How do I dig a big hole?

[sfsuphysics]

Got access to a pressure washer? You should be able to use that to cut a hole. Perhaps use that on your 4 foot hole to further make some depth. You'll end up making a ton of mud, but that should be easy enough to yank out. Just go a few inches remove, and continue. 1800psi works nice on dirt/clay/concrete

 

[edwardj]

What about using a heavy bar to loosen the bottom of the hole, then hammer the pipe in about 6" and use the winch? I worked in a nursery in highschool, and those bars are awesome tools.

Good luck.

 

[hahnmeister]

Ok, this is how I have done it...

Pound a metal pole into the ground as far as you want to go. Drop a 1/2 stick of lit D Y N O M I T E in the hole and let er rip. Holes in seconds.

 

[Rivalpc]

<a href=showthread.php?s=&postid=7584927#post7584927 target=_blank>Originally posted</a> by AnnArborBuck
Did you soak the ground first with water to saturate the clay? At least in my area (I live on clay, not texas clay) it is much eaiser to dig in the spring when the ground is saturated with water. If I need to dig a hole right about now I put out a soaker hose the night before and give the ground a good drenching. That helps to really loosen everything up so it should be easier to get it out.

Here in Maryland we have the same clay problem. if you need to dig through it filling the hole with water at night will help alot. you will also have to do it over several night or several times during the day. Fill hole, let soak, dig a foot, repeat.

 

[samtheman]

How will this hole cool water? Geothermal systems require many feet of buried tubing to be pracitical. Have you determined your ground temp? You need to know what temp. your soil is and at what depth to even begin to understand your cooling potential.

 

[Flomot flash]

No need for all that pounding and pulling and such. Just put a garden hose adapter on the end of the pipe and let the water do the work for you. As long as the diameter of the pipe is not too big the water should eat the clay from the bootom of the hole and wash it out on the surface. Many people with shallow water tables drill wells this way. Of coarse it is much more efficient with a drill bit and a spinning pipe, but that is a little hard for the DIYer to rig.

 

[AnnArborBuck]

<a href=showthread.php?s=&postid=7586503#post7586503 target=_blank>Originally posted</a> by samtheman
How will this hole cool water? Geothermal systems require many feet of buried tubing to be pracitical. Have you determined your ground temp? You need to know what temp. your soil is and at what depth to even begin to understand your cooling potential.

He is just trying something out on the cheap, and he only has a few degrees to go down. It may work, it may not, but for a couple of bucks worth in PVC pipe it is worth a try.

 

[jmccalip]

Ok, I got the pipe out using two car jacks and two 4x4's. This project is on hold until I find someone with an auger....

 

[Sk8r]

SOunds like you just got more water than anybody in Houston wanted. Hope you're still above water down there!

 

[jmccalip]

Nahh, pretty dry here. We don't live in a floodzone.

It's funny, this town's so big, we can have thunderstorms and tornado warnings on one side, and sunny skys on the other.

 

[AnnArborBuck]

I still think if you really saturate the ground it would work. And I mean over at least 24 hours, if not more. Rain usually only goes a couple of inches down, you need to saturate it down 4 feet or so.

 

[jmccalip]

I measured the hole I made with the pvc, and it was 2ft. I could continue to do this and get the full 10ft into the hole. Someone got an auger I can borrow? lol

 

[mikehulen]

You can rent an auger from Home Depot or Lowes for about $50 for 4 hours.

That is the only sane way to dig postholes down here on this sand-gumbo mix we have for soil in the Houston area. I just had to sink 4 new holes to repair my fence (Rita damage) not too long ago, and hand diggers would have taken me a year to get one of them done.

 

[jmccalip]

Well, this project was supposed to be cheap.

If I spend $30 on PVC, $50 on an auger, $50 for titanium tubing....I'll be past my limit. I could have just bought a chiller by the time I get it working.

...But I did seriously look in renting an auger at home depot, except they only go down 4ft, maybe 5ft with the extension rod. That's not deep enough. I guess Every day I'll just hammer it in a bit more....AND THIS IS ONLY A TEST HOLE!!! I can't tear up the flower garden till I know it works.

 

[Yose]

Check through your friend of a friend of a friend network to see if anyone works for the power company... They have those auger trucks for planting telephone poles... That would git er done

Also, maybe you could find someone who runs those high water pressure horizontal drills for digging under streets and driveways... Maybe they can be used vertically too.

Cool idea... No pun intended... Good luck with this project!

 

[samtheman]

I still don't understand what you will have when you get the hole dug. One hole will not be any kind of a geothermal loop unless it goes into a well or aquafer. I am not trying to stop you, just confused as to the value of all this effort. How do you intend to utilize this hole?

 

[AnnArborBuck]

<a href=showthread.php?s=&postid=7593493#post7593493 target=_blank>Originally posted</a> by samtheman
I still don't understand what you will have when you get the hole dug. One hole will not be any kind of a geothermal loop unless it goes into a well or aquafer. I am not trying to stop you, just confused as to the value of all this effort. How do you intend to utilize this hole?

If you read his posts this is just a test hole to see if it is worth while to move on from here.

 

[samtheman]

<a href=showthread.php?s=&postid=7593844#post7593844 target=_blank>Originally posted</a> by AnnArborBuck
If you read his posts this is just a test hole to see if it is worth while to move on from here.

If you go to this site http://www.geo4va.vt.edu/A1/A1.htm as well as others you can get a very good idea of the soil temperature in your area at a given depth. This seems much easier than digging holes first.

 

[jmccalip]

Hmm, I'm between 72-75F. Maybe someone could crunch some numbers and tell me if it's going to crash and burn? lol

 

[8BALL_99]

I think an Extra fan would do a better job sorry.. Kewl idea but you would need alot of copper in the ground to do much.. With just PVC in a small 10 hole I dont think your going to do much.. The GeoThermal cooling setups I've seen have a couple hundred feet of Copper pipe about 12foot down In a large zig zack shape...They used a drop in titanium coil for the heat transfer in the sump alot like a chiller.. If you could get a back Hoe Cheap and had the pipe.. "Copper has went through the roof in the past couple months" This would be a great idea.. Cause when you look at a chiller you have to consider cost of the unit But also the power to run the thing.. And if its inside it will make your Ac run more too.