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Yeah, in retrospect I should not have taunted the subsurface. I know better now. But I won't let it stop me. Not yet.

I tacked in some meauring tape, sort of a semi permanent fixture. Ten ft segments, starting below the top 4x6, since that rests on the surface. Bottom is 120" + 83".

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Dropped in the next 4x of 5/8 rods.

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Needed to be embiggened, as usual.

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Narrow side needs embiggening still. That will have to he another day. Widening is easy, but the bottom is some hard rock. 

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I'll have to get the two spreaders in, see about at least partially putting in the lagging (I like to block up the corners), and then the emergency ladder. But at least I can add a step that makes it easier to haul up buckets. Without that I'm lifting a 40 lb buckets of rocks up to my shoulder or head, and that's a real workout. Four foot lifts are better. But it's like Jeff Williams says, don't need to join an gym, be a miner.

I would have worked more, but we had to save time to race our rc toys. A little hole dirt to make a jump. You'll have to trust it was a good one.

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Meanwhile a quarter mile from my house a house exploded. But I was 100 miles away and 16 ft underground. I did have to reset a breaker, so must have been a good shake.

Final shot:

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Weather getting warmer and have a fairly busy summer. I'd like to have the next 4-5 ft below this 4th set out by the end of the year. Twenty foot something sounds good. Hopefully this hard layer of limestone/dolemite is only 8 inches thick, and it's easier going. If not will reassess. Technically deep enough at 17 ft to go sideways. A 4 or 5 ft side passage would have a good 12 ft above. Should be safe. But it would be cool if I could get below this layer and then have that sort of be the roof, like a natural lintel. We shall see. 

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Edited by CleverNickname

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  • As I posted above, I have a need to dig a few holes on our place, but before that happens I'll tell a story on one of my favorite holes on our place and one that I currently hate the most.  This took

  • CleverNickname
    CleverNickname

  • CleverNickname
    CleverNickname

    Nice Saturday. Got after it about 3 hours. Not a big update, but satisfying.  Used the big jackhammer today. Very hard rock layer. I'm now about 5 ft below the third set. So that means I ca

Posted Images

What, if anything are you doing to keep the hole plumb / square?  Looks like you're doing a good job maintaining dimension, but are you doing anything to keep everything straight?  Does it even matter?

  • Author
1 hour ago, Spaulding Smails said:

What, if anything are you doing to keep the hole plumb / square?  Looks like you're doing a good job maintaining dimension, but are you doing anything to keep everything straight?  Does it even matter?

Not much and probably not enough. Generally the threaded rod wants to hang down. But if it does wander, not that much. I'll clean up maybe later when (if) I dod concrete.

Perhaps this was addressed early on, but are you married/partnered? 

If so, what does your better half think about all this? 

1 hour ago, Prepuce of Doom said:

Perhaps this was addressed early on, but are you married/partnered? 

If so, what does your better half think about all this? 

It keeps him occupied and out of her hair. She probably looks forward to him disappearing down there. 

5 minutes ago, cactusflinthead said:

It keeps him occupied and out of her hair. She probably looks forward to him disappearing down there. 

I guess that may depend (at least in part) on the life insurance policy. 

  • Author
32 minutes ago, cactusflinthead said:

It keeps him occupied and out of her hair. She probably looks forward to him disappearing down there. 

The boy likes hanging out with me at the ranch. As long as I don't spend too much on the hole, she is okay with it. Not so much as a fan of me going alone all day, if the kids are keeping her busy, which is fair. But all in all it may he cheaper than golf, and less time consuming too.

5 minutes ago, CleverNickname said:

going alone all day

And that's fair. I don't want to read some news about rancher died in a fall in and trying to explain it. 

1 hour ago, CleverNickname said:

 As long as I don't spend too much time on the hole, she is okay with it. 

Preach brother. 

On 4/13/2025 at 10:08 AM, CleverNickname said:

 

. A 4 or 5 ft side passage would have a good 12 ft above. Should be safe. 

 

 

…..from?

  • Author

Went up last night.

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Ran the extensi9n cord and got things ready for the morning. Wall needed trimming. 

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spreader it:

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other side:

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Dangling noodle. Happens. While I was in the hole is started storming. I figured, safe place to be. Byt the plywood cover caught some flow of the roof and channeled right on my head. You can see it in the first photo. Ugh. So that was it for today. Got out maybe 7 buckets. I need to around and raise the lowest level by abiut 3 inches but it was kinda wet so I left it for now.

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I think you would have mentioned it, but have you had any critters fall in there and couldn't get out?  Bugs, furry beasts, sneks, whatever. 

  • Author

Sometimes there are crickets and 

2 hours ago, miguelito said:

I think you would have mentioned it, but have you had any critters fall in there and couldn't get out?  Bugs, furry beasts, sneks, whatever. 

