I replaced the footer drain on one side of my house, and may have to replace one on another side of my house. I live in northeast Ohio and my yard is heavy clay. I dug the one side out by hand using a regular combination shovel. Some people I’ve spoke with say that the digging would have gone easier if I had used a different type of tool. I’ve heard of using different shovels for different tasks, and this seems to make sense. Some suggestions are spades, drain spades, trenching shovels, forged blade shovels, etc. I see in catalogs there are shovels, spades, drain spades, trenching shovels; wood, composite, and steel handles; long handles, short handles, tempered blades, forged blades, etc. I can’t decide. Is there a specific type of shovel that would make this type of digging easier? I hope there are some waterproofing contractors, plumbers, or landscapers here that can share what they use and why they use it. I know an excavator is probably the best “shovel” to use for this job, but that’s out of the budget. Any advice is appreciated.
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I don't go for having
I don't go for having different kinds of shovels for almost all my work.
My main shovel is a round nose. That's what I call them.
I've had the metal part of the shovel bend so you want tempered.
I've had ones where the curve isn't right.
I've used ones with fiberglass handles but the handle doesn't feel as good as wood to me.
Right now I have a Ridgid round nose from Home Depot.
It is guarenteed for life.
I think alot of digging well is technique.
In clay you can try different things to help.
Open up the trench and work you way accross the trench taking shovel bites. By the time you get to the other side maybe the other side will have dried out a bit.
Cleaning the blade once in a while helps.
When you insert the shovel into the clay, try rocking the handle back and forth a bit to break the bond to the blade so when you lift and throw it will come off better. Change the size of the slice you take off.
There are a lot of variables in soil. Keep trying different things. I have hard clay here but it down about 2.5 feet.
A radio will help a lot.
It seems like I grew up with a shovel in my hand. A lot of people don't know how to shovel. Why would they learn?
I wonder if they were thinking about a "clay spade". The back of the spade has slots in it so there's not a much surface area for the clay to stick to - Makes it easier to get the sticky clay off the shovel.
I did a google search, but didn't come up with one. Maybe they're pretty rare? Or maybe I jusy don't have the right name?
I have always just used a regular long handled spade. I have wondered if spraying it with something would be an efficacious way of keeping stuff from sticking to it but have not tried this. When I get into hard pan I pull out the SDS Max to loosen the clay up.