Digging a big hole.

LordSutch

Yester wrote: »

Any advice?

Asbestos suits, ladders, heat/cold proof gloves, a torch (with extra batteries), helmets, proper footwear, small pickaxe, sleeping bags, sunglasses (for when you emerge), infrared goggles for the dark, extra pullovers, kit kats, tea bags, a small kettle, camping Gaz stove, matches . .

That's all I can think of for now.

CFlat

Oooooo don't forget your shovel if you want to go to work, ooooo don't.......

Yester

NuckingFacker wrote: »

Get down more than 7 feet and you're a hero. Pics will be required - and the pixel sort, not the axe sort. Try and keep it grave-shaped so if the exertion karks you or your mate, you'll have a functional hole..

lol. We will probably keep it grave-shaped for the first 6 feet or so but if we haven't killed each other by then we will have to extend the surface radius.

DonkeyStyle \o/ wrote: »

This brings me back to my childhood attempt to dig a swimming pool in the back garden. (A ~2ft hole filled with muddy water)

IMO it gets hard when you start hitting big stones. They can take a bit of wrestling to get out. When you can't stick a shovel in without hitting one, the process really drags.

You should dig the hole for charity or something, or maybe to protest austerity (a metaphor for digging ourselves into a deeper hole).
I'd be interested in following your progress, as I'm sure would many other hole digging enthusiasts. Can you update this thread with pics?

lol I like (a metaphor for digging ourselves into a deeper hole). We are still at the idea stage and won't start digging until spring of next year.

Mandzhalas wrote: »

moving clay from hole will be big problem once you will go bellow 8-9ft.it will be too high to trow it out and there will be no room for extra clay. also i think your hole will be 3m in diameter if you want to dig deep safely and comfortably.that means massive amount of soil

There's something I hadn't thought about. Some kind of pulley- system will be called for there.

The Diabolical Monocle wrote: »

No other areas in your life to expend that energy ?

- would an equally mad idea be to see if you can paint the house, or build a shed or fort or something.

If you're going for the ridiculous at least make it a machine gun bunker/man cave/hidden lair or something with some use.

Are you angling for a place to stay in the event of a zombie apocalypse?

Yester

LordSutch wrote: »

Asbestos suits, ladders, heat/cold proof gloves, a torch (with extra batteries), helmets, proper footwear, small pickaxe, sleeping bags, sunglasses (for when you emerge), infrared goggles for the dark, extra pullovers, kit kats, tea bags, a small kettle, camping Gaz stove, matches . .

That's all I can think of for now.

Kit Kats. Very important.

Jordan 199

Yester wrote: »

Any advice?

Get Sting. He's a good digger.

DonkeyStyle \o/

Yester wrote: »

lol I like (a metaphor for digging ourselves into a deeper hole). We are still at the idea stage and won't start digging until spring of next year.

It's like a reverse metaphor or something. It's art, and if anyone doesn't dig it, then they're just not deep enough. There you go, campaign slogan.
Make some signs and peg them in to the ground around the hole. Have a celtic tiger effigy lying at the bottom.
I think there's a chance for real change here. :pac:

razorgil

NuckingFacker wrote: »

Get down more than 7 feet and you're a hero. Pics will be required - and the pixel sort, not the axe sort. Try and keep it grave-shaped so if the exertion karks you or your mate, you'll have a functional hole..

is there any other kind??

Yester

DonkeyStyle \o/ wrote: »

It's like a reverse metaphor or something. It's art, and if anyone doesn't dig it, then they're just not deep enough. There you go, campaign slogan.
Make some signs and peg them in to the ground around the hole. Have a celtic tiger effigy lying at the bottom.
I think there's a chance for real change here. :pac:

If you don't dig it. You are just not deep enough.
I like it.

therandomguy

http://www.imdb.com/title/tt0311289/

Ken.

If you find a safe close your boards account and f*ck off to some other site.

Yester

therandomguy wrote: »

http://www.imdb.com/title/tt0311289/

Cheers. Hadn't heard of it. Good cast, must check it out.

we'llallhavetea

I like this idea but I've just remembered that my parents neighbours husband and son both died while digging a hole for something because of some weird gas they inhaled in the hole...
just be careful!

NuckingFacker

Yester wrote: »

lol I like (a metaphor for digging ourselves into a deeper hole). We are still at the idea stage and won't start digging until spring of next year.

Ah fcuk off. Talks cheap. Next you'll be planning to build a big ship and put on two of every animal. I thought ye were heading out with the shovels. Hole-tease.

Ryu Hayabusa

Mandzhalas wrote: »

moving clay from hole will be big problem once you will go bellow 8-9ft.it will be too high to trow it out and there will be no room for extra clay. also i think your hole will be 3m in diameter if you want to dig deep safely and comfortably.that means massive amount of soil

I would recommend storing the risings(soil) as far away from the excavation as possible so as to avoid the surcharge effect on the excavation which could cause the excavation to fail.

