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Digging out crawl space - Power tools? Bill 04-02-2008
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Posted by Bobk207 on April 4, 2008, 12:48 am
> "willshak" wrote in message
>
> > What work are you going to do in there? With only 3 feet of headroom
> > there's no standing and barely enough room for sitting.
>
> For now I am doing some plumbing (moving bathtub and toilet, insulating hot
> water lines), adding support under a heavy woodstove, and adding a beam and
> support to fix a sloping floor.
>
> For the future it would be nice to be able to get under there to run wires
> or whatever.
>
> The vacuum idea sounds great! Even a shop vac with two people working would
> probably be an easier way to get the dirt out. Also dust is created when
> disturbing the old top layer of dirt, so the vac could also remove any dust
> clouds. Thanks for the idea.

I've done the experiment (only to prove the futility) a reasonably
sized shop vac can only do about 1 gpm loose dirt removal. Plus you
need time (or a helper) to empty.

You'll need a vacuum excavator which is serious machine.

cheers
Bob

AppliancePartsPros.com, Inc.
Posted by RicodJour on April 4, 2008, 9:18 am
>
> > The vacuum idea sounds great! Even a shop vac with two people working would
> > probably be an easier way to get the dirt out. Also dust is created when
> > disturbing the old top layer of dirt, so the vac could also remove any dust
> > clouds. Thanks for the idea.
>
> I've done the experiment (only to prove the futility) a reasonably
> sized shop vac can only do about 1 gpm loose dirt removal. Plus you
> need time (or a helper) to empty.
>
> You'll need a vacuum excavator which is serious machine.

But they are becoming more available at rental yards and they
certainly have a lot of advantages. Some of the machines have a
reverse flow feature where the excavated material can be deposited
elsewhere on the site or in a truck/dumpster so the machine can keep
going.
http://www.constructionequipment.com/index.asp?layout=nocclamp&articleid=CA6492062&videoID=1283221977

R


Posted by Jim Elbrecht on April 4, 2008, 11:31 am
[vacuum excavators]

-snip-
>
>But they are becoming more available at rental yards and they
>certainly have a lot of advantages. Some of the machines have a
>reverse flow feature where the excavated material can be deposited
>elsewhere on the site or in a truck/dumpster so the machine can keep
>going.
>http://www.constructionequipment.com/index.asp?layout=nocclamp&articleid=CA6492062&videoID=1283221977
>

Got a video of one in action? I've called a couple rental places &
haven't found one to look at yet. [near Schenectady, NY]

But this might be the answer to my '10' trencher' question I asked
about on a.h.r a couple weeks ago.

I don't need fast- but I need to dig a 10' long horizontal hole about
4-6" in diameter- then 'elongate' the hole vertically down 7-8 feet.
The soil is hardpan clay.

Jim

Posted by RicodJour on April 4, 2008, 1:34 pm
>
> [vacuum excavators]
>
> -snip-
>
>
>
> >But they are becoming more available at rental yards and they
> >certainly have a lot of advantages. Some of the machines have a
> >reverse flow feature where the excavated material can be deposited
> >elsewhere on the site or in a truck/dumpster so the machine can keep
> >going.
> >http://www.constructionequipment.com/index.asp?layout=nocclamp&articl...
>
> Got a video of one in action? I've called a couple rental places &
> haven't found one to look at yet. [near Schenectady, NY]

Nope, I don't. Try YouTube or one of the manufacturers' sites.

> But this might be the answer to my '10' trencher' question I asked
> about on a.h.r a couple weeks ago.
>
> I don't need fast- but I need to dig a 10' long horizontal hole about
> 4-6" in diameter- then 'elongate' the hole vertically down 7-8 feet.
> The soil is hardpan clay.

I'm not sure I understand you. You have to dig a small diameter hole
that extends 10' horizontally then go down 8' starting at the far end
of that hole, or are you saying you have to trench 8' down the whole
10' length? The first one sounds borderline impossible, the second
one _might_ be possible with the vacuum excavator if the soil
conditions are right, but I think that you'd still end up collapsing
the trench as you went due to the vibration.

R

Posted by Pete C. on April 4, 2008, 2:18 pm

Jim Elbrecht wrote:
>
> [vacuum excavators]
>
> -snip-
> >
> >But they are becoming more available at rental yards and they
> >certainly have a lot of advantages. Some of the machines have a
> >reverse flow feature where the excavated material can be deposited
> >elsewhere on the site or in a truck/dumpster so the machine can keep
> >going.
>
>http://www.constructionequipment.com/index.asp?layout=nocclamp&articleid=CA6492062&videoID=1283221977
> >
>
> Got a video of one in action? I've called a couple rental places &
> haven't found one to look at yet. [near Schenectady, NY]
>
> But this might be the answer to my '10' trencher' question I asked
> about on a.h.r a couple weeks ago.
>
> I don't need fast- but I need to dig a 10' long horizontal hole about
> 4-6" in diameter- then 'elongate' the hole vertically down 7-8 feet.
> The soil is hardpan clay.
>
> Jim

Probably video around somewhere. In my 2006 copy of the United Rentals
catalog there are four units shown on page 9, two Vac-Tron, a DitchWitch
and a Verneer all with similar specs. 1-800-UR-RENTS or
unitedrentals.com should point you to the closest location you can call
for information. I've not used one of these units personally, but I know
they are very versatile and also popular for excavating around utilities
since you aren't digging with any kind of blade.

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