# Moon phase and digging a post hole



## Throwback (Apr 25, 2020)

Here’s a good example of how moon phase can affect how much dirt comes out of a hole. I swear we could fill this hole up three times over with the dirt we got out of it wednesday


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## Nicodemus (Apr 25, 2020)

Yep.


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## Gator89 (Apr 25, 2020)

Works every time.


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## Throwback (Apr 25, 2020)

I have had them that you put the post on the hole and didn’t have enough dirt to finish filling it up


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## Lilly001 (Apr 25, 2020)

I always check the moon phase before I dig post holes.


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## NCHillbilly (Apr 25, 2020)

All the old folks around here swore by it. I tend to believe that there's about the same amount of dirt in the ground no matter what the moon phase is.


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## trad bow (Apr 25, 2020)

Some of the old ways are fallacy. Most are not.


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## trad bow (Apr 25, 2020)

Moon phase at 1/8 th tonight and in the bowl position. No rain here for at least three days.


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## oldguy (Apr 26, 2020)

So what's the right phase?
I need to put off digging some holes!


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## JustUs4All (Apr 26, 2020)

You can dig any time you want but there is definitely more dirt in the ground at some times than at others.  Usually, whenever I need to get rid of dirt there is lots more in the ground than normal.


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## oldguy (Apr 26, 2020)

Dirt running through mitosis while you're digging?


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## Danuwoa (Apr 26, 2020)

I can tell you that it’s true.  I don’t understand it.  I just accept it.?. It’s one of those mysteries of life that make things more interesting.


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## Nicodemus (Apr 26, 2020)

From setting fence posts to power poles, I can verify that it surely is true.


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## oldguy (Apr 26, 2020)

Nicodemus said:


> From setting fence posts to power poles, I can verify that it surely is true.


Saw a pole replacement in Pelham yesterday where they had used foam to fill the hole.


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## Nicodemus (Apr 26, 2020)

oldguy said:


> Saw a pole replacement in Pelham yesterday where they had used foam to fill the hole.




Was it a real wet and boggy place? Right before I retired they were starting to experiment with something like that.


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## Hillbilly stalker (Apr 26, 2020)

The Farmers Almanac is second only to the King James back home in the hills. Heard that about post holes my whole life. My Aunt swears that was the only way she quit smoking was wait till "the sign" was in the feet. People laugh at it, but if the moon can control the tide in the big old Ocean...what's a post hole. My neighbor made a believer out of me when she told me to wait for the moon when I cut the wild onions in the spring.


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## Throwback (Apr 26, 2020)

oldguy said:


> So what's the right phase?
> I need to put off digging some holes!


New moon was Thursday. Duh that one Wednesday. Friday dug one same thing


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## oldguy (Apr 27, 2020)

Nicodemus said:


> Was it a real wet and boggy place? Right before I retired they were starting to experiment with something like that.


It was in town where the tornado went through right beside the street. Don't really know about the soil conditions but pretty sure everything was wet!


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## NCHillbilly (Apr 27, 2020)

Hillbilly stalker said:


> The Farmers Almanac is second only to the King James back home in the hills. Heard that about post holes my whole life. My Aunt swears that was the only way she quit smoking was wait till "the sign" was in the feet. People laugh at it, but if the moon can control the tide in the big old Ocean...what's a post hole. My neighbor made a believer out of me when she told me to wait for the moon when I cut the wild onions in the spring.


Yeah, but you can see the ocean going up and down several feet a day. I don't see the ground doing that. If the amount and texture of dirt changed every time the phase of the moon changed, all our houses would fall down within a couple weeks.


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## JustUs4All (Apr 27, 2020)

Throwback said:


> New moon was Thursday. Duh that one Wednesday. Friday dug one same thing



If you want more dirt wait for the moon to be overhead when you dig.  If you want less wait for it to be under foot.  It is all very scientific and has to do with gravitational attraction between bodies of different mass.  

Have you ever noticed that if the moon is to the left and you pile the dirt to the right it tends to fall back in the hole more easily.  There's a study on this somewhere, I think some epidemiologist was in charge of it way back.


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## CurLee (Apr 27, 2020)

Ive got about 170 more post holes to dig out of 250+ this spring. I'll dig em whenever I dern well can. 

I plant by the signs religiously though...


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## fireman32 (Apr 30, 2020)

I’ve witnessed this phenomenon, can’t explain it.  Grandpa swore by it.


