. If
its a relatively easy dig then its doable in a day to a day and a half.
If on the other hand its hard going, then significantly longer. It also
depends on what you are going to do with the spoil. Assuming you just
log it beside the trench while you dig, you are going to have anything
up to three and a half cubic metres (allowing for some "bulking up") to
shift after.
A mini digger ought to do it in a day without any difficulty.
--
Cheers,
John.
/=================================================================\
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Ian Jackson
Rumm <see.my.s...@nowhere.null> writes
>On 23/05/2011 11:34, RobertL wrote:
>>
>> Can anyone give me idea how long it would take a healthy man to dig a
>> trench foundation 5m long by 450mm wide, 1000m m deep?
>>
>> I'm trrying to decide if it's worth hiring a digger for the job.
>
>So much depends on the state of the ground and local soil conditions.
>If its a relatively easy dig then its doable in a day to a day and a
>half. If on the other hand its hard going, then significantly longer.
>It also depends on what you are going to do with the spoil. Assuming
>you just log it beside the trench while you dig, you are going to have
>anything up to three and a half cubic metres (allowing for some
>"bulking up") to shift after.
>
>A mini digger ought to do it in a day without any difficulty.
>
'pneumatic' drill to do the really hard work.
--
Ian
TheScullster
"RobertL" <rober...@yahoo.com> wrote in message
news:3c3ab2ce-28b0-4ad9...@x3g2000yqj.googlegroups.com...
tricky job to dig a narrow trench quite that deep.
You'll certainly need a back that's in better shape than mine!
Phil
Nightjar
>
My Home Guard Manual tells me that two men can dig a 6 ft long fire
trench to the first stage (3 ft deep, 3'6" wide at the top and 2' wide
at the bottom) in four hours. For a fire trench, the waste soil is used
to make a parapet, so removing it would add to the time.
I suspect that 450mm wide might be a bit narrow to work in easily and 1m
is deep enough to run the risk of being trapped by a trench collapse, so
I would go for the digger anyway.
Colin Bignell
Paul - xxx
Having recently seen similar being dug up at my school (I'm school
caretaker/site supervisor) I'd suggest getting a man in or a digger!
We had a 15m long x 450 x 450 trench for some electrical 'stuff' dug
and where the ground is soil it's relatively easy, where it's not, it's
not! Took them about a day with a skid-steer mini-digger and two
blokes with shovels ... the shovels were more to lean on than anything
else .. ;)
--
Paul - xxx
Andy Dingley
> trench foundation 5m long by 450mm wide, 1000m m deep?
Round here I could easily do it in a day. Back in Bristol (heavy clay)
it would have taken me two, in Northern Ireland (unimproved heavy clay
with boulders in) it would have been three. In Ireland I couldn't dig
a trench this narrow - I'd hit so many boulders that I'd be forever
widening it to get them lifted out.
> I'm trrying to decide if it's worth hiring a digger for the job.
If you can afford it and you have easy access, why not enjoy yourself?
8-)
Steve Firth
I have, in the past, done the work in clay soil, in a rainstorm, using a
long-handled shovel. I had an incentive, a barn was flooding and needed an
emergency drain. The long handled shovel really helps. British spades are
useless in comparison. But it was a long hard day and I don't want to do it
again, ever.
Steve Firth
I have just finished digging a trench of the same section, for drainage,
using a 0.75 tonne micro digger. The digger cost less than £3k to buy. The
quote from a contractor for the work was £6k. Hiring a digger should
certainly be worth it, but buying one made sense for me, because I have
about 12 months more digging to do.
The length of the drain is 60 metres and the job took one (long) day. The
subsoil is boulder clay, so about as heavy going as one can get.
mike
I ran your question through Google Translate and this is what it came
up with:
God, I'm so excited. I have the perfect opportunity to hire a
minidigger but the wife is giving me shit about the cost. I just need
to give myself deniability and make it look like I've done the
research. Please tell me if I do the job by hand I'll likely slip a
disk 'cause there's a JCB with my name on it.
Nick Leverton
RobertL <rober...@yahoo.com> wrote:
>
>Can anyone give me idea how long it would take a healthy man to dig a
>trench foundation 5m long by 450mm wide, 1000m m deep?
This should be a good test for all the posters discussing maths exams :)
Nick
--
Serendipity: http://www.leverton.org/blosxom (last update 29th March 2010)
"The Internet, a sort of ersatz counterfeit of real life"
-- Janet Street-Porter, BBC2, 19th March 1996
ARWadsworth
It is tricky. My new water supply was at least 750mm deep but only 1 spade
wide.
The lad that dug it for me did a very good job:-)
--
Adam
Andy Dingley
> My Home Guard Manual tells me that two men can dig a 6 ft long fire
> trench to the first stage (3 ft deep, 3'6" wide at the top and 2' wide
> at the bottom) in four hours. For a fire trench, the waste soil is used
> to make a parapet, so removing it would add to the time.
