So I was setting a post in this super rocky yard in Boulder last week and the auger just... stopped. Like, hit something solid and the whole rig shuddered. My helper looked at me and said, 'That's not dirt.' What's your go-to move when you hit an unexpected rock shelf?

4 comments

4 Comments

Man, that's the worst sound. I read a forum post a while back where a guy swore by using a digging bar to probe around it first. You gotta figure out if it's a single boulder or a whole shelf. If it's a shelf, sometimes you just have to move the post location a few inches over and try again. Beats wrecking your equipment or your back trying to force through it.

daniela8511d ago

Ugh, that digging bar advice is solid. It's like checking if a floorboard is loose before you step on it. So many problems are just people forcing a solution in the exact wrong spot instead of shifting over a tiny bit.

elliot_roberts10d ago

Heard about a buddy who hit a shelf and just poured a fat concrete collar around the post base instead. Worked fine.

phoenix_singh2515h agoTop Commenter

Got to ask, how fat is a "fat" concrete collar exactly? Like, are we talking a sensible donut or a whole patio slab he poured around the thing? Sounds like a future "why is this post rotting" mystery. @daniela85 is right about shifting over, it's almost always less work than fighting the ground and hoping a concrete band-aid holds.