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## Jethro Bodean (Apr 30, 2020)

My FIL used to say that the moon causes nail heads to pop up on deck boards.  He figured if the moon could cause the oceans to rise (tides), then it had enough pull to withdraw nails.  He believed that over the real cause - the wood getting wet and drying, and forcing the nail heads up.  I roll my eyes at a lot of goofy things like that, that he has always said.  My wife and her family are full of lots of dumb notions.


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## oldguy (May 1, 2020)

Jethro Bodean said:


> My FIL used to say that the moon causes nail heads to pop up on deck boards.  He figured if the moon could cause the oceans to rise (tides), then it had enough pull to withdraw nails.  He believed that over the real cause - the wood getting wet and drying, and forcing the nail heads up.  I roll my eyes at a lot of goofy things like that, that he has always said.  My wife and her family are full of lots of dumb notions.


Careful now - some folks got a notion that the world is round!


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## JustUs4All (May 1, 2020)

Jethro Bodean said:


> My FIL used to say that the moon causes nail heads to pop up on deck boards.  He figured if the moon could cause the oceans to rise (tides), then it had enough pull to withdraw nails.  He believed that over the real cause - the wood getting wet and drying, and forcing the nail heads up.  I roll my eyes at a lot of goofy things like that, that he has always said.  My wife and her family are full of lots of dumb notions.



Careful talking bout your grandpaw like that.  If your paw is still kicking he probably remembers where the woodshed is. LOL


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## mallardsx2 (May 1, 2020)

This is the best topic I have EVER seen posted here. lol


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## 27metalman (May 5, 2020)

This thread is almost as good as one about a bigfoot or a a chupacabra.


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## Throwback (May 5, 2020)

27metalman said:


> This thread is almost as good as one about a bigfoot or a a chupacabra.


How many post holes s you dug?


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## 27metalman (May 5, 2020)

A few thousand over my life I guess.  Sometimes I have dirt left over and sometimes not enough to fill it back up... post, dead carcass,  or nothing at all.  I can attest to fish bite the best when wind comes from the west and least from the east.  Also, if cows are standing up grazing, fish are biting... that I know.  Don't know about this moon phase and digging a hole thing?


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## Throwback (May 5, 2020)

27metalman said:


> A few thousand over my life I guess.  Sometimes I have dirt left over and sometimes not enough to fill it back up... post, dead carcass,  or nothing at all.  I can attest to fish bite the best when wind comes from the west and least from the east.  Also, if cows are standing up grazing, fish are biting... that I know.  Don't know about this moon phase and digging a hole thing?



When you dig a post hole pay attention all things equal some times you’ll dig them and there will be plenty of dirt. Next time there won’t be enough to fill the hole up. I’m telling you. If the moon affects the tides why won’t it affect the dirt ?


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## Whitefeather (May 5, 2020)

The reason that it seems like there is dirt leftover some times and not others has nothing to do with the moon phase. The reason is the grain size particles of the dirt you are digging. Sandy soils have larger particles than clayey soils. Residual sandy soils have probably up to 10-30% air voids. Once you dig it out and replace it and compact it then you’ve raised the air voids percentage. By doing this, and the fact the post is taking up space where soil was you’ll have soil left over. 
In clayey silty soils, it is the opposite. Clay has smaller grain sizes and less residual air voids. When it’s disturbed and replaced, you can compact the grains of soil tighter than the residual state. 
Another thing to consider is the soils moisture content. The soil has an optimum moisture content. If it’s dry when it’s dug, then gets wet it’ll compact tighter up to a certain point. If it’s too wet it will not compact as good as it would at a lower moisture content. If the moon phase had anything to do with soils, then nothing would stand up due to the ground constantly heaving and shrinking. 
After 30 years of being in the geotechnical business, that’s about all I know.....Dirt


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## Gbr5pb (May 5, 2020)

Plant your watermelons when the signs in the arms! One of the last things I remember my grandpa telling me! Must work the last few times I planted  them the deer loved them!


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## Nicodemus (May 5, 2020)

Gbr5pb said:


> Plant your watermelons when the signs in the arms! One of the last things I remember my grandpa telling me! Must work the last few times I planted  them the deer loved them!




Any time you have "new ground", make the first crop on it watermelons.


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## NCHillbilly (May 5, 2020)

Throwback said:


> When you dig a post hole pay attention all things equal some times you’ll dig them and there will be plenty of dirt. Next time there won’t be enough to fill the hole up. I’m telling you. If the moon affects the tides why won’t it affect the dirt ?