I have several similar manuals of field engineering. The rates for
digging are so optimistic that I can only assume they're the rates for
troops sandwiched between the Beastly Hun ahead and a barking RSM
behind.
Nightjar
I suspect the figures mostly come from the Great War, so that is
probably not far off the mark.
Colin Bignell
RobertL
Thank you all for your help. My father-in-law (who is visiting us
from transilvania) wants to help us with our extension and he assures
us, from his experience digging graves, that he can do it in a couple
of days.
Robert
The Natural Philosopher
The sort of work almost no one understands, these days.
(having spent 4 hours yesterday trying and eventually succeeding, in
making 3 400mm deep holes in sun baked clay for some posts to go into,
teaspoon by teaspoon, literally. Took 5 hours).
The Natural Philosopher
An Irish Navvy could dig and wheel barrow 30 tonnes in a (proper guiness
fuelled) day.
Thes re figures from the days when unskilled labour didn't mean lying on
your back, having a pethidine injection and a Caesarian..
Tim Downie
Not got something like this?
http://www.screwfix.com/p/roughneck-fibreglass-post-hole-digger/35835
Brilliant tool.
Tim
The Natural Philosopher
Into sun baked clay? I think not.
I've got two more holes to go today. Not worth geting a better tool.
Steve Firth
[snip]
> Thank you all for your help. My father-in-law (who is visiting us
> from transilvania) wants to help us with our extension and he assures
> us, from his experience digging graves, that he can do it in a couple
> of days.
Is his name Igor?
Do you really need foundations below your bridge?
Tim Watts
>
> Thank you all for your help. My father-in-law (who is visiting us
> from transilvania) wants to help us with our extension and he assures
> us, from his experience digging graves, that he can do it in a couple
> of days.
Garlic's on special offer at Waitrose right now...
--
Tim Watts
GB
>>> making 3 400mm deep holes in sun baked clay for some posts to go
>>> into, teaspoon by teaspoon, literally. Took 5 hours).
>>
>> Not got something like this?
>> http://www.screwfix.com/p/roughneck-fibreglass-post-hole-digger/35835
>>
>> Brilliant tool.
>>
>> Tim
>
> Into sun baked clay? I think not.
>
> I've got two more holes to go today. Not worth geting a better tool.
pick-axe?
--
Murphy's ultimate law is that if something that could go wrong doesn't,
it turns out that it would have been better if it had gone wrong.
Ian Jackson
<NOTso...@microsoft.com> writes
>>>> (having spent 4 hours yesterday trying and eventually succeeding, in
>>>> making 3 400mm deep holes in sun baked clay for some posts to go
>>>> into, teaspoon by teaspoon, literally. Took 5 hours).
>>>
>>> Not got something like this?
>>> http://www.screwfix.com/p/roughneck-fibreglass-post-hole-digger/35835
>>>
>>> Brilliant tool.
>>>
>>> Tim
>>
>> Into sun baked clay? I think not.
>>
>> I've got two more holes to go today. Not worth geting a better tool.
>
>pick-axe?
>
I used one to dig a soakaway (appx 1m square 2m deep) into ground that
was probably 65% clay soil and 35% flints. I did it in stages, over the
weekend.
--
Ian
jgharston
> > I've got two more holes to go today. Not worth geting a better tool.
> pick-axe?
Mattock. Otherwise known as a digging axe or a chinese spade.
Works wonders for trenches.
JGH
John Rumm
> The Natural Philosopher<t...@invalid.invalid> wrote:
>> RobertL wrote:
>>> Can anyone give me idea how long it would take a healthy man to dig a
>>> trench foundation 5m long by 450mm wide, 1000m m deep?
>>>
>> a fit labourer..probably a day or so.
>>
>> Me? about three one of each in any given week, and teh rest spent flat on my back gasping.
>>
>>> I'm trrying to decide if it's worth hiring a digger for the job.
>>>
>> Its worth it.
>> Just about possible with a mini digger though a 3.5 tonner would be ideal.
>
> I have just finished digging a trench of the same section, for drainage,
> using a 0.75 tonne micro digger. The digger cost less than £3k to buy. The
> quote from a contractor for the work was £6k. Hiring a digger should
> certainly be worth it, but buying one made sense for me, because I have
> about 12 months more digging to do.
The little 850kg Yanmar "scoppy" machines can do a fair amount of work.
IIRC they were about £60 for the day plus delivery (at £15) round here.
Good if you have restricted access - they fold up small enough to drive
through a door.
> The length of the drain is 60 metres and the job took one (long) day. The
> subsoil is boulder clay, so about as heavy going as one can get.
Heavy clay here...
John Rumm
>>>> (having spent 4 hours yesterday trying and eventually succeeding, in
>>>> making 3 400mm deep holes in sun baked clay for some posts to go
>>>> into, teaspoon by teaspoon, literally. Took 5 hours).
>>>
>>> Not got something like this?
>>> http://www.screwfix.com/p/roughneck-fibreglass-post-hole-digger/35835
>>>
>>> Brilliant tool.
