inclined mud filled hole

W

wanderer

Guest
I am a farily new digger :roll: and am working on a small inclined mud filled tube about 12 - 18 inches in diameter, and about 70 degrees from horizontal and at present approx 8 feet long (estimated about another 10 vertical feet to go to get to something other than mud filled hole). Does anyone have any tips or hints on excavating sticky mud from inclined holes?

At this stage the hole is not accesible head first so slow going by digging between legs (short legged diggers like me have a slight advantage) but removing mud is a problem as a bucket don't fit in hole as well as the digger. Best solution so far is to push spade in as far as possible then pull it out with mud stuck to it. Wondered if any one has come up with a better method for excavating mud vertically below you? (trenching tool would not work as well as a straight spade as there is no room to get the blade into the mud).
 

SamT

Moderator
reckon the most important thing is to give yourself as much space (diameter wise) as possible - so keep digging away those walls.

Difficult to say but i reckon my setup would be.
spike / crowbar - heavy duty to 'mash' up the mud -
small short handled spade -
a kibble - one half of a square plastic drum with rope tied to one end for hauling mud out (can be modified many ways to suit particular jobs. Conveyor belt (of the thick black tough rubber style) for kibble to slide on.

If tube is getting too small to work in - make it bigger with hilti caps.
 
D

diggerdog adam

Guest
I have often thought about using a fence post borer bit like a corkscrew and cost about 20 quid and if your clever you can always ad a bit of plastic pipe around the screw this way you could use it as a spoil removing borer straight into the tub

Gods knows if it would work i dont see why not but for the sake of a few qid and a cave that goes i think i would try !

good luck and stick at it
 

pisshead

New member
is there any water nearby?

you could go in the dig, wiggle a bit, come out, clear off, go in, wiggle, come out, clean off...

...i understand that's roughly how it works in the SUSS Robins's dig...

:D
 

dunc

New member
Did a dig in a downwards trending passage(more sand though) and always noticed - like SamT said - space is a good thing to have!
That was with a spade with sufficient space to use it..
The only mud filled passage I've dug in we used a crowbar - jam it in the mud, twist it around and remove a cone of mud to be thrown back down the passage. But that was horizontal not vertical.
 
D

Dave H

Guest
I've tried a few post hole borers (only one underground)

Firstly: make sure it is quite a small diameter. Unless you're built like a brick out-house and have plenty of room, you won't be able to move a large diameter one very far in before it becomes too difficult.

Secondly: the handles tend to be quite long to enable the necessary amount of torque to be applied - so you may have to modify them. The ones I have used all had handles that just slotted through an eye in the shaft of the borer, and the handles could be replaces with a small bar (maybe even a crowbar)

Thirdly: depending on the type of fill you are excavating the mud should stick within the screw, allowing the whole assembly to be lifted out for emptying directly into the kibble. I've also tried using one horizontally into semi-solid sand/gravel/[nearly concrete] (it just worked as an auger, depositing the fill into a pile)- it seemed to be a little more usefull than a bar breaking up the fill and then digging the loosened fill with a spade.

Fourthly: There are two end types that I've seen. One where the screw starts immediately at the business end, and one where there is a short spike on the end. I've not used the second type underground, but the spike may be usefull for breaking things up a bit (it is designed to hold the borer straight when starting the hole).

Fifthly: Good luck!

Dave H
 

Mark

Well-known member
Ice cream scoop on a stick? No seriously what about a post hole spade, its a sort of double bladed spade with long handles, works a bit like a BBQ thing for picking sausages up, Ive seen BT guys using them digging holes for telegraph poles
 
D

Dave H

Guest
Ice cream scoop on a stick? No seriously what about a post hole spade, its a sort of double bladed spade with long handles, works a bit like a BBQ thing for picking sausages up, Ive seen BT guys using them digging holes for telegraph poles
You would probably have to modify them a bit - I've just looked at my brothers (he uses it for fencing - I've only ever seen BT using machine powered augers) The metal spade parts and the hingeing mechanism are about 45cm long and the 'standard' handles are very long (150cm) and require a relatively wide area in which to be opened fully (more than shoulder width).

Talking of powered augers, I've seen an old petrol driven one (engine about 30cm sided cube) driving a large (20cm diameter), wide threaded, 150cm long auger very successfully. Modern ones are available from places like http://www.forestry-suppliers.com/drilldown_pages/view_category.asp?ID=213 and probably similar places in the UK. I've yet to see a battery powered (or even electrical mains powered) version, so this line of thought is probably not much use underground.
 
Top