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muddin' in a base

We're having a record cold and wet October. 15 day forecast is for more of the same.

I need to dig two trenches fifty feet long by about eight inch deep in loose soil - err mud. The backhoe can ruff the trench out no matter how sticky. Then I need to get a straight and level bottom by hand and place the greenhouse base in the trench and backfill. From there, I can wait for Minnesota concrete (frozen ground) to build my high tunnel greenhouse.

I know contractors have been forced to do footings under these conditions. Are there any tricks of the trade to help with this awful job?

Karl

Reply to
Karl Townsend
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I would have the backhoe dig it out a little deeper & wider than what you need, lay in some Tyvek/Geofabric, and cover that with crushed stone. Run a string line from end to end and then level the stone by hand.

Reply to
David Courtney

Thanks, that's a good idea. As there is very little wight here, I'll use washed sand. Cheap and easy to handle.

Karl

Reply to
Karl Townsend

Get a bunch of big, out of work teen agers to do it.

I don't know your time frame for this, but could you cover the area with tarps or cheap plastic to keep more liquid from getting in there? Maybe even blast some heat into it with a salamander--

Your soil must not be too sticky. I think my backhoe would get one bucket full of our mud (clay) and it would still be there in the spring.

How about renting a trencher? I don't know if they have one for residential use that is 8 inches wide, but maybe you could make 2 passes? This would give fairly good depth control.

Just thoughts, Pete Stanaitis

Karl Townsend wrote:

Reply to
spaco

Pretty much perfect. Depending on your budget and the price of crushed stone (or processed gravel) locally, might make it considerably deeper, and run a drain line out to daylight as well. If you make a mark on the rake handle, you can check progress while raking it level against the string directly, within the margin of error provided by string sag - pretty good with a pretty tight string, and both faster and less subject to rain damage than a level or laser.

Steering on my backhoe (ford 4500) broke. I'm tempted to replace it with something more robust, as Ford eventually did when they came out with the 555 and or 5500 (been a week or seven since I trolled the manuals - the one I'm thinking of adapting uses two big cylinders on the axle, not one crummy little one up in the tractor nose) - perhaps they figured out that the 4500 system sucked rocks (well, is far too subject to breakage, anyway).

Reply to
Ecnerwal

This is SOP for me. I learned teenager are cheaper than chiropractors.

I can drop the bucket fast with it upside down, then hit the "UP" and most anything will plop right out. The sudden direction change lifts the front wheels off the ground sometimes. I've had to dig irrigation line breaks up many times and learned this trick.

Karl

Reply to
Karl Townsend

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