Trying to set a post in that dense, rocky soil up near Boulder added a full day to a simple 3-day job.

We ended up having to rent a pneumatic hammer drill for half a day and go through three carbide bits just to get six holes dug deep enough, so has anyone found a better method for that kind of ground?

2 comments

2 Comments

jade_lane22d ago

Have you thought about wetting the ground a lot the night before? I had a brutal time with similar soil until an old timer told me to try it. Soak it real good, put a tarp over the spot to keep the water in, and dig the next morning. It doesn't turn it to mud, but it makes that packed rock and clay way less like concrete. Saved my back on the last job.

the_wren22d ago

Wetting it can actually make that Boulder clay HARDER once it dries back out a bit. It gets this weird, gummy, set-like-cement quality. A pneumatic hammer is pretty much the standard move for a reason. Sometimes you just have to accept the rock and muscle through it with the right tool.