How to Make Your Own Soil Sampling Tools

Soil Probe

• 1

  Use a vice to bend a 2-foot section of rebar 45 degrees from the remaining 4 feet.

• 2

  Bend 1 foot of the short piece of rebar back on itself so that it is perpendicular to the 4-foot section. This is the handle for your soil probe.

• 3

  File the end of the long section of rebar into a point.

• 4

  Wrap the two ends of the handle with duct tape for padding. With a soil probe you will be able to sample the density of your soil by feeling for how compacted it is at different depths.

Sampling knife

• 5

  Break the point off of your knife with pliers and a hammer.

• 6

  Dull the blade of your knife by rubbing it against a rock. When working in a soil pit you will not need the knife to be sharp. A sampling knife is used to wedge out sections of dry soil so its texture and structure can be observed.

• 7

  Wrap reflective tape around the handle of your knife. This will save you time finding your sampling knife if you drop it while working in a soil pit.