As I've posted about on here (cause this board is amazingly helpful - thanks), we are doing a couple of things over the next few months that will all involve digging in our fun clay soil up here in Rockwall (paver patio, flower bed redo, etc.)

Any tips? I had recently cleaned and sharpened my shovel after years of not really maintaining it, but it didn't help much. Within a few attempts, it was coming out with clay stuck to it in mass.

Any ways to help prevent this? Any types of shovels that will be better for digging in clay soil? We're hoping to amend the flower bed when with top soil and organic compost, but until then, any tips?

My father used a power washer to bore holes for his deck posts. It's fantastically effective, although it may not be really appropriate for your purposes.





[This message has been edited by vigna_ag (edited 4/13/2014 12:07p).]

Elbow grease

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Elbow grease

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Let me google that for you.....

"Shoveling is hard work, but it's often even harder when clay soil sticks to the shovel, forcing you to stop and scrape off the clay. The solution? Rub a light coat of floor or car wax over the metal surface with a cloth and buff lightly. Waxing also prevents rust from forming and even prevents snow from sticking to snow shovels. " http://www.hgtv.com/gardening/gardening-improvisation-tips/index.html

WD40 works too. http://wd40.com/lawn-garden/




[This message has been edited by yakman (edited 4/13/2014 6:47p).]

Rent a mini ex.

Put some oil on it, or get a bag of lime

Thanks yakman - I read about WD-40 earlier today and grabbed some while the wife and I were out earlier. We'll see how that works.

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Put some oil on it, or get a bag of lime

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How long does the lime take to break it down?

I read about some guy that said an old farmer (yeah, one of those stories) told him to fill a 5 gallon bucket a good ways up with sand and then enough used motor oil to keep the sand "damp" then just keep your shovel in there between uses, but that seemed like an accident waiting to happen and I wasn't sure it was a direction worth going.

Always drives me crazy when I google for videos on different topics (moving sprinkler heads, prepping a flower bed, sub-prep for a patio,e tc. and they show folks just digging into at least a foot of super nice top soil. My guess is the videos of them doing it in clay would take too long to edit into a family friendly version

Lime will immediately make the soil easier to work with, reducing the plasticity, making it easier to compact, and raising the ph. It does require quite a bit of hard work mixing it though by hand. I'm not sure exactly how it would work for you just excavating it out, but once the shovel became coated, it would work. The lime is really dusty, so be prepared for that. I use it when working with clay to make it use able for other purposes around the yard..

Cool - thanks! May look into that.

Backhoe with a jack hammer...
(First thought when I read the title.)

I have a heavy clay soil around my new home and I was trying to dig a trench with a front end loader last week. I gave up after only getting about 2 inches deep. Decided to wait on a trencher.

Justin '03

A friend of the family that worked digging graves for a funeral home told my dad many years ago to have a bucket of water available and to dip the shovel in the water before each time the shovel is thrust into the dirt. Warm water preferred!

I thought my dad was kidding when he told me the story last summer while I was digging in clay soil under his house to fix a plumbing issue and my shovel was always gummed up with the clay dirt but I tried it out and low and behold...it worked a heck of a lot better that way.

He then told me our friend learned it from watching his wife put icing on cakes (she was a cake decorator) and noticed that she would always dip her knife in a glass of water to keep the icing from sticking to the knife.

I'll give it a try Gary. Sounds like it's almost too "easy" to work (which is why you were skeptical, I'm sure) but I'm taking all comers at this point

Are you doing post holes or a big hole (post hole digger or shovel)?

I know with the post hole digger, slam into the ground, twist 90º then close and remove material. Best/fastest way to get clay out without working too hard.

~egon

Not for fence posts, thankfully.

Really, just to work in some material for the flower bed and prepping for a patio, so digging about 7 inches down in a 160 sqft area.

Nothing too deep or crazy, just enough to be annoying when my shovel is a ball of clay on a stick after each pull.

For that amount of area, it sounds like a job for a rear tine tiller...I like to do it as simply as possible if I can or get someone else to do it instead!

If you want to remove the material, I would look into renting a large tiller. When I installed a brick patio for my folks, I rented a tiller for a day. Best $75 I spent. Broke up the ground into small pieces, chewed up roots and stuff so I could easily shovel out the material. I had my mom behind me digging out material into the wheel barrow (I emptied it when she finally filled it).

If you want to work things into the soil, the tiller would also work it in for you.

~egon

My parents actually have a small powered tiller that I can borrow. I hadn't thought about using it in the back, but it would definitely help break that junk up.

My only concern with using it in the flower bed is that there are pipes down there (I think some for the sprinkler system and some leaving the house), but I suppose I could go around with the shovel and mark things that need a more delicate approach.

Thanks guys.

My rear tine tiller digs up to 7 inches deep which I believe that's how deep you're planning to dig...plus you can till in the top soil and compost as well. Works great and beats the heck out of working it with a shovel.

That's what I did for my garden this year...unfortunately I now have to go cover at least 65 veggie plants before the morning.