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Clay soils ... get a pair of thick leather gloves and a demo hammer with a clay spade. It will make the job go a lot easier.
Harbor freight used to have one for about $170 (#93853, though it's not showing up currently), but otherwise one can rent one for about $50-60/day. Add in a SDS Max shanked clay spade for about $60 (Home Depot), and rocks won't be any issue.
That doesn't look at scary as the hydrolic post hole diggers. Thanks for the tip.
This project will certainly be an adventure for me!
I should take pictures and keep everyone updated throughout the next months. It might inspire other little weak people to give it a go.
Of course, I'm being optimistic that I will be successful. I'll just have to take it one day at a time.
I'll go shopping today for the post hole digger or auger today. Tomorrow, I'll try to dig a hole. I'll rent the demo hammer if it becomes necessary.
I like the clam shell diggers much better than augers, even power augers. However we have tons of tree roots in our ground and an augur will get tangled and stuck in them every time, then you cannot pull it out. Sometimes you can turn it backwards to get it out, then you end up digging with the clam shell digger.
We have unbelievably heavy clay. Basically river bottom. In some areas of our yard if we have a bonfire, we end up with pottery underneath. When it is dry, it is basically concrete and impossible to dig in without a big tractor thingy with a lot of power. I rented the biggest machine that home depot had to try to make a trench and it pretty much just bounced off the ground. I had to use a pick axe to dig the trench.
However then it is damp, it is very easy to dig. Saturation levels make all the difference in the world. Right now it is too wet in our area. When it drys out a bit, I will rush out and dig the holes that I need. This is my one chance. Once it dries up, my only option is to hire someone, or soak it with a hose. Being heavy clay, it takes a long time for water to penetrate. It tends to just run off ar first.
Luckily, I only need six holes right now (support for an elevated fort in the woods).
One thing you may want to do, start all of your holes when the conditions are ideal. That way, if it dries out, you cna just fill the started hole with water instead of trying to saturate the whole area.
Good advice from Coldjensens. I spent my teenage years on a farm in southeast Missouri, where if it wasn't clay it was rock. We had a water tank on a trailer, and when we had to dig postholes during the dry months we'd start a hole down to about 8 inches, then dump some water in to soften it up. It's messy, but it's a whole lot easier.
Good advice from Coldjensens. I spent my teenage years on a farm in southeast Missouri, where if it wasn't clay it was rock. We had a water tank on a trailer, and when we had to dig postholes during the dry months we'd start a hole down to about 8 inches, then dump some water in to soften it up. It's messy, but it's a whole lot easier.
Beat me to it.
There has to be some guy there that does odd jobs, every town has at least one. My uncle was "that guy" in Corsica (honors to anyone in PA who knows where that is).
If you're digging by hand and there is any rocks involved at all you'll need a few bars, if I'm going to dig holes like this I'm going to have 4 or 5 of them of varying lengths and sizes from a small pry bar up to 6 foot bar that looks like giant chisel.
Yeah - if I can do it Hopes, I have no doubt you can pull it off too! I'd advise against the auger though. They can bind up in heavy clay. The bit stops moving & the machine whips around! Clam-shell post hole digger is what I always used!
Good for you, Hopes. I'm small and middle-aged too, and last fall dug <I don't even want to think about how many> post holes, plus about a 100-foot long trench for a fence for most of a double lot. I did have $8/hr help though. I am active and fit but it's a lot of hard work no matter what!
You can do this! I used a shovel and clam-shell type post hole digger. Heavy gloves are mandatory. I encountered some roots and used the shovel to whack through them.
A thought, didn't see this addressed - what type of fence?
I put a combination of 5-foot chain link and 6-foot wood privacy fence on three sides of a double lot. (I have large athletic dogs.) The back portion is a row of trees and bushes; between the foliage and the roots digging holes would have been hugely challenging. There was an existing 3-foot chain link fence along most of it; I bought t-posts and 5-foot tall will mesh fencing for that stretch. Not quite as pretty, but certainly functional and t-posts are easy to put in the ground. Just whack them in with a sledgehammer. Would that be an easier (and much cheaper) option for your dog?
You can do this! I used a shovel and clam-shell type post hole digger. Heavy gloves are mandatory. I encountered some roots and used the shovel to whack through them.
Almost forgot, in addition to the bars I suggested above a small axe can quickly cut through most roots if they have any size. A shovel works for smaller ones but larger ones are a no go. Another tool to consider is a pick.
Hard to justify buying a lot of tools for one job, see if you can borrow them from someone.
I own a power auger. We had heavy clay soil and a fair amount of rocks. I have used it to plant shrubs, etc. using one takes a fair amount of upper body strength, and hitting a rock or a tree root can knock you on your butt.
Using any kind of post hole digger will involve a lot of manual labor, for each hole.
I would hire a fence company to just put in the fence holes, or maybe the fence posts too. I think that once you add in your costs for materials and what your time is worth, you will probably be ahead by hiring it out. It would also involve fewer trips to the chiropractor or Dr.
When we had a fence put in a few years ago, I told the guys that I had an auger if they wanted to use it. They just used the old style post hole digger. Of course, there were two of them, and they looked like linebackers. It took them the better part of the day to dig holes for the posts on about 300' of fence. And they were pros.
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I'd advise against the auger though. They can bind up in heavy clay. The bit stops moving & the machine whips around!
Clam-shell post hole digger is what I always used!
I'm small and middle-aged too, and last fall dug <I don't even want to think about how many> post holes, plus about a 100-foot long trench for a fence for most of a double lot. I did have $8/hr help though. I am active and fit but it's a lot of hard work no matter what!
