Whether your equipment is digging, loading material, or simply driving across the jobsite, operating on sandy soil can create difficulties with traction, trench safety, and other aspects of the project. At Atlantic Coastal Equipment, many of our customers work on jobs near the coast and work in and on loose soil every day. In this article, we cover some best practices for effectively digging in sand and operating on sandy soil.
When working on sandy soils, maintaining adequate traction can be tough, especially when operating on an incline. We recommend equipping your machine with wide, high flotation CTL or excavator tracks. Wider tracks result in a lower ground pressure, which will help minimize the risk of sinking into soft sandy soil.
For your non-tracked equipment, like skid steers, both solid and pneumatic tires can be effective in sandy soil. It’s important to use skid steer tires with deep tread patterns, so they will provide more traction and allow you to effectively maneuver on loose ground like sand, gravel, and similar types of terrain.
When digging in sand, it’s critical that your operator prioritize precision and gentleness. Looser soils are easy to disturb, and cave-ins are more likely than with more dense soil. By reducing the digging speed and gradually scooping out the material in smaller increments, you will ensure stability, minimize the chances of dangerous and time consuming collapses or cave-ins, and maximize your productivity on the job.
Using the right excavator bucket or skid steer bucket is important for successfully handling any digging or loading application. When it comes to loose, sandy soils, using a general purpose excavator bucket or skid steer bucket with wide teeth and curved edges is typically the best choice, because this type will minimize soil disturbance while still allowing you to move large volumes of material.
Sandy soil can lead to grinding between components, causing an increase in wear and tear on CTL and excavator tracks. If possible, use a shovel to clean out your equipment undercarriage throughout the day and a pressure washer to remove sand and dirt from more difficult to reach areas.
Due to its abrasiveness, sand can be very tough on your undercarriage, bucket, and the bushings and pins. We recommend keeping all these components well greased and lubricating them multiple times throughout the day or about every five hours. This practice will help keep sand out of sensitive areas, and any sand that builds up on the grease will be forced out when you pump in the new grease.
Working on sandy soil makes installing trench protection even more important. Sloping and benching, which involves cutting back the trench wall at an angle to create a slope, then developing steps to travel in and out of the trench, is generally less effective when digging in sand, because the ground is too loose and the particles don’t stick together very well. Instead, we suggest installing shoring and trench shields. These systems use metal supports for the trench walls to help prevent cave-ins on excavation projects.
Soil tests are essential for ensuring jobsite and building safety and are especially necessary on sandy soil. They will help the on-site expert determine what type of benching, shoring, and sloping are needed to prevent cave-ins during the excavation. By understanding the physical and chemical compositions of your soil, you can determine whether it can bear the weight of the excavation and any construction work and how much compaction may be needed.
If you have any questions about working on sandy soil, which excavator bucket to use, which skid steer bucket to use, or digging in sand in general, contact our team today.
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