If it affects the dirt that much, how does your house not fall down?


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## Throwback (May 5, 2020)

NCHillbilly said:


> If it affects the dirt that much, how does your house not fall down?


You ought to know better


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## Throwback (May 5, 2020)

Whitefeather said:


> The reason that it seems like there is dirt leftover some times and not others has nothing to do with the moon phase. The reason is the grain size particles of the dirt you are digging. Sandy soils have larger particles than clayey soils. Residual sandy soils have probably up to 10-30% air voids. Once you dig it out and replace it and compact it then you’ve raised the air voids percentage. By doing this, and the fact the post is taking up space where soil was you’ll have soil left over.
> In clayey silty soils, it is the opposite. Clay has smaller grain sizes and less residual air voids. When it’s disturbed and replaced, you can compact the grains of soil tighter than the residual state.
> Another thing to consider is the soils moisture content. The soil has an optimum moisture content. If it’s dry when it’s dug, then gets wet it’ll compact tighter up to a certain point. If it’s too wet it will not compact as good as it would at a lower moisture content. If the moon phase had anything to do with soils, then nothing would stand up due to the ground constantly heaving and shrinking.
> After 30 years of being in the geotechnical business, that’s about all I know.....Dirt


Hush ?


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## Whitefeather (May 5, 2020)

^^^^ Hate to have to interject logic in these times we live in.


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## Flash (May 9, 2020)

Don't know what causes it but I have dug holes to plant a tree or bush put it in the hole and didn't have enough or barely did to fill the void around the plant.     Other times dug for some reason, didn't put anything in the hole, put soil back in and it'd be 2-3 inches higher even after packing down


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## NCHillbilly (May 12, 2020)

Now, have you tried digging the hole in the same exact place in the same exact type of soil under the exact same soil moisture conditions during different moon phases?


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## j_seph (May 12, 2020)

You would think that a fella your age could at least dig a more rounded, smooth hole than that. I suggest you fill it up and start over.


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## Throwback (May 12, 2020)

j_seph said:


> You would think that a fella your age could at least dig a more rounded, smooth hole than that. I suggest you fill it up and start over.



Lord you sound like my OCD old lady


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## j_seph (May 12, 2020)

Throwback said:


> Lord you sound like my OCD old lady


Well when I see proof that you can do it, I have around 30-50 I need dug!!!!


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## specialk (May 12, 2020)

i've dug holes to set posts, plant trees, and buried a few dogs, but i've never ran out of dirt to fill back in......


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## oldguy (May 12, 2020)

specialk said:


> i've dug holes to set posts, plant trees, and buried a few dogs, but i've never ran out of dirt to fill back in......


Guess you got lucky and hit the moon just right!


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## rosewood (May 12, 2020)

Learned a new tail today.  Never heard of digging post holes by the moon.  Guess I didn't grow up far enough in the woods...


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## NCHillbilly (May 12, 2020)

rosewood said:


> Learned a new tail today.  Never heard of digging post holes by the moon.  Guess I didn't grow up far enough in the woods...


Old people around here wouldn't pick their nose or peel an apple unless the signs were right. 

I remember one old lady got literally mad at my dad one time because he was planting taters in the worst wrong sign. He said his signs said that he was off work that day and it wasn't raining. She said he wouldn't have a single tater make anything. We had taters the size of footballs that year. Hers were small and knotty, and half of them rotted in the ground. He never let her live that down.


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## Throwback (May 12, 2020)

So I guess y’all millennials won’t believe that moon phase will affect plants coming back after you bush hog a field either will you?


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## AugustaDawg (May 12, 2020)

Throwback said:


> Lord you sound like my OCD old lady


Had a teacher one time say he would give 100 pts extra credit if we went home and dug 1/2 of a hole.  I told him the next day that I had done it, and he said there's no way.  It would still be a hole, not a half.  I said I covered it 1/2 way back up!  Son of a gun never did give me that 100.  And I needed it!!


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## NCHillbilly (May 12, 2020)

I think that if you dig a hole a foot wide, a foot long, and a foot deep, you'll get a cubic foot of dirt, regardless of the moon phase. If it is in a place where the soil has been previously compacted and all the airspaces mashed out of it, you could theoretically fluff that dirt back up to be slightly more than a cubic foot. I don't think the moon phase matters, unless a heavy enough chunk of the moon falls on it and mashes all the airspaces out of it. That's just my opinion, and I'm stickin' to it. You can call me a crazy millenial all you want to.


