[Cob] Foundation trenches

[Lance Collins]

>Shannon wrote:
>Of course if I'd had the really hard soil that some people do, that
>excavator might have started looking alot more enticing.

When pushing the excavator idea I'd partly forgotten what sandy loam is 
like.   Many years ago when I lived on sandy soil I went for a walk at 8am 
and came back at 9.   When I returned I was amazed to see a trench which 
had appeared from the back of the house down to my garage.   I had engaged 
an electrician to connect power to the garage and he told me that his 
apprentice had dug the trench (by hand) and gone away while I was 
out.   The trench was about 9 inches wide, over a foot deep and about 40 
feet long.

Where I am now is a little harder and I think my best tool is an electric 
jack hammer with a spade bit and a tamping tool.  I can dig a post hole and 
still have some energy left to lift the dirt out.  And when I've placed the 
post the tamping tool packs the dirt back really well.  It's much better 
than using the back end of a crowbar.   If you think that $150 was a bit 
much to spend on an excavator then don't ask the cost of a jack 
hammer.  (Just the tamping attachment was over a $100).  I'm not rich but 
I'm happy to spend money to spare my old back.

I can't remember who said. "Poverty is no disgrace just ridiculously 
inconvenient"

Lance








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