Sometimes there are crickets. And tiny frogs that maybe eat crickets. And one time I found a snakeskin shef from a snake who probably eats frogs. But I think I have it sealed better now, and that doesn't seem to happen much. I'm always worried some dumbass deer is gonna fall in and die. But if I leave the plywood on, it gets too humid. 

  • Author
2 hours ago, Prepuce of Doom said:

Perhaps a cover of sorts made out of chain link fencing or similar? 

woah!

  • Author

Did I want to fuck around with a wet hole? A dirty, wet hole. That was the question. 

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I did. Scooped about 10 gallons of water and muck out. Got out the big boy tool, and started jackhammering away at that dirty dirty wet hole. Penetration was hard, but I was able to get about 8 inches deep. Hopefully such that if more rain somehow migrates down it will gather in one wet sport, rather than across the whole hole. Once I get down a bu5 in one spot, it's easier to widen. 

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I moved some spare plywood amd metal panels around. Hopefully that will help channel water away. Maybe one day I'll sort of French drain or trench around to better divert surface runoff. I really want to concrete all the way from the bottom up, and pour a good sloped pad. Really manage the water better. Might be fun to make it a little storage hut, with a trap door. 

On 4/26/2025 at 1:33 PM, CleverNickname said:

Maybe one day I'll sort of French drain or trench around to better divert surface runoff. I really want to concrete all the way from the bottom up, and pour a good sloped pad. Really manage the water better. Might be fun to make it a little storage hut, with a trap door. 

Consider building a berm around the area to divert runoff.

  • 1 month later...
Did I want to fuck around with a wet hole? A dirty, wet hole. That was the question. 
20250426_094658.thumb.jpg.b4a90f75bdb86b54ac570ec895d6bda3.jpg
I did. Scooped about 10 gallons of water and muck out. Got out the big boy tool, and started jackhammering away at that dirty dirty wet hole. Penetration was hard, but I was able to get about 8 inches deep. Hopefully such that if more rain somehow migrates down it will gather in one wet sport, rather than across the whole hole. Once I get down a bu5 in one spot, it's easier to widen. 
20250426_111205.thumb.jpg.bbb9e370f8eb0960d4d9d258e24a1528.jpg
I moved some spare plywood amd metal panels around. Hopefully that will help channel water away. Maybe one day I'll sort of French drain or trench around to better divert surface runoff. I really want to concrete all the way from the bottom up, and pour a good sloped pad. Really manage the water better. Might be fun to make it a little storage hut, with a trap door. 

So how's the hole progressing? The Iran thread got me to thinking.
  • Author

May and June have been moist. A couple of times I was up and pretty much did nothing but pull out buckets of water and mud. Finally scout camp is over, kodd sports are on hiatus, and weather drying out. Hope to come up weekly the next 6 weeks or so.

Fan set up, new ryobi spotlight (old crap ebay bulb fell and broke):

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Blowing air. A mouse had died and turned into a puddle of mouse. I scraped it into a bucket with a piece of leftover 2x4. I assume that's sufficient decontamination and I won't die of hanta virus maybe.

The layer I'm at is very f'ing hard. I'm committed to knocking this down level across the whole hole. But 3 more feet of this is daunting. I did the jackhammer without gloves, and degloved some of my hand. Annoying. Rubbed some mouse puddle remains in it for good luck. 

Big red jackhammer got stuck, so I had to get out the small red jackhammer. Annoying. But I noticed the little jackhammer chipped the rock better. I think I need to sharpen or replace the point of the big jackhammer. About to check Amazon on what a replacement costs. 

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Got out about 4.5 buckets in 2 hours of labor. Not great. A good day is 16 buckets. A great day is 24-30. My mask keeps fogging up, too. Might look into prescription sports goggles. 

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Edited by CleverNickname
dupe pics

This is one of those "great moments in Surly history" threads. But instead of a single post revealing a fetish, or posting a paystub, or analyzing hotel curtains and eliciting a day or two of hilarious responses, this one provides seemingly endless amusement and intrigue.

Hats off to you and @mooseoutfront for two of the best ongoing threads on this website.

So what’s the current depth?

Genuine holy jackhammer, Batman! you de-gloved part of your hand?

  • Author
2 hours ago, BearSchlong said:

So what’s the current depth?

Genuine holy jackhammer, Batman! you de-gloved part of your hand?

just a gnarly blister across my palm. I was being dramatic. The depth is still around 18 ft or so. 

On 4/13/2025 at 7:56 PM, cactusflinthead said:

She probably looks forward to him disappearing down there. 

& Then there's the hole he's digging.

 

/Rimshort

9 hours ago, hookem2010 said:

This is one of those "great moments in Surly history" threads. But instead of a single post revealing a fetish, or posting a paystub, or analyzing hotel curtains and eliciting a day or two of hilarious responses, this one provides seemingly endless amusement and intrigue.