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## Throwback (May 12, 2020)

https://www.farmersalmanac.com/calendar/best-days/outdoor-chores/dig-holes/


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## oldguy (May 16, 2020)

Thought about this while cutting the grass. Everytime you needed to dig a fighting hole in a hurry _ there was ALWAYS too much dirt!


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## BriarPatch99 (Jun 1, 2020)

Dig near the New Moon ....You'll have to hunt dirt to fill the hole back up.... 

Dig near the Full Moon ....and you can't put the dirt back in the hole ... 


Now ....that is not just a "old folks saying" ....I have proved it time and time again to many people....


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## Oldstick (Jun 3, 2020)

This thread is a hoot.  My experience with post holes is I rented an auger some 10 or 15 years ago.  I got the cheaper "one man" type with a 2 cycle engine.  This was a backyard wood fence around 25-30 holes.  All I know is this 50 year old man (at the time) could only handle about 4 or 5 holes at a time with this contraption. 4 holes then go lay down in the AC for at least 30 minutes to recover.  Yep faster, than manual diggers but still the same amount of total energy required.  Contraption was like wrestling a 10 foot gator to hold it vertical then pull it back out of the hole.  

But I don't recall any shortage of dirt filling around the posts.


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## Para Bellum (Jun 4, 2020)

I just dig my post holes in the winter.


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## Gary Mercer (Jun 4, 2020)

You know if your throw a half sack of concrete mix in the hole, you will probably have some dirt left over.  
Just saying.......


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## KyDawg (Jun 9, 2020)

It this phenomenon why there is so much dirt on the top of a Fire Ant hill.


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## Throwback (Jun 9, 2020)

Gary Mercer said:


> You know if your throw a half sack of concrete mix in the hole, you will probably have some dirt left over.
> Just saying.......


City  folks use cement to put a post in


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## JustUs4All (Jun 9, 2020)

Do city folk not put rocks in their cement to make it go farther like country folk do?


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## Gary Mercer (Jun 9, 2020)

Just buy the Quick Crete gravel mix.  Suppose you "Country boys" don't drive some 20 penny nails in at right angles to help hold it.  I grew up on a farm in coastal SC.  Soil was real sandy, and the water table was at 4 feet unless we had a bunch of rain. Some times I would swear that the posts would grow roots.
Best fence posts were red cedar trees, but they took a while.


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## dirtnap (Jun 15, 2020)

Whitefeather said:


> The reason that it seems like there is dirt leftover some times and not others has nothing to do with the moon phase. The reason is the grain size particles of the dirt you are digging. Sandy soils have larger particles than clayey soils. Residual sandy soils have probably up to 10-30% air voids. Once you dig it out and replace it and compact it then you’ve raised the air voids percentage. By doing this, and the fact the post is taking up space where soil was you’ll have soil left over.
> In clayey silty soils, it is the opposite. Clay has smaller grain sizes and less residual air voids. When it’s disturbed and replaced, you can compact the grains of soil tighter than the residual state.
> Another thing to consider is the soils moisture content. The soil has an optimum moisture content. If it’s dry when it’s dug, then gets wet it’ll compact tighter up to a certain point. If it’s too wet it will not compact as good as it would at a lower moisture content. If the moon phase had anything to do with soils, then nothing would stand up due to the ground constantly heaving and shrinking.
> After 30 years of being in the geotechnical business, that’s about all I know.....Dirt


You can’t be giving out reasoning?


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## Tunaman (Jun 23, 2020)

One thing Learned from this thread,  the moon has an affect on the human brain....


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## Hillbilly stalker (Jun 23, 2020)

Lay you a new 2x4 in the yard ......and another one in the barn on a new or full moon night and get back with us.


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## Chrisl8n (Feb 6, 2021)

27metalman said:


> A few thousand over my life I guess.  Sometimes I have dirt left over and sometimes not enough to fill it back up... post, dead carcass,  or nothing at all.  I can attest to fish bite the best when wind comes from the west and least from the east.  Also, if cows are standing up grazing, fish are biting... that I know.  Don't know about this moon phase and digging a hole thing?


And don't forget the pine straw on the water, if it's floating horizontal the fish ain't biting,if it's floating vertically, well, better check your drag. I believe I'm remembering that right. I could be wrong,ask my wife.?


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