Soil Sampler/Soil sampling

amacca

Anyone know where I can buy a soil sampler….I had assumed you could just buy one easily but I can't seem to find them available from any of the online irish ag shops.

I'm talking about the ones which have an inverted cone near the bottom for the previous sample to be pushed into as you drive the sampler into the ground next time, gives you easy access to your sample without fiddling around scraping it out of a tube or pushing it out with a rod or other malarkey.

Was also wondering where best to get the soil testing done at the moment?

poor farmer

Hard eneough to get a soil sampler but i did see this one advertised.
Grasstec

http://www.grasstecgroup.com/product-category/soil-thermometers/

amacca

205!!!!! ouch……ffs its a bit of steel!

darragh_haven

amacca wrote: »

205!!!!! ouch……ffs its a bit of steel!

I'm hoping that's a typo on the price.

rushvalley

Or if someone that already has a sampler would be kind enough to provide some measurements for the rest of us to innovate ??

Zr105

I think the reason it's so expensive is they are supposed to be stainless steel, something to do with minerals from none stainless ones contaminating the sample or something....

GRASSorMUCK

Zr105 wrote: »

I think the reason it's so expensive is they are supposed to be stainless steel, something to do with minerals from none stainless ones contaminating the sample or something....

Correct

jd

You mean an auger? That's what the OM called them (he worked in the Soil Survey with AFT)
http://www.amazon.co.uk/s/?ie=UTF8&keywords=soil+auger&tag=googiehydra-21&index=aps&hvadid=46157867108&hvpos=1t1&hvexid=&hvnetw=g&hvrand=9481486314020756731&hvpone=&hvptwo=&hvqmt=e&hvdev=c&ref=pd_sl_5rq9lhwxsd_e
I'll ask him (we had a few with the funnel in the garage years ago)

amacca

Zr105 wrote: »

I think the reason it's so expensive is they are supposed to be stainless steel, something to do with minerals from none stainless ones contaminating the sample or something....

interesting….but wouldn't that mean only the bit thats stuck into the earth or comes into contact with soil need be stainless? the cone and the bit on the bottom

i have stainless steel basins that cost around a fiver?

Zr105

amacca wrote: »

interesting….but wouldn't that mean only the bit thats stuck into the earth or comes into contact with soil need be stainless? the cone and the bit on the bottom

i have stainless steel basins that cost around a fiver?

Yeah, the handle isn't going to be in contact so I'd imagine it's safe enough,

poor farmer

amacca wrote: »

205!!!!! ouch……ffs its a bit of steel!

Pricey allright
I made one myself ,not a simple job though ,
The tube that cuts into the ground has to be taperd otherwise the clay core will stick and block the tube.
The hopper that the soil cores feed up into is cone shaped and I found it quite difficult to form.
All stainless as well

Brass Tag

poor farmer wrote: »

Pricey allright
I made one myself ,not a simple job though ,
The tube that cuts into the ground has to be taperd otherwise the clay core will stick and block the tube.
The hopper that the soil cores feed up into is cone shaped and I found it quite difficult to form.
All stainless as well

Ebay is your friend. Search term Tubular Soil Sampler, 7" L x 1/2" Dia.
Watch

F.D

Had one of them core type samplers on saturday, it was useless the cores kept on sticking in it and not pushing up the next one, it was a stubble field
In the end i just got out the spade and took a small hand full out of different parts of the field

onyerbikepat

I made up one myself, just a bit of 20mm stainless steel pipe with an elbow fitting on top. Take off the fitting and use a solid round bar to push out the sample, from the way it went in.

Connemara Farmer

Brass Tag wrote: »

Ebay is your friend. Search term Tubular Soil Sampler, 7" L x 1/2" Dia.
Watch

Have you used it Brass Tag, or anyone else? Would be something I'd be interested in getting as Advisor is 40 miles away at his nearest.

Brass Tag

Connemara Farmer wrote: »

Have you used it Brass Tag, or anyone else? Would be something I'd be interested in getting as Advisor is 40 miles away at his nearest.

No haven't used. I use a spade which is sitting in the shed. No need to spend one single penny on widgets to get a few handfuls of soil out of the ground when the spade is unemployed.

onyerbikepat

Is it not important to get a good sample uniform down to 100mm?
Would you get that with a spade?

Brass Tag

onyerbikepat wrote: »

Is it not important to get a good sample uniform down to 100mm?
Would you get that with a spade?

Dig out a slice of soil on spade. Knock off a section from the top of slice to depth of 4 inches into clean plastic bucket.
Do that for X number of samples.
Mix up in bucket. Take scoop out into plastic bag. Off to lab.
That's what I do in any case.

Midfield9

We can just borrow one from our local co-op