Digging in and around gravel driveways...Any suggestions

It might be a little easier after a good rain.

I have a 31" sampson and also the lesche hand digger. If I hit gravel I use the sharp point of the lesche to "pick" through the gravel pieces and loosen it up until I can scoop it out.

NCtoad said:

I have a 31" sampson and also the lesche hand digger. If I hit gravel I use the sharp point of the lesche to "pick" through the gravel pieces and loosen it up until I can scoop it out.

Click to expand...

Stick the sharp point in, or use a flathead screwdriver, and use a twisting motion to loosen the gravel. Don't try to dig straight down until the gravel is loose.

With the 31" sampson I've found that I can--from my knees--dig through the gravel sideways at a shallow angle. I had a permission where perhaps 2/3 of the property was 6-8 inches of gravel under about 2 inches of topsoil. The finds were in the gravel and below. From my knees I would start out farther away from the target than usual (to avoid hitting it) and firmly jab the shovel sideways at a shallow angle into the gravel/dirt. The gravel could move up since the shovel was forcing it where there was no resistance. A few more sideways jabs and it was plenty loose in the center to use the smaller tools.