digging a small trench foundation by hand?

Is his name Igor?

Do you really need foundations below your bridge?

Garlic's on special offer at Waitrose right now...

In message , GB writes

Mattock. Otherwise known as a digging axe or a chinese spade. Works wonders for trenches.

JGH

back gasping.

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.

I find a grubbing mattock a much better digging tool than a pick-axe...

Useless. won't go deep and narrow. Except in a trench. These are HOLES.

Got one. We are not digging a trench though.

I recommend these - I've had bloody hundreds of posts to set and one of these has been essential.

On 23/05/2011 16:01, RobertL wrote: ...

Birthplace: Frankenstein on my partner's passport often gets a comment from UK Border Control.

Colin Bignell

And a trenching shovel to remove the soil.

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

Easy.

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.

I have seen telephone poles put in using similar tools.

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.

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

You mean night?

:-)