Digging Deep: Mastering The Art Of Digging A Man Hole

I take you through the steps I use to dig a deep manhole.
/ thelevermonkey
/ thelevermonkey

[@ryangarrett3795]

Thanks for the video Shane, lots of great information. I know the long videos take a lot more time but it really helps show the details of the job

[@TheLeverMonkey]

My pleasure!

[@fuddmethen]

these are the best videos, in cab, working a normal day with some dialog, love it, marry christmas

[@TheLeverMonkey]

Thank you and marry Christmas to you.

[@user-pw1bg9fk2r]

Brings back memory's dirt construction all phases for 48 years.

[@biggad73]

Excellent job 👌 Excellent video 👌 Thanks!!

[@djanthony8908]

Learned a hole lot!..KEEP UP THE GOOD WORK..

[@TheLeverMonkey]

Thanks, will do! This it the reason I do the videos, not for the money but to pass on my knowledge as best I can.

[@g.prince6265]

What in the triangle bucket are y'all doing out there?we need one of those buckets on our crew,that thing is sweet,carry on gentlemen 🤘

[@TheLeverMonkey]

We use them on all our open cut jobs.

[@markford8479]

Dang Shane..bringing back memories,especially that bucket. I always said they should have added more side teeth to the upper half..Nice work..P.S. retirement is nice!!

[@TheLeverMonkey]

I am looking forward to it my self. only 8 years left. I will start doing something ells to fill my time or be a consultant maybe.

[@eldonhill4840]

Greetings from Local 302 up here in WA! It's impressive that you're still able to keep a wide slope like that fairly straight all from one position when you're not lined up with it. If you were digging a shored, vertical manhole excavation, would you still be hogging out the majority of it from mostly one position like you would with the V bucket, or would you be adjusting your track positioning for each side? It's pretty cool that when you're done digging the manhole your tracks are still perfectly set up for mainline. I've only been at this for about 8 years now, and I could definitely learn a lot from watching you! I neat cut large footings for commercial buildings/highrises a lot more often than I do utilities, but there's always more to learn in this line of work.

[@TheLeverMonkey]

I have only done a few neat cut footings. it is not what I like to do. As for digging the man holes I never move from my digging position unless I have to. Any time you move from the center line it is very difficult to get back to the exact position to start digging again. For keeping the man hole square I have a larger bucket that is the size of the man hole so I can just dig it from the center position. If I dont have the right bucket I just get the biggest one I have and dig with that. It will reduce the pinche in affects from digging the center position. Might have to do a little trimming on the close side for clean up. Have the ground man check the size, if good keep going.

[@anthonypiligno7618]

Very well explained thank you for the video.... JJ...

[@TheLeverMonkey]

Glad it was helpful!

[@ericamlin1460]

Really kind of jealous I never get layout like that! Keep it up brother 👍

[@TheLeverMonkey]

Thanks! Will do!

[@derrickpettit3489]

Awesome video man that's a trench right there, moving some material fast, thanks for sharing 💪💪🇺🇸🇺🇸

[@TheLeverMonkey]

No problem 👍

[@rogern.9226]

If at all possible could you adjust thr cam back a little so we can see how to work the controls like I'm some of your older vids I can see everything it helps. Good job on the video tho keep up the good work buddy.

[@TheLeverMonkey]

So I was doing a 2 camorra set up but I lost a mount nut and just found it. So you will be getting a dual shot again soon.

[@rogern.9226]

Sweet totally understand bud 👍

[@Mark-mm3bz]

You could do it faster if you's take the big bucket first to dig out the majority of the dirt, then go with the angle bucket to make a finish job. The way you're doing it, you are using a smaller bucket, thereby making more swings to the pile.

[@TheLeverMonkey]

While it is true that the big bucket moves more dirt. It also slows the rig down coming out of the hole. I timed doing it both ways and just using the trap bucket was a bit faster. Not much faster but at this level we look for seconds not minutes.

