Trenching Soft Shale

[63knucklehead]

I need to dig a trench about 300' long to get water to a new barn. The location is Carter county in eastern KY. I am not real good at rock identification but the gentlemen that excavated the area for my barn said that my location is predominantly soft shale.

My question is can I rent a trencher that will be able to cut through soft shale or is this something that will need to be done by a professional with equipment that cannot be rented?

 

[Egon]

Maybe dig down to the shale and see what it looks like. Then you can make a decision based on what it looks like and how easy it is to break up with a shovel.

 

[63knucklehead]

The shale is on the surface in many places and can be broken up by hand with a spud bar and other hand tools but I don't want to do this for 300' plus. What I am looking for is anyone with in-depth knowledge and experience with trenchers and their advice /opinion as to whether this can be done with a rentable trencher or needs to be done by a professional.

 

[psj12]

Trenchers can be had with rock teeth on them. I used one in mideast Oklahoma in shale and it worked well. Every other tooth had rock teeth, or points, in them.

 

[63knucklehead]

Trenchers can be had with rock teeth on them. I used one in mideast Oklahoma in shale and it worked well. Every other tooth had rock teeth, or points, in them.

Thank you! This is good to know as now I can ask the rental companies if they have trenchers with rock teeth. My guess is that they run into this alot as much of the area is made up of this soft shale.

 

[MarkV]

I would talk to any rental agencies that specialize in contractors needs. It sounds like something they run into in your area. If you are as rural as I am you will most likely have to find a contractor with the right equipment. Someone in your area does it.

MarkV

 

[Egon]

The shale is on the surface in many places and can be broken up by hand with a spud bar and other hand tools

Check at the local rental agencies and ask some questions. They will; most likely, have an answer.

I'm gona say you can do it with the proper rental unit, going slow and having patience.

 

[gwjd]

as a mining / geo student i can say two things if your gonna build any thing on that ground like a building or other expensive structure have a geological engineer look at it shale has all kinds of problems.

if you are curious as to your rock id then you can call usgs or appropriate state agency they can tell you where to fined the rock layers map on the web. this map will show you the geology of the bed or "country" rock and to some degree the depth


also maybe you will get lucky and have oil shale lol if its black and smells like natural gas