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WildGoth
03-17-2008, 12:39 PM
me and my friend have been building a trench in the woods and the dirt does not shovel to easy and there is rocks and roots we are using a pick-axe suldge hammer and to shovels any suggestions for a easiser way to dig:mad:

MCBushbaby
03-17-2008, 12:47 PM
Rent a small back-end loader if you can get it in the woods. Small Caterpillars (the white ones) can be pretty cheap for just a day job.

trax
03-17-2008, 12:49 PM
What's the trench for WG? Maybe you can change locations, otherwise, bobcat or small loader aside...you're pretty much stuck. Think of it as good exercise and character building, LOL, (although I could never understand how blisters on my hands were character building, it's what my elders used to tell me)

canid
03-17-2008, 01:03 PM
my only advice is to gain yourself a new or at least broadened respect for every man, woman or child who has ever dug one with a meager entrenching tool.

Tony uk
03-17-2008, 01:03 PM
Sharpen the shovel on the heard to help cut through roots

dilligaf2u2
03-17-2008, 01:24 PM
"me and my friend have been building a trench in the woods"

Now I have dug my fair share off trenches. I have yet to be able to build one! Are there special tools needed to work on it? Maby you need a trench strecher.

Ok OK I'm done! I'll go to my room and drink coffee and eat bacon.

Don

Rick
03-17-2008, 01:30 PM
What kind of shovel are you using, WG? There are specific shovels for specific jobs. The two types you WANT to be using is either a spade or garden shovel with a lift (a curved section between the blade and the handle). A lift will allow you to leverage dirt and rocks. The garden shovel will be better for lifting the dirt out. The spade will be better if you are in clays.

Beo
03-17-2008, 01:44 PM
Dynamite works well on tree roots:D and a snow shovel hold a lot of dirt:D other than that cutting the roots and just keep digging using a shovel like Rick suggested are your only options if you don't get a back-end loader like
a small bobcat.

trax
03-17-2008, 03:02 PM
Someone actually---finally---posted a useful suggestion for explosives. Find someone with a blasting license WG otherwise it's illegal as hell, but, there's this stuff called B-Line, it's a bright orange cord that comes on big rolls. Lay it serpentine across the area you want the ditch to be, making it turn back in about 2 foot half-loops across the width of the size of ditch you want and down the full length, bury it with a small covering of dirt, with one end out, get a blasting cap, get far away and under as much cover as possible, about 100 yards and hiding behind a really big tree should do it) and make boom. Instant ditch.

Make sure there's no loose rocks or blocks of wood on top of where you're blasting, wear ear and eye protection. Covering it with dirt will force the impact of the blast down and blow the crap out from underneath. You'll still have some shoveling to do but it will go a lot smoother. It's safer than dynamite. I'm usually spending so much time here discouraging blasting for fish that it completely slipped my mind.

canid
03-17-2008, 03:07 PM
det cords are nifty stuff.

Beo
03-17-2008, 03:07 PM
Ehh heemmmmmmmmmmm, thank you, thank you very much.

Ole WV Coot
03-18-2008, 12:04 AM
Huh, learn something everyday. Here I thought that funny cord was for cutting down trees and getting firewood in general. Kinda like a WV chainsaw.

Rick
03-18-2008, 07:08 AM
Wow! You guys are way too serious about stuff for me. I much prefer the Tom Sawyer method.

canid
03-18-2008, 09:00 PM
oh, sorry, also: don't play with det cord. you need to be federally licensed to have such fun...