To avoid the surcharge effect the following rule of thumb is useful, store the excavated soil at a distance greater than the depth of the excavation

i.e if hole is 4m deep, store soil 4 meters away

YellowFeather

Yester wrote: »

We are still at the idea stage and won't start digging until spring of next year.

I was almost invested in this thread. Who the fcuk can wait for a few months for a randomer off the internet to start digging a hole?

NuckingFacker

Ryu Hayabusa wrote: »

I would recommend storing the risings(soil) as far away from the excavation as possible so as to avoid the surcharge effect on the excavation which could cause the excavation to fail.

To avoid the surcharge effect the following rule of thumb is useful, store the excavated soil at a distance greater than the depth of the excavation

i.e if hole is 4m deep, store soil 4 meters away

Sounds dull. If the holes 1m deep and the spoils 1m away..and then you go down another meter..you have to move the spoil again. Avoid this by dumping the spoil at least 1km away from the hole. Two plusses - you avoid looking at the spoil heap and after two trips with the barrow you jack it in and start watching stuff on youtube.

Yester

NuckingFacker wrote: »

Ah fcuk off. Talks cheap. Next you'll be planning to build a big ship and put on two of every animal. I thought ye were heading out with the shovels. Hole-tease.

You'll be sorry when the flood comes.

Ryu Hayabusa wrote: »

I would recommend storing the risings(soil) as far away from the excavation as possible so as to avoid the surcharge effect on the excavation which could cause the excavation to fail.

To avoid the surcharge effect the following rule of thumb is useful, store the excavated soil at a distance greater than the depth of the excavation

i.e if hole is 4m deep, store soil 4 meters away

Yes, good advice. We are in talks with a farmer who is interested in taking away the top soil, so hopefully we will avoid this problem.

DonkeyStyle \o/

YellowFeather wrote: »

I was almost invested in this thread. Who the fcuk can wait for a few months for a randomer off the internet to start digging a hole?

I agree, this is unacceptable. The hole needs to be started right now. If not by the OP, someone else needs to step up.

Yester

YellowFeather wrote: »

I was almost invested in this thread. Who the fcuk can wait for a few months for a randomer off the internet to start digging a hole?

DonkeyStyle \o/ wrote: »

I agree, this is unacceptable. The hole needs to be started right now. If not by the OP, someone else needs to step up.

Something to look forward to in the new year?

jobeenfitz

YellowFeather wrote: »

I was almost invested in this thread. Who the fcuk can wait for a few months for a randomer off the internet to start digging a hole?

I think someone has sobered up!

YellowFeather

Yester wrote: »

Something to look forward to in the new year?

I don't do delayed gratification. Get digging. Get digging right now!!!

Yester

YellowFeather wrote: »

I don't do delayed gratification. Get digging. Get digging right now!!!

But it's raining out there and ..... ok I'll go get my spade.

DonkeyStyle \o/

Yester wrote: »

But it's raining out there and ..... ok I'll go get my spade.

Get your camera too, I need to see the hole. (that's what she said last night)

YellowFeather

Yester wrote: »

But it's raining out there and ..... ok I'll go get my spade.

There's a man. If you get 4ft down by tomorrow morning I'll bring you a sannwich.

kupus

Dig down far enough to fit a 20ft container cover it over and there you can make your own poitin still and sell it to all the boys around donegal. Make sure the flame burns green though that blue stuff runs right through ye.
Take over the rest of the west coast and the whole of Ireland could be yours.

tim3000

Yester wrote: »

But it's raining out there and ..... ok I'll go get my spade.

Dont bow to pressure!! Where will that attitude get you when you are 40 feet deep? If you are going to do this do it right take all the time you need

YellowFeather

tim3000 wrote: »

Dont bow to pressure!! Where will that attitude get you when you are 40 feet deep? If you are going to do this do it right take all the time you need

https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=gxPF9AeHznE

Liamalone

Yester wrote: »

We are in talks with a farmer who is interested in taking away the top soil, so hopefully we will avoid this problem.

The top soil won't be much sure, just the stuff at the top, once you're through that you're into middle soil, there's a lot more of that before the bottom soil.
I advise hitting up YouTube for some chain gang type songs to sing whilst digging to keep morale up.

fasttalkerchat

Australia forum >>>>>

Butterface

Soundtrack to your digging endeavours..

fasttalkerchat

Liamalone wrote: »

I advise hitting up YouTube for some chain gang type songs to sing whilst digging to keep morale up.

http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=X4QuiGspxoM

LordSutch

Jackhammer ...with a very long air hose/cable.

http://upload.wikimedia.org/wikipedia/commons/8/81/Pneumatic_drill.jpeg

Chucken

Chucken wrote: »

Soooo...whats the hole for?

