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local problem, kinda dry

G

Greg K

Well-known Member
We haven't gotten more than a couple inches of snow all winter which is unusual. The ground everywhere has these cracks everywhere. I optimistically buried my water line 4' deep about 4 years ago and without snow to insulate the ground it is frozen solid. What causes the ground to crack so bad?
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Many Clay based soils have a clay called bentonite (Montmorillonite) This clay is expansive and some will expand several times their (very) dry state when wet.
Your soil has this type of clay in it as a % of the total. In abnormally dry conditions the soil contracts as the Bentonite portion reduces its volume. See these terms to get more chemistry if you are interested. Jim
 
Thanks, but that is as in depth as I need. That's in line with what I was guessing, I guess I am SMRT smart lol
 
Dad grew up on a farm near Fairbury Nebraska. Granddad always had draft horses. Their clay soil would crack so bad that Grandpa told of loosing a horse in one!
 
It seems to me like the soil in a trench never returns back to normal. The water line to my house was dug in 1949 and I can still see it's outline across the gravel yard. The soil cracks sooner over that trench too. We're dry too and a month ago I noticed a wide crack starting over the trench so I took the loader and scraped up what little snow I could find to dump over the cracked part of the trench. So far we haven't frozen up. (fingers crossed). Jim
 
Earlier I was considering watering down the trench
to help protect against freezing, oops too late now.
 
the cracking is beneficial, when it does rain the more water is able to be absorbed by the soil and retained instead of just running off.
 
We use bentonite in well drilling because it absorbs water. One would think that if the clay was bentonite it would hold water and prevent drying. Just saying.
 
Bentonite for drilling mud works great if you have a leak in a pond. dump the bag directly over the hole and tamp it in with a broomstick. It will stop the leak instantly, for the most part.

That stuff is slicker than dog snot on a door knob if you have to walk on it right after a rain.
 
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