Digging in hard clay--tips?

[gatrapper]

Hey Y'all,

Have to plant some trees within the next week or so. The ground where I want to plant is some sort of red clay/concrete hybrid.

Thought I was going to have a buddy come with his tractor and auger, but he backed out.

Tried using a shovel the other day and I could only get a few inches down. Any tips on how to get the ground dug up without killing myself.

[SouthGAMan]

I feel for you since my topsoil was sold off my 10 acres around 1970 all I have in most spots is HARD clay. I actually seen a utility worker break down in tears from trying to dig a hole in my ground. There are a few ways that we have found to have some success. The best way imho for concrete like clay is to use either a pickaxe or a log splitting maul to break it up a bit. This works mainly for digging with a shovel afterwards (getting out the broken pieces and seeing if you can make headway then. It doesn't work however if you are planning on digging a deep hole with a pair of hole diggers. IF you have to use hole diggers then I suggest maybe a digging bar with a mallet or hammer unless you have a very heavy set of hole diggers and the muscle to use it. My health is such that I have a great bit of difficulty trying to dig anything of note in our ground. I normally utilize one of my sons for that job nowadays.

Good luck!

[Bearfootfarm]

Use a mattock to break it up and a shovel to move the chunks, or hire a mini excavator

[Terri]

Water.

Every day fill the shallow holes that you have dug and let it sit for a couple of hours. Then dig each hole deeper until you have dug out the softened earth. That will give you a few inches per day without killing yourself. Do not let it sit until the next day or the water may have soaked in too deeply and the soil may be hard again!

A sprinkler works better, though it the clay is REALLY hard the water may run off and be wasted. Even with the sprinkler the water will need time to soak in and soften the earth.

For my own yard I cheated: I waited until after it had rained all day and then I paid my oldest $5 a stake.

[Explorer]

Originally Posted by Terri

Water.

Every day fill the shallow holes that you have dug and let it sit for a couple of hours. Then dig each hole deeper until you have dug out the softened earth. That will give you a few inches per day without killing yourself. Do not let it sit until the next day or the water may have soaked in too deeply and the soil may be hard again!

A sprinkler works better, though it the clay is REALLY hard the water may run off and be wasted. Even with the sprinkler the water will need time to soak in and soften the earth.

For my own yard I cheated: I waited until after it had rained all day and then I paid my oldest $5 a stake.

That is what we call a three day hole, water - dig - water.

[Darren]

Spud bar. Works on clay and rocks if you keep at it. I don't care how hard the clay is, the bar will break it out.

[where I want to]

Clay is relative I know but I dug mine using a shovel to make a shallow dip then use a hand auger. The auger works fine until you hit some rocks then I switch to a rock breaker bar and clam shell post hole digger. Then back to the auger as soon as the rocks passed.

[Rectifier]

Handheld gas auger is worth having around any farm. Water/auger/more water/repeat.
In the spring, you can skip the watering and it will go a lot better as it's all evenly damp. I waited 6 months to auger the deep hole for my new electrical pole at my quonset, and it was worth it.

It will come out in great sticky gobs if it's anything like our clay. The auger will try to bog down and get stuck. 2 men or one great beast of a man may be required to handle the auger. If it's not damp enough, a power auger will glaze it. Now you have a sort of ceramic at the bottom that you have to break with a digging bar.

I cannot imagine digging a narrow post/tree hole in clay by hand. If you are digging a trench or wide hole, clay picks are the way to go. They are like a thin mattock and concentrate enough force to shave off the clay.

I hope your trees do OK in the clay.

[idigbeets]

Go rent an auger...

[po boy]

Dig-water-dig or wait til it rains

[haypoint]

A power auger will just hop around on dry clay and then whip you off the handles when it hits wet clay. There is a recent thread about getting a tractor mounted auger stuck in clay.
But your problem is only beginning. If you dig a nice hole for your trees, what are you going to use to fill the hole? Top soil? Potting soil? Sort of hard to turn that clay into dust that will fill in around the trees' roots. But that hole is now a bowl, a place for rain to run across the clay surface and settle into your tree holes, killing them. Trees won't grow in a bucket of water. then where will the roots go? If it is a solid as you say, I doubt the roots will branch out, leaving you with a root bound tree.

[RomeGrower]

I use a maddock and a heavy iron bar. I've been able to plant a lot of trees in Georgia with that combination.

[charged]

Its easiest to dig in the red clay when it is wet. When I dig a hole for a tree, I dig down as far as I can with a standard shovel, then I use a small auger attached to a cordless drill. Sometimes it will catch a rock and durn near twist your wrist off so you got to hang on tight. After using the auger, I dig some more with the shovel. One advantage to using the auger is that you don't end up with a clay bowl for your tree to sit in. The auger holes allow roots to penetrate deeper in different directions.

[Use Less]

Yep, easier when wet. Still heavy Remember to break the surface of the hole to help the roots go through. It really isn't helpful to dig a wider hole than recommended, btw. You just end up with a big clay "plant pot", and the roots go round & round, instead of breaking their way through. Trees in clay may need some food designed for root growth.

[Homesteader1]

Here is what I had to do digging in clay. First I dug in the wet season, then I dug the hole 4 times bigger than needed and once again deeper than the bucket the tree came in. Then I filled with water waited for it to soak in, then I filled with compost, mulch straw etc. I then planted my tree in the center and filled in with compost. worked great that was 3 years ago. I used a pick and shovel. I now have a backhoe on the homestead.

[blufford]

A coal miner who has a little skill in setting dynamite charges might be able to help.

[Phil V.]

Backhoe with a small bucket on it works. Same problem with clay. Had a friend come over with his to dig holes for me.

[Patchouli]

I believe green sand is supposed to help break up clay soil? You might want to try putting it in the bottom of the holes for the trees.

[SRSLADE]

I think planting your trees in mounds would work better for you as well as the trees

[AmericanStand]

pound a steel bar in a inch or two. Wiggle it ,pull it out ,repeat till its in about a foot more than you want to dig.
Fill with water twice every day for a week.
Dig first hole.
Hire a backhoe.