Hard soil is a subject we all face from time to time and maybe others will chime in if they have a 'system'
Better than any swing pick or wiggle pick is that 'terra talon' you have seen in some of my dig pics. Easy to fabricate for a test. Medium sized flat blade screw driver bent into a hook..( general shape and angle VERY IMPORTANT. ) to a flat point.
Thats just a 'test' if it does you any good you have to do it right. Harbor Freight sells inexpensive PRY BARS in 3 sizes. MUST be heated to bend.
Anyone else reading this has a word on it ?
That crow bar foot pick I use, when freshly sharpened down is outstanding. Especially if breaking
dirt thats only a few feet deep..Standing on top you can get the full weight of your body on it. For me, thats my tool of choice, I dont even use my other wiggle picks anymore.
To look back on various tools ( Gilberts hand crafted inventions tools are impressive )..Type in 'TOOLS" or related words like 'DIG TOOLS' in the search block above.
Here's a clue that is highly effective no matter the soil or what type tools you use...
Grunch out an up and down mini trench, even just 4 to 5 inches wide to as deep as you can, like 6 inches...
Then in true 'wiggle pick' fashion, wiggle and lever out each side of the trench. Soil & rock have a better place to move to rather than popping out one
morsel at a time.
For those veterans that lived through the digfest 'trench' of 09 know a different type of 'hard dirt'
it was Terrible, like thick gumbo.
All visitors to C3 can view what I consider the absolute WORST soil with artifacts in it...that is
the reddish colored material under the Paleo shelf.
Look close, it's trillions of limestone platelets
morticed together with a crushed limestone.
I leave that for Rogers & Light
The only time I have a soil consideration is if it's MUDDY
If this topic lingers, how about a pic looking into the wall you are dealing with.
Lets see how this info flies and if there are other comments.