[Lanelle]

As much as we all like to use the largest possible equipment on jobs, sometimes there are projects that simply won't permit the use of a skid steer or other sizeable equipment. Once you're resigned to doing hand excavation, are there tricks that make the job easier? Assume that the soil is hard and maybe rocky. And assume that you are excavating for a patio. Please don't just say, use a Dingo.

[Paul]

It's hard for me to imagine an area that I couldn't get a machine into......... Now days with the mini excavators that go down to 30" wide which is not much wider than a wheelbarrow. One area that would cause problems are working inside a building where fumes might be a problem. I guess your back to hand labor with picks and shovels. If digging is real tough a electric breaker with a clay spade might help some.

[ianc]

I would imagine the "Cowboy method"
pick-shovel-wheelbarrow - yeehaa

I am a little to old for that process - and can't remember the last time I used a wheelbarrow

Once we were able to get a mini-x 30" into a backyard and had the operator load a convoy of wheelbarrows with it - carried it out to a ramp into the truck

~ian

[Bill Schwab]

We run into these scenarios quite often in the tract homes. Very limited access, usually less than 48-50".

Since we got the 301.8 Cat excavator, and have had the 463 Bobcat, and combined them with the use of Ingersol-Rand power wheel barrows that carry nearly a yard of material, production times are back down where they need to be to get the work and make bank. The most versatile machine is the excavator with a trencher attachment. Using the arm, we can just reach in and cut irrigation trenches over 12' away from the machine with access the a walk behind trencher would never see. And you don't get trencher wheels stuck crossing lines either.

Now, obviously, in order to invest the 50K we did on these three pieces of equipment, ( by the way, the labor savings has already paid them off after a year) we had to keep them busy in order to justify the purchase.

If you have a situation where occasionally you have to do a limited access job, as Paul says, an electric jack hammer with a 6" wide clay spade, we use a Hitachi, have one in every tool box, multiple wheel barrows, we have Sterling, both with steel and plastic tubs, several dual and several single wheeled units. For demo we use the steel tubs, for materials like gravel, dirt, and so fourth the guys prefer the light weight of the plastic, which at the days end really adds up.

As we replace the manual wheel barrows with ride on buggies 9 thus far we have two and I bought another one on Ebay last week, the last thing to do is get another crew equipped with the 301.8/463 and a power wheel barrow.

The hardest thing I had to do was to calculate the times a hand dig was going to take because every soil type is different, and, every man works just a tad differently than the next. In the start, I just provided wags to clients, performed the work, took a bath if we lost,. then adjusted times after I saw what the guys would do.

If you have hard packed clay for example, and you are installing a 1000 sf patio, assuming you are pulling the full 8" we had to dig out, that is a two day dig with 4 guys, two run the shovels, two run wheel barrows. you have yet almost another day to run gravel. So there were three days on base prep. If you got hard clay with those disgusting hunks of 6" blue granite like up in San Elijo Hills region out in this area, figure yet another day for base prep because it is hard to get that crap into a shovel.

That same job using a 463 filling the power wheel barrows takes 1/2 day, (3/4 day if the blue granite exists) then another half day to install gravel and whack it down.

What I'm seeing is that as we further mechanize the company, our equipment payments have gone up substantially, but, our labor has gone farther for the hours we are paying for. Thus, the company gross and net have grown without adding more labor. The last phase of the mechanization is going to be adding lazer receivers to each form of machine so we can keep the other guys doing something else while the operators keep digging.

If you are seeing more and more job area shrinkage I'll call it, equipping properly is the company is without a doubt the only way to go. I hope this answered your question without getting into the buy a Dingo aspect. If you are have only one or two jobs that require hand work, then it is not worth it. And, in my opinion, even to rent on a one time basis might come back to bite you because the crews you have have not yet mastered every feature of the machines they are on.

If there are any particular hand labor functions I can help you on, fire away and I will see where our times are at.

[PSUscaper]

I like the term day laborer..................if I know a hand dig is coming, pick up a few extra men in the morning, get it done, then take them back.

There is no trick to hand digging.

[agla]

It might sound crazy, but the I noticed that an aweful lot of people have never been trained to use a shovel properly because they seldom have to. ... and their bosses didn't either.

Are you looking for tips on how to use hand tools? Yes, I am serious.

I disagree that there is no trick to hand digging.

[Stonehenge]

I do agree with Agla on the hand-digging. Just like most power moves in golf and other sports, a lot of it is in the knees and hips, not in the arms and hands.

I do like the mechanized approach Bill and others use - though for our project sizes even equipment rental would not be worth the cost. So we use our skidder whenever we can, and shovels when we can't...and an occasional mini-X, if the cost is justified.

Not to say it isn't tiring when digging in hard clay with rocks - it's exhausting.

[jwholden]

I know some tricks to using a shovel and it amazes me how often 'Day laborers' don't know them. For example, I cringe when I see someone backfilling a hole scoop by scoop as opposed to using the shove like a dozer and pushing the soil back in.

[dan deutekom]

There are times the only way to do it is to break out the shovel, pick and wheelbarrow. And I too cringe when I see strong men that don't know how to handle a shovel, rake, pick and wheel barrow. You get these kids fresh out of a 2 year horticultural/landscape course and they can't handle the simple things like stripping sod with a spade or digging a hole.

[Neal]

I agree if youre using a shovel, please bend the knees to save the back. Use your full body weight on the shovel (like jump on it) instead of impacting the elbows. A good heavy rake is helpful, and a mattock (spelling?) is indispensible. Amazing how obvious, but seldom seen. Just curious, anybody ever seen a wheelbarrow with a handbrake?

[rye]

It might sound crazy, but the I noticed that an aweful lot of people have never been trained to use a shovel properly because they seldom have to. ... and their bosses didn't either.

Spade, round or flat shovel, trenching shovel(sharpshooter). My employees don't seem to notice that there are 30 different shovels on the rack in my shop. All of our projects involve some form of hand digging- small lots, sandy soils that trenchers get stuck in. We need a training manual for using a shovel! When i show up on a job-site, and an employee is using a flat shovel to remove sod or weeds- all i see is wasted time and money! And how about wheel-barrel use- just when they have the barrel loaded almost full, they throw the scoop on that sends the whole load crashing into a swimming pool! Or my favorite - getting a running start to push the wheel-barrel up a hill- and they catch the front on the curb, and flip over the top of the wheel-barrel. I think we need a industry standardized wheel-barrel operators license! On the other hand, many hispanic laborers have wonderful hand tool practices, and i'll often pit one employee with a wheelbarrel and hoe vs. two with an electric mortar mixer, often the results are comparable in production time. So if you add the time and expense of renting or owning equipment , small tasks are sometimes better left to handwork.

[Greensmith]

Originally posted by jwholden
I know some tricks to using a shovel and it amazes me how often 'Day laborers' don't know them. For example, I cringe when I see someone backfilling a hole scoop by scoop as opposed to using the shove like a dozer and pushing the soil back in.

Same here, I can't stand that! I take an old piece of burlap that is 4x4' and place that on the side of the hole. I dump the soil onto that and when I am done I Just pull the burlap onto the rootball. It dumps all the soil right where I need it. It helps cut down on the raking out of the soil from the grass later too.

As for hard soil, pick and sharp spade are the only way to go for manual labor. I am still waiting for the day of laser shovels!