Soil Water Solutions

Which soil sampling method is appropriate depends on why you are sampling the soil. The main difference between methods is the degree of soil disturbance during sampling. For some purposes (eg chemical analysis) mixed or broken up soil is required. For physical measurements, (strength, water holding) the sampler should remove a portion of soil without disturbance. Soil Water Solutions sell three types of samplers and an ‘installer’ which is not intended to take a sample but to make a hole into which an instrument will be installed.

1. 50mm diameter soil auger- to obtain a disturbed soil sample from depths up to 2m (most commonly 0-1m). (We can supply larger diameter augers but these can be obtained more cheaply from most hardware stores)

2. Tanner Sampler - to obtain undisturbed soil samples from surface, or near surface soils or the walls of a pit.

3. Tube sampler tips - to make tube samplers - these are usually used with a jack hammer or as an accessory for truck mounted hydraulic soil samplers. Samples are disturbed - but not as badly as with auger sampling

4. Instrument installers - these are ‘micro- augers’, not designed to take a soil sample (though they will), but are intended to make a small hole to install instruments.

50mm diameter soil auger

Supplied (usually) with a 1.2m handle (other sizes on application)

Price $80 (incl GST)

Tanner sampler - Kit comprises a plastic box with the sample guide, piston, rubber hammer, and 25 stainless steel sample rings with caps. Kit price $1080 (incl GST)

Additional rings with caps are available $20 each (GST incl) spare caps $4 pair

This sampler complies with the standard that the sample ring area is < 5% of the sampled soil face to ensure that compaction of the sample is negligible.

Tube sampler replacement tips. These are ‘Stace’ tube tips which can be fitted to readily available steel tubes so that when pushed into the soil (with a hammer or hydraulic ram), the soil sample inside the tube is smaller than the inner tube diameter (so comes out easily) and the hole made in the soil is larger than the outer tube diameter (so the tube can be removed easily) This is the easiest way to extract soil samples in quantity from depths up to 2m. The samples ARE disturbed - even if they don’t appear to be

Ring for price .


	Micro auger instrument installers, these are small augers - 15mm diameter and upwards , custom designed to cut a precision hole in soil to install instruments. Price on application - an example is a 200mm auger with 0.5m shaft $75 GST incl