Suggestions for a mattock and other useful tools for digging in rocky soil?

Submitted by HermesThriceGreat69 t3_11l0nam in BuyItForLife

I've been digging a trench for a ground rod for an electric polywire fence. Tried driving it in with tpost driver and demo hammer and that didn't work. Digging the trench hasn't been easy either, but I'm making progress.

Anyway, I bought a mattock from harbour freight and it's getting the job done, but the head came loose on the handle. I was thinking, since I'll no doubt be digging more in the future its probably best to get some durable tools to dig with. My soil is pretty rocky once I get close to 2ft down. So with that, is there a reliable/well built (not excessively heavy) mattock worth buying? Or any other tools for digging in rocky soil?

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Quail-a-lot t1_jba8yrc wrote

Ooof, that Harbour Freight mattock sucks. Been there too, friend. Get the nicer Fiskars one and also a digging bar. Stop when you run into big ass rocks and swap to the bar, it'll lever them out much faster and easier comparatively.

Another option would be to rent a machine. Our Home Depot has little BX series Kubotas for rent, and that would have the job done in a flash. The math worked out in the end for us to just own our tractor, but we do have a slightly larger one. We landed up redoing many of our hand dug trenches.

For fenceposts we use an impact drill with a three foot long masonry bit. We have a lot of t-posts and this is seriously the Best compared to pounding them by hand. Goes right through our sandstone. Have to drag the generator around on a cart to power it, but so worth it.

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rachiewolf t1_jbhy79e wrote

Thanks I too have sandstone.

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Quail-a-lot t1_jbjqtxm wrote

Stay with a corded one then for sure! Cordless can't deal with rock so well.

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CrispyBananaPeel t1_jb9vm0m wrote

A lot of house-brands of hand tools have lifetime warranties now. In fact, I think you can bring in and exchange your mattock at HF for a new one under their lifetime warranty.

I haven't tried this brand in that type of tool, but Home Depot has their Husky brand of hand tools, with a lifetime warranty and they seem to get very good reviews, such as this one.

True Temper, also sold at HD, also makes good yard tools. I think that's the prand of pick axe I have, which works well for digging, but I don't have that many rocks in my yard ... but do have lots of tree roots.

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Quail-a-lot t1_jba95v1 wrote

The Husky mattock breaks pretty easily, although they are very good about just handing you a new one perpetually. We landed up with the more expensive Fiskars, but we have a Husky around a backup mattock.

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BallsOutKrunked t1_jba3gm1 wrote

Bro if you have a lot of rocks the Klein Grizzly is what you want. You can tear large rocks out with that thing and it's designed for nasty pry jobs like that. I've jumped on mine to get enough lever power, which I do not recommend. But absolutely you can stand on it.

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dirtylaowai t1_jbb53ys wrote

When I used to to trail work, rogue hoe was the gold standard. Last forever and have great customer service, I’ve heard. website

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