On Mon, 04 Dec 2006 14:03:45 -0500, Doghouse
wrote:

wrote:
I got my new barn all closed in just before our heavy freeze took
over. But I still need to put 3 posts in the ground INSIDE the barn.
The soil in there is fairly dry on the top so I am hoping its not
frozen too solid or deep yet. But I did find the shovel was hard to
penetrate it yesterday. It was really too cold to proceed with the
job anyhow.

I loved to dig as a boy in Vermont, but I gave up in frost. It's an
interesting problem. The best solution may depend on the type of soil,
its temperature, and how much ice it contains. In Korea, soldiers
sometimes used explosives, sometimes fires, and sometimes an assortment
of hand tools.

Thawing will stop when the surrounding ground draws heat away as fast as
you apply it. I think very cold ground and ashes might even stop
thawing from a fire.

Others have recommended light bulbs. That sounds simple and pretty
safe. Most of the heat from a bulb is radiant, so lining the box with
aluminum foil would reflect more heat to the soil. I'd use several
hundred-watt bulbs with porcelain sockets and wire with high-temperature
insulation. A little ventilation may be necessary to keep the
electrical stuff from overheating.

A professional solution is a trailer-mounted boiler with hoses to
circulate water between the boiler and the hole. One could use a stove,
two pots of water, and a big syringe or pump to draw water from the hole
for reheating. An infrared thermometer would make it easy to monitor
the temperature of the water in the hole.

If you're going to rent equipment, just use a drilling rig.
or a ditch-witch. There's no point in using finesse
when raw power will do.

But still, we're talking three postholes/footings,
not the Comstock.