[TowerTalk] Digging the Hole

[ehekman at cox.net]

>        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 bags.

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