How to quickly and easily dig a trench under a strip foundation using a cultivator
The strip foundation remains one of the most common types of foundation. Due to the small volume of fittings (which is relevant after the recent rise in price), clear technology and ease of installation.
Not everyone hires a mini excavator to dig a foundation trench. Let's say there is no such equipment nearby, there is no access to the place, etc. And the trench, as a rule, is 50-70 cm deep.
It is difficult to dig such a volume of soil by hand alone. Hire workers? What are the savings then? There is one way that will help speed up and simplify soil work. This is a way to loosen the soil with a walk-behind tractor or cultivator, and then throw it onto the surface next to the trench with a shovel.
Mark the foundation with rope and pegs and follow this marking time after time with a cultivator. If the ground is loose (for example, sandy loam). It is convenient to work together. One loosens - the other throws out the soil. Then they change to distribute the forces. Saving energy in this process is on loosening the soil. It does not need to be cut off with a bayonet shovel.
If the soil is wet clay, the cultivator will fail. The soil must be with a certain percentage of moisture. Also, a compact dry soil, a motor cultivator can loosen for a long time.
For this purpose alone, you need to reduce the number of cutters on the cultivator to two and remove the wings (if it is wide enough). A more powerful technique like a walk-behind tractor is too wide. For example, with 4 cutters, the common Neva walk-behind tractor has a working width of 0.8 m.
An example of builders who are engaged in the construction of foundations:
We installed an electric motor on a housing with a reducer from a cultivator. The power of the electric motor allows you to loosen the soil in the trench quickly enough. With this technique, a trench for a shallow foundation can be dug together in 1-2 days. I repeat, on one condition that the soil is loose or not too wet.