Help with digging properly

[blackrose]

Sometimes when Im in an area with very hard dirt it can be tough to "cut a plug" cleanly and not have to dig around a bit and make my hole bigger to find my target. I can easily do it on soft or moist grass , to where it doesnt even look like i was there, but on tough dirt its a big harder, can anyone offer me tips?

 

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[Sandman]

Hard ground is hard to get a target out and make it look like you were never there afterward impossible. If you have to get it, just do the best you can. If the target was out of reach of my screwdriver (probe), I usually left it unless I couldn't disc it out as it could be silver. Silver being so conductive, that's why it is scarce today. Just do the best you can.

 

[Tom_in_CA]

black-rose, I assume you're talking about turf, of course, right? If so, then when the grass/dirt is super dry (at the peak of summers), it's going to be next to impossible to go after deep coins, without leaving a trace. For that reason, a lot of guys don't do park turf in the peak summer month. Because yea, the soil doesn't cut like butter, and doesn't repack, like moist turf does. And the grass therefore in-your-divot will die easier, etc....

So sometimes I just save my turf hunting for the moist seasons. And at this time of year, hit other type venues (old town urban demolition tearouts, beaches, ghost townsy ruins type spots, etc...). Or hunt parks that have a better watering system so that the soil is moist (enough) year round. But for the parks that .... by this time of year .... get crumbly dry, then no, good clean precise plugs get nearly impossible to keep neat enough to re-insert back into the ground.

 

[WhiteTornado]

black-rose, I assume you're talking about turf, of course, right? If so, then when the grass/dirt is super dry (at the peak of summers), it's going to be next to impossible to go after deep coins, without leaving a trace. For that reason, a lot of guys don't do park turf in the peak summer month. Because yea, the soil doesn't cut like butter, and doesn't repack, like moist turf does. And the grass therefore in-your-divot will die easier, etc....

So sometimes I just save my turf hunting for the moist seasons. And at this time of year, hit other type venues (old town urban demolition tearouts, beaches, ghost townsy ruins type spots, etc...). Or hunt parks that have a better watering system so that the soil is moist (enough) year round. But for the parks that .... by this time of year .... get crumbly dry, then no, good clean precise plugs get nearly impossible to keep neat enough to re-insert back into the ground.

I'm still fairly new to md-ing, and this is the approach I'm taking. The ground where I live in Maryland has been bone dry for weeks. Even the small creek beds are drying up. When I have gone out lately, I've just hit tot lots because all of them around here have a bed of mulch, which is easy enough to put back and make it look mostly undisturbed.

 

[blackrose]

black-rose, I assume you're talking about turf, of course, right? If so, then when the grass/dirt is super dry (at the peak of summers), it's going to be next to impossible to go after deep coins, without leaving a trace. For that reason, a lot of guys don't do park turf in the peak summer month. Because yea, the soil doesn't cut like butter, and doesn't repack, like moist turf does. And the grass therefore in-your-divot will die easier, etc....

So sometimes I just save my turf hunting for the moist seasons. And at this time of year, hit other type venues (old town urban demolition tearouts, beaches, ghost townsy ruins type spots, etc...). Or hunt parks that have a better watering system so that the soil is moist (enough) year round. But for the parks that .... by this time of year .... get crumbly dry, then no, good clean precise plugs get nearly impossible to keep neat enough to re-insert back into the ground.

Yes I was referring to turf. I am just using my lesche hand digger, no shovels or anything like that. On saturday I spend about 30 minutes digging turf in a park but had to call it quits because it was WAY to hot. I could feel myself getting dizzy and I didn't want to pass out. I am going to stick to tot lots and beaches for the time being, just to get back into the swing of things. I gotta say diggin' sand is way easier, especially in the heat! XD