Digging a big hole.

Yester

I've got about an acre out back and myself and a friend of mine are planning on digging a big hole out there. It's a crazy project I know, but we are curious to see how deep we can dig. We will only be using spades, picks and shovels.

Any advice as to what kind of problems we may encounter?

eg; We are aware that water is going to be an issue so we are looking in to getting a pump.

Any advice?

keith16

Yester wrote: »

Any advice?

Dig up, stupid.

therandomguy

Where in the country are you? IF you are in Donegal, you will be lucky to get ten feet before hitting rock.
Assuming you have decent land and can actually dig deep, what are you going to do with the mud that comes out of the hole?

cardwizzard

Careful it doesnt cave in on you. Shudder it

Rayne Wooney

Apparently it's possible to dig to China, give it a go sure

Cycling Dumbasses

Yester wrote: »

I've got about an acre out back and myself and a friend of mine are planning on digging a big hole out there. It's a crazy project I know, but we are curious to see how deep we can dig. We will only be using spades, picks and shovels.

Any advice as to what kind of problems we may encounter?

eg; We are aware that water is going to be an issue so we are looking in to getting a pump.

Any advice?

Must be good stuff your smoking there.

Fr_Dougal

Yester wrote: »

I've got about an acre out back and myself and a friend of mine are planning on digging a big hole out there. It's a crazy project I know, but we are curious to see how deep we can dig. We will only be using spades, picks and shovels.

Any advice as to what kind of problems we may encounter?

I'd say after a while, you might get tired.

wendell borton

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

Red_Dwarf

awseome


take pics and let us know how you get on

NuckingFacker

I'm betting it gets real old, real fast after about 3 feet..

KwackerJack

http://image.ec21.com/image/salvex723/OF0012349840_1/Sell_Yanmar_Sunward_SWE08_Excavator.jpg

wazky

I wouldn't advertise this on here, someone hotshot will come up with a "Hole Digging Tax".

3ndahalfof6

a rock hammer should do it.

Rovi

Yester wrote: »

Any advice as to what kind of problems we may encounter?

"deaths in mining accidents...
unsanitary conditions, scarcity of water and fresh vegetables as well as intense heat in the summer" according to this:
http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Big_Hole

Yester

therandomguy wrote: »

Where in the country are you? IF you are in Donegal, you will be lucky to get ten feet before hitting rock.

I'm in Co. Limerick. Rock at ten feet? We have pickaxes but that could take the fun out of it fairly fast.

cardwizzard wrote: »

Careful it doesnt cave in on you. Shudder it

Shudder. Good point. We need to think about reinforcing the walls as we go down.

wazky

Yester wrote: »

Shudder. Good point. We need to think about reinforcing the walls as we go down.

Get family members you don't like to lean against the walls?

crockholm

Please let your surname be Dillon.

Frosty McSnowballs

Watch out for graboids

Chucken

Yester wrote: »

I'm in Co. Limerick.

Soooo...whats the hole for?

wexie

Yester wrote: »

Shudder. Good point. We need to think about reinforcing the walls as we go down.

Sure you could end up with a movie career : http://www.imdb.com/title/tt1797438/?ref_=fn_al_tt_2

Fr_Dougal

Yester wrote: »

I'm in Co. Limerick.

Well that explains why you're trying to dig your way out.

Pelvis Parsley

https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=mf3e1F1a0Hg

Sir Osis of Liver.

Heres one im working on.http://www.google.ie/imgres?imgurl=http://static4.businessinsider.com/image/5130f09769bedd607e000004/the-most-terrifying-sinkhole-pictures-youve-ever-seen.jpg&imgrefurl=http://www.businessinsider.com/giant-sinkhole-photos-2013-3&h=1300&w=1734&sz=339&tbnid=0tjaLZnt2cBJ2M:&tbnh=93&tbnw=124&zoom=1&usg=__JwDNKj1edrCqlszT0rdxgxF36qY=&docid=scrlxNrCy4lERM&sa=X&ei=Fad-UoqdOPSg7Abvi4GQCw&ved=0CDkQ9QEwAg

Yester

Rovi wrote: »

"deaths in mining accidents...
unsanitary conditions, scarcity of water and fresh vegetables as well as intense heat in the summer" according to this:
http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Big_Hole

Wow and they only went to a depth of 215 meters. Must make sure to stock up on water and fresh vegetables and maybe get a canary.

Rayne Wooney

Don't dig straight down, dig at an angle so it can't cave in

claddino

"It's an old-fashioned hole-digging. By Gar, it's been a while."

tim3000

Rayne Wooney wrote: »

Don't dig straight down, dig at an angle so it can't cave in

Id say it would be better to dig straight down wouldn't have to buttress a roof then only walls. I imagine rain will be another problem this time of year.

ytpe2r5bxkn0c1

Rayne Wooney wrote: »

Don't dig straight down, dig at an angle so it can't cave in

That becomes a tunnel so. Even bigger chance of cave in.

