> Someone mentioned a backhoe with a telescoping hoe. It's called an
>Extend-a-hoe and will let you dig holes 7 feet deep or so.
>
> They have small ones with treads that go in and out so you can get
>it thru small gates - less than 40" as I recall. These days I mostly rent
>full-sized backhoes and they get the job done. You do need the Extend-a-hoe
>though. And sometimes 4wd is a must. Fortunately that's the way most of them
>come.
>
>Cheers & GL,
>Steve K7LXC
>TOWER TECH -
>Professional tower services for hams
>Cell: 206-890-4188
- Just poured the concrete last week - a little bigger than 3.5' X 3.5' X 5'
-> 3 yards + 3 bags...
For a few months I was trying to figure out how to dig the hole. I asked my
nephew, a landscaping contractor, if he had someone who could dig a square
hole. He informed me that he had just last year purchased a mini-backhoe that
would fit through my 29" wide gate. He sent his guy over one day who did the
job in 3 hours - including squaring it up and digging the last 1/2 foot by
hand. The hole got a bit larger after an incident with a sprinkler that was
turned on and forgotten for a few hours - one side collapsed and the other 3
sides had significant erosion so we bumped up the order to 3 yards of concrete
which should have been plenty to do the hole and 12' of sidewalk also that was
included in the job. I had visions of dumping 1/2 yard of concrete on the
ground somewhere to be hauled away later. I almost panicked when the concrete
stopped flowing with 1 foot left to go but after the pump hose was emptied
there was only about 2" to go which was easily filled in with 3 b
ags.
Lessons learned:
1) There is a tool for almost any job that needs to be done.
2) The time between digging the hole and pouring the concrete is an opportunity
for accidents.
3) $240 to pump 6 tons of concrete in 20 minutes was money well spent.
4) Order more concrete than you need (already suggested in this thread).
Ed
WB6YTE
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