>>>
>>> Tim
>>
>> Into sun baked clay? I think not.
>>
>> I've got two more holes to go today. Not worth geting a better tool.
>
> pick-axe?
I find a grubbing mattock a much better digging tool than a pick-axe...
The Natural Philosopher
>>>> (having spent 4 hours yesterday trying and eventually succeeding, in
>>>> making 3 400mm deep holes in sun baked clay for some posts to go
>>>> into, teaspoon by teaspoon, literally. Took 5 hours).
>>> Not got something like this?
>>> http://www.screwfix.com/p/roughneck-fibreglass-post-hole-digger/35835
>>>
>>> Brilliant tool.
>>>
>>> Tim
>> Into sun baked clay? I think not.
>>
>> I've got two more holes to go today. Not worth geting a better tool.
>
> pick-axe?
>
>
>
>
The Natural Philosopher
Got one. We are not digging a trench though.
> JGH
Steve Firth
I recommend these - I've had bloody hundreds of posts to set and one of
these has been essential.
Nightjar
...
> Thank you all for your help. My father-in-law (who is visiting us
> from transilvania) wants to help us with our extension and he assures
> us, from his experience digging graves, that he can do it in a couple
> of days.
Birthplace: Frankenstein on my partner's passport often gets a comment
from UK Border Control.
Colin Bignell
Mark
>On 2011-05-23, John Rumm <see.my.s...@nowhere.null> wrote:
>> On 23/05/2011 17:00, GB wrote:
>>>>>> (having spent 4 hours yesterday trying and eventually succeeding, in
>>>>>> making 3 400mm deep holes in sun baked clay for some posts to go
>>>>>> into, teaspoon by teaspoon, literally. Took 5 hours).
>>>>>
>>>>> Not got something like this?
>>>>> http://www.screwfix.com/p/roughneck-fibreglass-post-hole-digger/35835
>>>>>
>>>>> Brilliant tool.
>>>>>
>>>>> Tim
>>>>
>>>> Into sun baked clay? I think not.
>>>>
>>>> I've got two more holes to go today. Not worth geting a better tool.
>>>
>>> pick-axe?
>>
>> I find a grubbing mattock a much better digging tool than a pick-axe...
>
>What he said.
And a trenching shovel to remove the soil.
--
(\__/) M.
(='.'=) Due to the amount of spam posted via googlegroups and
(")_(") their inaction to the problem. I am blocking some articles
posted from there. If you wish your postings to be seen by
everyone you will need use a different method of posting.
Tim Downie
"The Natural Philosopher" <t...@invalid.invalid> wrote in message news:irdubj$3os$3...@news.albasani.net...
The weight of the blades coupled with a hefty downwards plunge make it a formidable digging tool. I've used mine to take out a lot of trees as it'll even cut through smaller tree roots.
Seriously, don't diss it until you've tried one.
Tim
dennis@home
"Tim Downie" <timdow...@yahoo.co.uk> wrote in message
news:irg00i$12m$1...@dont-email.me...
>
> "The Natural Philosopher" <t...@invalid.invalid> wrote in message
> news:irdubj$3os$3...@news.albasani.net...
8<
>> Into sun baked clay? I think not.
Easy.
>>
>> I've got two more holes to go today. Not worth geting a better tool.
>>
>
> The weight of the blades coupled with a hefty downwards plunge make it a
> formidable digging tool. I've used mine to take out a lot of trees as
> it'll even cut through smaller tree roots.
I have a cheaper wooden handled version suitable for posts about 6" square.
It will break house bricks and stuff like that if you let it.
It does blunt the edge though so I use a 1m SDS drill to break them if I
notice them.
>
> Seriously, don't diss it until you've tried one.
I have seen telephone poles put in using similar tools.
Martin Bonner
> The Natural Philosopher wrote:
>
> > making 3 400mm deep holes in sun baked clay for some posts to go into,
> > teaspoon by teaspoon, literally. Took 5 hours).
>
> Not got something like this?http://www.screwfix.com/p/roughneck-fibreglass-post-hole-digger/35835
>
> Brilliant tool.
I have a much better post-hole borer than that, but I've never seen
another one like it. It's basically an open-ended cylinder of metal
about six inches diameter, and four inches high. There are then teeth
projecting down and in from the bottom of the cylinder, and flaps at
the bottom of the cylinder are bent slightly out (so that the hole is
wider than the cylinder.
The whole lot is fastened to a stem with a large cross bar, and you
can dig post-holes /amazingly/ fast with it. (Doesn't cope so well
with very sandy soil).
I'd use a pick-axe to get through the first few inches of sun-baked
clay though.
RobertL
He's nearly finished apparently, in less than a day. He's 70 years
old! They are a tough lot out there.
I'm not a troll, I really am married to a woman from transilvania and
her parents are here visiting us. FIL doesn't like sitting about - he
likes to get out in the air and build something.
Robert
GB
>
> He's nearly finished apparently, in less than a day.
You mean night?
RobertL
:-)
R