Rayne Wooney

I meant like a cone kind of shape, easy to get out of but might fill up with rain

ytpe2r5bxkn0c1

The project will shudder to a halt twenty minutes after you hit rock. A pick won't make much difference.

SCOOP 64

therandomguy wrote: »

what are you going to do with the mud that comes out of the hole?

Dig another hole and put it in there.

NuckingFacker

Rayne Wooney wrote: »

Don't dig straight down, dig at an angle so it can't cave in

Soo, if he's going down just ten meters, he'll want the start to be oh,,about 25 meters square wide? It'll get old after about a half hour so. Having dug a lot of holes, the thought of diggin another gets old at the point of "dig..." God invented JCBs for a good reason.

Ryu Hayabusa

tim3000 wrote: »

Id say it would be better to dig straight down wouldn't have to buttress a roof then only walls. I imagine rain will be another problem this time of year.

Best to dig down straight and batter back the sides of the excavation to less than the natural angle of repose of the soil

To calculate the natural angle of repose of the soil, get a sample of the soil in a bucket, turn upside down, and measure the angle that the soils forms a heap to

kupus

Mix up a bit of nitrate and a little bit of kitchen ingredients and it should be a lot quicker than using picks to remove the rocks.

Also you'll need to shore it up the further you go down in case of cave ins.

Good luck and see you in china.

ytpe2r5bxkn0c1

Rayne Wooney wrote: »

I meant like a cone kind of shape, easy to get out of but might fill up with rain

That still becomes a tunnel if dug at an angle. Also, any depth of cone will require one heck of a radius at ground level.

Yester

Pelvis Parsley wrote: »

https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=mf3e1F1a0Hg

I'm not on meth.

tayto lover

You may need the services of Joseph Cyril Bamford.

Mint Aero

Any Viking relics are property the state.
Any Famine victims are property the state.
Any dinosaur fossils are property the state.
Strike oil? Property the state.

Respect the states authority :cool:

LionelNashe

Rayne Wooney wrote: »

Don't dig straight down, dig at an angle so it can't cave in

No, the opposite; you should dig straight down - I was wathcing an episode of the Pacific the other week and the marines were digging holes to sleep in. One guy advised the other to keep the walls vertical so you won't have to be constantly digging out the mud that slides back in.

Edit: However the marines were only digging shallow trenches, not deep enough to get buried alive in.

wexie

Troy Jealous Matrimony wrote: »

The project will shudder to a halt twenty minutes after you hit rock. A pick won't make much difference.

You're going to need explosives OP.

Lots of explosives.

Fr_Dougal

It'll be like Hole-ception...digging a hole to get out of a hole...

Go for it OP!

Yester

Ryu Hayabusa wrote: »

Best to dig down straight and batter back the sides of the excavation to less than the natural angle of repose of the soil

To calculate the natural angle of repose of the soil, get a sample of the soil in a bucket, turn upside down, and measure the angle that the soils forms a heap to

Thanks for the advice.

Troy Jealous Matrimony wrote: »

That still becomes a tunnel if dug at an angle. Also, any depth of cone will require one heck of a radius at ground level.

We have about an acre to play with at ground level but I agree that straight down is the way to go.

Mint Aero wrote: »

Any Viking relics are property the state.
Any Famine victims are property the state.
Any dinosaur fossils are property the state.
Strike oil? Property the state.



Respect the states authority :cool:

Anything I finds, I keeps.

Yester

tayto lover wrote: »

You may need the services of Joseph Cyril Bamford.

Nope. Shovels and picks all the way.

jobeenfitz

Dont fukn do it!

Just wana say that now so I can say I advised you not too, after watching the disaster on the news.

NuckingFacker

Yester wrote: »

Nope. Shovels and picks all the way.

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..

DonkeyStyle \o/

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?

Rayne Wooney

Hopefully the OP isn't an evil villain who got inspiration from the movie Armageddon

NuckingFacker

Time sh1t as well - useful research in the field of "how long can you dig for before you sweat the beer out of you, sober up and go "what the fcuk are we doing??". The world needs facts and figures in this area.

Use the equation; x*y=t(f)

where x is pints consumed, y is your weight and t is a multiple of how shyte the ground is, how much sweat runs down the crack of your hole and how rough the shovel handle is. F is the amount of cursing ye do after ten minutes.

The Diabolical Monocle

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.

Mandzhalas

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

Rayne Wooney

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.

Well there's an idea and a half, BUILD A FORT!!


The hole could be the moat around the fort.