How To Dig A Hole! Unlicensed Replies ONLY!

lukachuki

Ok here's the deal! I need to dig a hole 14' deep! Should be simple huh? The problem is I can't do it the easy way, I can't use my track hoe.


A bit of background:

This hole is going to be a leech field installed in an existing pool deck! The purpose is to relieve and remove any excess water that might exist deep down and be causing heaving of my customers liner. A sump will be used to move the accumulated water. Sooo my plan is to put in a perforated 2' pvc liner and a 14" pvc liner inside of that. Stone will be placed in the void between the liners. Comprehende? My problem is how am I going to do this? My post hole digger is only 5' long! Any creative ideas for getting this accomplished?

BTW: I know this isn't really a masonry question but I know you guys over here, as this is the part of the forum i hang out in. The rest of the peeps out there scare me! Plus over here i know who is licensed and who is not. Let me throw this out there, so I don't get moved to another part of the forum, lets just say that i'm CONSIDERING lining my hole with brick, possibly applied veneer, and/or if the pictures are attractive enough (staaaaaacker) broken concrete.

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Less with the jaw more with the paw!

mdshunk

Any room to back up a digger-derrick?

lukachuki

nope its tight and will have to be done by hand or sikorsky helicopter. Thats the main problem. So i need some outside of the box thinking.

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Less with the jaw more with the paw!

mdshunk

Well, 2 feet isn't too small to work inside of. Dig it out and slide the casing down with you and muck it out as you go, sliding the casing down a bit at a time. Like a caisson. Just cut your 2 foot material into shorter length. That's how they dig for telephone poles in soft soil.

Second option.... use some PVC pipe or EMT conduit on a big shop vac and use it like a vacuum excavator.

mickeyco

I almost bought one of those at an auction (not really but I thought about it, I'm now required to promise and not bring home any "ridiculous" vehicles from auctions), a 4 wheel drive IH with low-low miles for a couple of grand.






.

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mdshunk

There is a tool to do this, but I have no idea what it's called. Elevator installers use it inside the shaftway to bore for the piston. It's a unit they sit on the ground and feed in auger screw pieces to get to the required depth. Have any elevator installer buddies?

mdshunk

I just looked it up... it's called an "indoor jackhole drill". About 50 grand.

nEighter

3' hole.. bury some C4. Cover.. ignite.

mikec

Why not prefab the hole? Dig it off site then bring it in and install it.

Mike(VA)

Now why didn't I think of that?

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lukachuki

You guys have excellent recommendations, but I have some vague feelings of uneasiness as I work the plan out on paper.

By the way are either of you looking for work?

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Less with the jaw more with the paw!

TimelessQuality

I saw a pair of some 'Deep Hole Diggers' somewhere.....












Oh yeah, they were hangin' out at the HD parking lot

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lukachuki

Ouch! Probablly would need to use it at least twice to get my money back out of it!

Nope!

Smart....and good luck with this!

Thanks for this. I think I would like to explore this idea further as SO far it seems to be the best! This was the method I was thinking about, but can't imagine that 2' would give you enough room to actually do anything except stand there like a cannonball prepared for ignition. The shop vac idea is not bad but i don't think it will cut the mustard when we start getting deeper (beyond post hole depth).

What about taking a power washer and using the pressure to help drop the caisson and loosen the dirt creating a sludge which could be bucketed out or possibly shop vacuumed? Hmm. Any other takes?

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"The problem with internet quotes is, you never know if they are authentic." -Abraham Lincoln-

Less with the jaw more with the paw!

JDavis21835

You cant use an excavator to get to the area, im assuming its to wide. Do you have room to get an 8ftX16ft trailer to the area?

lukachuki

I could probably get my 10,000 lb trackhoe to it np but no room for the overdig that I would make with that thing. It needs to be nice and neat as the pool is already in place and I don't want to be ripping out pool plumbing etc with my bucket. I may be able to get a trailer next to it with a little finangling.

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"The problem with internet quotes is, you never know if they are authentic." -Abraham Lincoln-

Less with the jaw more with the paw!

JDavis21835

Well, if you can get a trailer in there, try and locate a Vermeer dealer. In the excavation field we use a technique to locate underground utilities called soft excavation. Basically your idea of a pressure washer and vacuum, just on a larger scale. http://www.vermeer.com/vcom/Trenchle...p?PrdlnID=3614

lukachuki

Wow interesting....Looks like a business opportunity for around here.

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"The problem with internet quotes is, you never know if they are authentic." -Abraham Lincoln-

Less with the jaw more with the paw!

JDavis21835

I know of a few utility contractors that have them. Its a quicker way to locate expensive to damage utilities. Fiber optics being the big one. One job I was on had several points where we crossed fiber lines. The down time bill for damage to any one of those lines was $300,000 a minute. We sent three crews to the job on a saturday to hand locate all those lines. Im sure it would have been 1 crew for 1 day with a machine like that.

The power company here requires that before any excavation at their power plants occurs, everything is located using this method. You may be on to something. It may not be a bad idea to get one and market yourself to local utility contractors. There is a bigger version of this set up. Its truck mounted, and you will see it being used by municipalities to clean sewers and catch basins. The down side to the truck mounted unit is they are very heavy, which may be an issue getting around someone's yard

natural1

[IMG]file:///C:/DOCUME%7E1/Michael/LOCALS%7E1/Temp/moz-screenshot.jpg[/IMG]You could rent an Bobcat mt52 or a small skid steer. get an auger attachment. Perhaps they have some special long augers available.
http://bobcat.com/publicadmin/getImage.do?id=146





[IMG]file:///C:/DOCUME%7E1/Michael/LOCALS%7E1/Temp/moz-screenshot-1.jpg[/IMG]

neolitic

ROFLMAO!

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