[@travisstonehouse4932]

Good video brother. ✌️

[@TheLeverMonkey]

Thanks ✌

[@skliros9235]

What size excavator you running? How deep is that ditch? Cool video.

[@TheLeverMonkey]

it is a 870G John Deere @ 180,000 lbs and that manhole was about 15' foot deep

[@andyl2221]

Looks like you are blessed with good souls and low water table, keep up the good work

[@TheLeverMonkey]

Thank you, I will

[@bigiron3304]

@@TheLeverMonkey If you encounter groundwater, do you have to slope it back further to 1.5-1? Or does that engineered plan free you from that requirement?

[@TheLeverMonkey]

@@bigiron3304 it does have a plan laid out for each condition.

[@richardsnyder9271]

Must be nice to dig that deep without water. NW Ohio you go more than 3 ft and you are making a swimming pool. Nice work and Merry Christmas to all

[@TheLeverMonkey]

Thanks 👍 I depends on the area you work in here.

[@negamehawker3563]

Yep,!..... exactly where the red barricade tape is supposed to be.

[@JDSWeather]

That bucket you got on the excavator looks like the bottom jaws of T Rex 😆

[@TheLeverMonkey]

I love digging with the V buckets

[@glennbanul5284]

WISH YOU AND FAMILY HAVE A SAFE CHRISTMAS AND HAPPY NEW YEAR. 🎄

[@TheLeverMonkey]

Happy holidays! and New year to you as well.

[@stevengibbs4152]

Very interesting video! I really like when you describe the what and why that is going on. About how many feet per day can be completed at such deep levels?

[@TheLeverMonkey]

Good question! On that day I started around 16feet deep and ended at 5 feet, did around 800-900 feet and 5 manholes. I have achieved 1000 foot days on a 8hr shift. The bigger rigs move slower than the mid sized rigs.

[@stevengibbs4152]

@@TheLeverMonkey That is an impressive amount of production. Thanks.

[@bigiron3304]

@@TheLeverMonkey Shouldn't the bigger machines move dirt faster? Or are they just better for deeper trenches?

[@TheLeverMonkey]

@@bigiron3304 they have more power to pull a bigger bucket at a deeper depth. But they do move slowly compared to a smaller rig.

[@showlandjr]

How come you don't have at least a 2d grade system instead of a pole guy? I see you have a laser set up next to you, are you digging with grade controll and then just having the pole guy as double check?

[@TheLeverMonkey]

Just the pole. I don't have the fancy stuff due to the company not wanting to pay for it. I don't really need it but it would be nice to have.

[@azizchkour6106]

👍👍👍👍Nice

Wao cái gàu múc đá rất hay

[@nealamberg807]

This might be a stupid question, but it just peeks my curiosity. Why does the pipe and the manhole have to be 16 deep into the ground? It just seems like a lot of dirt to be moved if it is unnecessary? Also a lot of time could be saved if the hole was let's just say, 8 ft deep instead of 16. Thanks for the awesome content!

[@TheLeverMonkey]

This is the start of a new development “housing track” and a sewer lift station will be going in to a depth of 35’ feet deep. It is the lowest point of the job. So all 4000 homes will gravity feed to it. We need the depth to reach all the homes. Here in CA we are in a energy situation and anything we can do to avoid adding a strain on the grid is what we do.

[@nealamberg807]

@@TheLeverMonkey that makes complete sense. Use gravity to do the job of electricity. I like it. Thank you for the reply Lever Monkey. Keep up the great work

[@williamdyer8839]

Surprised they didn’t set the laser on trackside to keep out of the dig zone

[@TheLeverMonkey]

Normally I toss my dirt away from the stakes. But there is power lines and a train track to the right.

[@gabekopp9986]

Not to be that guy but shoring? Trenchbox? Is there some thing I'm missing since the walls are kinda sloped?