?

The_Gatsby

You'll be flooded in no time. You'll also probably hit silt at some stage which will make it impossible to dig. Also if you're in the hole and it caves in you'll be killed.

Aint Eazy Being Cheezy

2 blokes, all alone in a big field, digging a hole? Sounds kinda gay to me.

Yester

tim3000 wrote: »

Dont bow to pressure!! Where will that attitude get you when you are 40 feet deep? If you are going to do this do it right take all the time you need

It's fecking freezing out there. No intention of starting now.

Liamalone wrote: »

The top soil won't be much sure, just the stuff at the top, once you're through that you're into middle soil, there's a lot more of that before the bottom soil.
I advise hitting up YouTube for some chain gang type songs to sing whilst digging to keep morale up.

Got that covered

http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=PRyDlVOE86U

fasttalkerchat wrote: »

Australia forum >>>>>

G'day

NuckingFacker

Come back when you've got your hole.

BorneTobyWilde

https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=vwjkYflb1WE

Timmyctc

We should Host the AH beers at this guys hole (Heyy-oooo)

diomed

Digging a big hole?
I think Fianna Fail did this a few years back.
It caved in, and they haven't been able to get out yet.

Yester

Chucken wrote: »

?

The_Gatsby wrote: »

You'll be flooded in no time. You'll also probably hit silt at some stage which will make it impossible to dig. Also if you're in the hole and it caves in you'll be killed.

We are getting a pump to take care of the water. Hadn't thought about silt. Any thoughts on how to get through that?

Johnny Electricity wrote: »

2 blokes, all alone in a big field, digging a hole? Sounds kinda gay to me.

Brokeback hole?

BorneTobyWilde wrote: »

https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=vwjkYflb1WE

"Gonna dig me a hole
Gonna put a nerd in it"

Yester

Timmyctc wrote: »

We should Host the AH beers at this guys hole (Heyy-oooo)

Fosters all round!

Untouchable Peasant

https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=P0AGGgFVmLA

jill_valentine

I helped dig a load of big holes for a job once. It gets incredibly hard work very quickly, but it's weirdly, enormously satisfying.

Just bear in mind that there are really three jobs involved.

i) Breaking up the soil pan - pick, mattock etc

ii) Taking out the soil - shovel, etc.

iii) Getting rid of the soil - barrow, bucket etc.

It would be best to have one person doing each of those at a time to get the job done efficiently, rather than having to put down the pick, to grab the shovel, before barrowing it away. That would take ages. It would be ideal to have more than one person doing each job at a time, so three people minimum.

And then alternate who's doing what job, so that you're only slightly banjaxing every muscle group, rather than totally banjaxing any one muscle group.

Also, these gloves - http://www.woodiesdiy.com/Product/Darby-Heavy-Duty-Gents-Gloves/19810/4.18.4#.Un7K9_kW2So - represent the best €6.99 you will ever spend in your life.

The_Gatsby

Yester wrote: »

We are getting a pump to take care of the water. Hadn't thought about silt. Any thoughts on how to get through that?

I know you are getting a pump but once you get below the water table it will be hard to keep it dry enough to work it. When you go to bed at night the hole will fill up and unless you've got a huge pump it would be pretty difficult to empty the hole. Unless you can afford to keep it running 24/7?

As for the silt, I'm not sure. I think your best bet is just to hope there's none down there because it would be really hard to deal with if you did come across it!

I hate to be so negative because it's a really cool idea but I don't think you's will get far with the soil types we have in Ireland without serious equipment. Might be worth ringing up your local council and seeing if they can give you some info about what the soil conditions are like in your area. That should give you a rough idea of the soils/rock types you might come across.

siblers

If you're only using shovels you're not going to get very far, how do you plan on getting the dirt out when you get around 6 feet deep?

Ruu

Just make sure you have enough people digging but an equal amount standing nearby leaning on shovels as well.

AtomicHorror

To estimate time to completion of your hole, dig half a hole and multiply the time spent by 2.

LionelNashe

jill_valentine wrote: »

I helped dig a load of big holes for a job once. It gets incredibly hard work very quickly, but it's weirdly, enormously satisfying.

Just bear in mind that there are really three jobs involved.

i) Breaking up the soil pan - pick, mattock etc

ii) Taking out the soil - shovel, etc.

iii) Getting rid of the soil - barrow, bucket etc.

It would be best to have one person doing each of those at a time to get the job done efficiently, rather than having to put down the pick, to grab the shovel, before barrowing it away. That would take ages. ........

Ahhh, I was wondering why Fran needed the 3rd guy to deal with Noelie's ma. Now I get it.

El Weirdo

This is the best fucking thread in AH in ages.