Hats off to you and @mooseoutfront for two of the best ongoing threads on this website.

But is it PSIG quality?  How does it compare?

Do you anchor the scaffolding into the sides of the shaft in any way? If not are you worried that the increasing weight of the structure, plus the weight of you climbing on it, might cause it to slip and fail in a bad way?

  • Author
5 hours ago, smuggs said:

Do you anchor the scaffolding into the sides of the shaft in any way? If not are you worried that the increasing weight of the structure, plus the weight of you climbing on it, might cause it to slip and fail in a bad way?

it all hangs from the top, like a reverse skyscraper. If I added another set, the next set would probably need to be anchored into the sides. I think I could hollow out  niches and cement in some bolts if I had to. 

But my plan is to try and make it to 20 ft, and then try to concrete it up in lifts (removing sets as I rise up). Once I'm at 20, I might try and go deeper straight down, but more likely I'd start going horizontal. If I didn't concrete up, I would wedge in some supports from the bottom. I think I could source some 48x30 baker scaffolding, and that might work. 

https://www.idahogeology.org/pub/Bulletins/B-21.pdf

On 5/8/2022 at 2:28 PM, CleverNickname said:

I own a San Angelo bar

You've probably mentioned it somewhere, but what bar?  We have a Runnels county ranch and are in Angelo often.  

Edited by MontereyMX
BO&W

  • Author
2 hours ago, MontereyMX said:

You've probably mentioned it somewhere, but what bar?  We have a Runnels county ranch and are in Angelo often.  

Husky

Just now, thunderlounge said:

So walk into Husky, ask to see the hole digger, and tell them we’re from the internet?

I thought you had to say Muledick

Just now, Shoxthemonkey said:

I thought you had to say Muledick

That’s when he shows up from the back.

It’s the 2FA of face to face. 

Make sure you say you are there to meet the guy who has been posting pictures of his moist hole on the Internet. 

What is the temperature in the hole right now at the bottom?  If it’s 10° cooler, why don’t you put a plastic chair down there next to a beer cooler and call it a day. You know, a man-hole. 

1 hour ago, thunderlounge said:

So walk into Husky, ask to see the hole digger, and tell them we’re from the internet?

I’ll do it

On 4/26/2025 at 1:33 PM, CleverNickname said:

Penetration was hard, but I was able to get about 8 inches deep.

I get it.  Story of my life.....

6 hours ago, Gatorubet said:

What is the temperature in the hole right now at the bottom?  If it’s 10° cooler, why don’t you put a plastic chair down there next to a beer cooler and call it a day. You know, a man-hole. 

How many beer we talking about, because I'm liable to wind up in that damn hole the next morning....

On 4/13/2025 at 3:08 PM, CleverNickname said:

 

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You should have a net covering the shaft every 8 to 10 feet you can easily remove while climbing down.   Unless your wife really wants the insurance money.

I get it.  Story of my life.....

Americans always confuse inches with centimeters.
11 hours ago, CleverNickname said:

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My arms are sore just from looking at that picture....

My arms are sore just from looking at that picture....

I have the tamping bar that has a 3” nailhead instead of the point. We replaced some fence posts a few weeks back including a corner post set using salvaged telephone poles. My arms still hurt.
1 hour ago, davidg said:


I have the tamping bar that has a 3” nailhead instead of the point. We replaced some fence posts a few weeks back including a corner post set using salvaged telephone poles. My arms still hurt.

Yeah, I was the "breaker-bar" kid for the longest damn time.  Just a solid metal bar with a chisel tip on one end.  Has to be 50+ years old.  Still have it.  T-post driver is also a big bucket of suck.  

51 minutes ago, BabaYaga said:

Yeah, I was the "breaker-bar" kid for the longest damn time.  Just a solid metal bar with a chisel tip on one end.  Has to be 50+ years old.  Still have it.  T-post driver is also a big bucket of suck.  

I've heard so many different names for this tool from various cowboys and workers - a big Awl, an Asp, Breaker-bar, pry bar, etc. I've never heard it referred to as a San Angelo bar before, but I'm going to keep calling it an Awl.

49 minutes ago, The Royal We said:

I've heard so many different names for this tool from various cowboys and workers - a big Awl, an Asp, Breaker-bar, pry bar, etc. I've never heard it referred to as a San Angelo bar before, but I'm going to keep calling it an Awl.

Team #SanAngelobar here on the nomenclature.  I keep one at the house and one at the ranch.  Just replaced the one at the house.  Bent it trying to leverage up a big boulder.  The point was worn to a nub, so it was time.  

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This is the bar I grew up using to build fence. The heavy end does a great job of busting limestone at the bottom of the hole and the little end does a good job tamping.

We called it a rock bar. I have lost several of them over the years but my Santa Fe RR buddies always have them to give away.

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