[@TheLeverMonkey]

No shoring required. There is a picture of the plans at 0:55

[@diggermitch1]

i was just wondering why arent you installing the pipe and the manhole all in 1 shot

[@terryperrott9913]

I was thinking the exact same , I layed pipe for 18yrs

[@TheLeverMonkey]

There is a pipe crew way behind me. I dig out what they need for the week and fall back to help back fill. I is more productive if I blow and go and go back to help or dig laterals behind the pipe crew . Wen they reach the end manhole they fall back and lay laterals. I can then go to back fill or go back to digging main. It has been years since I had a pipe crew keep up with me even in a deep dig.

[@terryperrott9913]

@@TheLeverMonkey that works

[@codycomben1552]

Im not sure if its the camera/ angle or what but the trap looks like its setup to cut a 1:1 slope but the ditch line looks much steeper.

[@TheLeverMonkey]

The bucket is a 3/4:1 and we usually have a engineered letter for our digs.

[@codycomben1552]

Is that approved for all soil types? I've never had the pleasure of using buckets designed to cut slopes in the ditch so I've always benched it out or just used a box but I've also never really felt comfortable even benching at at a 1:1 in some type B soils. I've seen too many ditches collapse at the bottom or sluff off. Granted most of them was while it was raining.

[@TheLeverMonkey]

I like the V bucket and use it any time I can get one. Think as thou you are not disturbing the native ground that you are not digging out. Unlike using a standard bucket where you cut in your steps and swipe down to smooth the slope. You add pressure to the ground you leave behind filling low spots and breaking off the high spots. This adds pressure to the bottom of the ditch/slope that would not be there if you use a V bucket. Now if you need a wider slop than the V bucket can dig, you just do a small step at each cut elevation to make the slope you need and it still looks good. If you get into type C soil you are better off with the biggest bucket you can get to move as much material as you can. A V bucket wont work in this type of soil unless it was designed for a 1 1/2 :1 slope (don't see Theas very often if ever).

[@joshandicoechea6770]

What do you think about pipe laser?

[@TheLeverMonkey]

Never used one. here we don't always dig in a straight line. our roads have bends so it is just up to the eyeball.

[@bigiron3304]

Forgot to ask - do y’all have 2 lasers set up? Can you explain that? I’m still a noob

[@TheLeverMonkey]

@@bigiron3304 So what we do is we set a laser on top of the ditch wit a zero slop "flat" and shoot a hub with a known elevation. Using the long rod we then transfer that elevation to the bottom of the ditch. We set a new elevation hub in the ditch so we can now start a new slope on the laser in the ditch coming out of the manhole with a short stick for the labor to use instead of trying to hold up 20 feet of rod..

[@colincoffey602]

👍

[@TheLeverMonkey]

thanks

[@pipedocrusso4371]

with that soil why not dig straight down and stack 2 boxes, would prob take half the time digging and backfilling

[@TheLeverMonkey]

Here in CA it is not cost effective to use trench boxes. So I am told.

[@3000gtalex]

I hate that cameras aren’t able to reproduce the depth correctly or even give a feel to how large that machine is… Some day hopefully. Sitting in that cab is the only way to really experience it.

[@TheLeverMonkey]

So true

[@joshandicoechea6770]

What happened to you man

[@TheLeverMonkey]

Yes sorry, I went on vacation then it rained. then my wife got sick and gave it to me. I gust started to feel better. I will get back to making videos soon.

[@joshandicoechea6770]

@@TheLeverMonkey oh that’s good hope you guys had a nice vacation! I just got over the corona wasn’t too bad thank God. I Hope you and your family are doing well ! Hope to see more of your videos when you’re ready stay safe!!!

[@tpep1693]

Who is that clown that is standing on the bank there with his hand's in his pocket doing nothing?

[@discovery2727]

maybe the safety guy

[@TheLeverMonkey]

Indian girl watching for artifacts.

[@skliros9235]

@@TheLeverMonkey for real? Find anything?

[@TheLeverMonkey]

@@skliros9235 not on this job

[@kevinpoore5626]

Uno

[@TheLeverMonkey]

Thanks

[@jessecarrasco838]

Next video your redigging lol

[@TheLeverMonkey]

Go to work Jesse.