Today we tried everything we could to get another part of the fence project underway. I had cleared the section and moved all the posts we needed there last week if you remember then got sidetracked putting the baler and rake away and fixing the gateway ruts.
It rained a little bit Friday and I was hoping that would loosen the soil up a little. Back in August when I finished the section in the back of the hay field we had some trouble breaking through the hard clay layer with the post hole digger.
Well today it just wasn't happening at all. No matter how hard I tried pressing down, even with my son helping me the auger bit was not going to break through the clay layer. I even tried removing that layer with the hand powered post digger and I couldn't make a dent. After using almost half a tank of gas and trying the six pole spots we finally gave up.
We are going to need some steady, real rain for a few months before anything short of a construction grade machine is going to bust through that clay layer. Even down six inches the auger bit was turning up dust.
So I switched over to the manure spreader and took another three loads of old horse manure out into the the hay field.
The top few inches of soil is moist enough but under that is rock hard and crumbles to dust when you dig chunks out of it.
Guess the fencing project is now officially on hold more than likely until Spring now. I might start going down and putting a gallon of water in the aborted holes every day for a couple of weeks and see if that will allow us to make more progress but I bet it will just be too cold here soon to matter.
Seems like it is always way too much or nothing at all around here when it comes to rain anymore. Never a nice middle ground at all. I can't believe we went from being 22 inches over normal in July to rock hard dry drought by November.
Keep Prepping Everyone!!!!!
Wow I don't remember hitting any ground that was that hard but then I never used an auger and busted through most stuff with a steel bar. You could rent a jack hammer outfit but probably not worth that.
ReplyDeleteDid you see the thing on zero hedge about all the auto loans that were made this year? There will be repo cars, trucks, and equipment eventually all over the place.
http://www.zerohedge.com/news/2015-11-03/subprime-auto-goes-full-retard-lender-sells-154-million-abs-deal-backed-loans-borrow
Sf - No I haven't made it over to ZH yet today but I could have told you about those loans over a year ago. In fact I believe I mentioned them several times in posts. I am literally doing a small percentage of the running and car deliveries this year that I did last year and salesmen who were on easy street last year are now being fired for non-performance this year. Looks like the bottom is falling out of the car industry this year I think.
DeleteWe have an Auger on our list of look out for, come the spring we have a lot of fencing to do, we might end up hiring one if we dont buy one before
ReplyDeleteDawn - The post hole auger was the first tractor implement I bought. I do not dig post holes around here by hand the clay layer is just way too hard to deal with. On the up side I rarely have to deal with rocks but that clay is enough to break a shovel or pick handle.
DeleteI would say the post hole digger has more than paid for itself but I have done a lot of fencing.
Did you try putting in water as you drilled.
ReplyDeleteSlurry it if you will.
Works for me in the blackland prarie gumbo we got.
Just throwin it out there
Bubba - NO I didn't. It was a good clip from the nearest outlet. I thought about taking water down there and putting it in the holes for later but I don't have the time right now getting ready for Winter.
DeleteThanks for the advice I think it would work too if I had the time.
The weird flooding/drought year has me edgy about next year already.
ReplyDeleteHG - I hear ya. I am a bit worried too that we may not get enough rain or snow to replace the moisture lost by Spring.
DeleteI don't want another drought like 2012.
Oh that stinks. We don't have clay that hard here but we do have a lot of rocks so whenever we use the post hole digger it is an arduous process and I sometimes end up throwing out my back for a day or two (we have the type that two people use together holding on to handles on each side). I hope rain comes for you soon.
ReplyDeleteLisa - The one bad thing about the one I have is that I have to use it on the 8N right now since the 861 is broke down. The 8N has very limited down pressure and it about killed me hanging off the handle for so long.
DeleteNo rocks here though so there is that :)
Same rock hard clay in the summer here too. In the winter it turns back into sticky, slippery glue that needs to be scraped off of of the digging tools. I've turned tractor tires into slicks w/o noticeable tread. I could never be a farmer. Too hard a living.
ReplyDeleteMV - We actually have excellent soil here for about the top six inches or so then there is that clay layer and it is a force to be reckoned with. I have never seen it so dry as to be dusty under there though so it is a new experience for me.
DeleteOver in Eastern WA, there are some 'cattle country' areas where there is nothing but rock down below. So, they build a small wood 'crib' put the post in the middle and fill the crib/anchor with rocks from the surface. Fairly big rocks. They last a hundred years supporting barbed wire fences.
ReplyDeleteAnon - I have seen the same type of thing done South of us in the Ozark mountains and foot hills. SO rocky down there they have no other choice. I have also seen em make those fence posts out of wire tubes filled with rocks too.
DeleteAnd I thought we had hard clay/soil.
ReplyDeleteDFW - Well normally the clay here isn't all that bad. It's a layer about 6 inches down and when moist it can be worked although slowly and it sticks bad to stuff. I have just never seen it this chalk-like consistency though.
DeletePP,
ReplyDeleteSorry to hear about your day. Not being able to drill for a fence post, and picking up a candy bar to find out it wasn't the one you wanted (yes, I read your comment over at Rural Revolution).
I confess, had a similar day a while back when trying to put fence posts in. Damn Clay!!!
Sandy - I HATE those red filled 3 musketeers bars. Hate them :)
DeleteBuy a 4" auger. Use that first, then go to the bigger one.
ReplyDeleteThe big one will follow the small hole.
Sometimes it is the only way.
B - Thats a good idea and we talked about it actually but I don't ant to go and drop 2 or 3 bills on a smaller auger bit right now. Although I thought about it long and hard to be honest.
DeleteThey make auger bits with teeth specificly for clay soils. I have one for my skidsteer and it works great and I live on hard clay. I have 1 foot at most of top soil then hard clay for 4 feet then a layer of rocky clay.
ReplyDeleteThis year was the easiest year ever for digging. It was so dry last spring that the hard clay was like a powder and didn't stick to the auger for a change.
Exile1981
Exile - See this clay layer I was running into was also very dry and crumbly almost like compacted dust. The auger bit just spun around on top of it and wouldn't bite into it at all. No amount of down pressure would get it to break through. I got the cutter blades on the first twist of the auger not sure if I have seen special teeth though.
Delete