With the temps taking a nosedive and the wet soil now turning into a block of soil and ice, I was wondering if you all had any tips on how to dig a pit into frozen soil?

I suppose building a fire over the area I want to dig in would be one option.

Any other tips?

A pick axe or a jack hammer.

dynamite. :)

homemade semtex does a pretty good job.

Lay a silver tarp over the area to be excavated. If the sun is shining it will thaw what is under it. It's slow...but it works. If you put black plastic on top of the tarp it will collect heat and speed things up a little.

A pic-axe is an awesome tool, but I don't recommend counting on it to open frozen soil esp. if the handle is wooden. First try to soften the soil as suggested. Speaking from experience, I"ve busted mine pretty good just this year working such a small hole to burry the root ball of two hardy mums. If this were a SHTF scenario, then I'd be out-of-luck having a broken handle on a very important tool thus making it useless. Not even duct tape will fully ressurect this tool. Time for a poly handle instead of wood. $$$$

-RidgeRunner Out

Your first idea is the best. Build a fire on the area you want to dig. Then rake the fire aside dig some till you get to frozen earth then rake the fire back over it. If the earth is only frozen for an inch or two and the area is small, then try poring boiling water on it. This may just freeze if it is to cold out and make your problem even worse.

a long (4-5ft) straight prybar or a tire bead breaker (slide hammer type) will do the job.

A electric jack would be quicker and a lot less labor intensive or if you have an air compressor a small air hammer will work.

Rock bar. That's what we call em in TX. Similar to pry bar, but straight. Weighs about 6-8 lbs, usually has one flat edge of around 2", and a point on the other. Pick it straight up like a pole, and slam it straight down. What a work out! You will be buff in just a few days. Wont do you any good tho with the ladies, because you wont be able to move for several more days!

If electricity is available, bosch makes a 22 lb chipping hammer (11311) which is what I use to dig post holes in the rocky soil in the woods. Screw the post hole diggers. They make a 6" "clay spade" that fits it, in addition to the regular chipping bits that come with the unit. It aint gonna be cheap, but if shtf, what a tool to have, and a generator to boot!

I dug my outhouse hole, 18" of rocky dirt, 18" of tight sticky red clay with rocks, and another 2" of grey kalichi clay (next best thing to cement!). I quit after 2" of that shtuff! In all, 2.5' diameter, just over 3' deep in less than 2 hrs, solo. It's a diggin' machine.

My second idea is to use grass seed. This has worked every time for me.

First thing you do is go out to the area and cover it with a good coating of grass seed.

Then check it every day.

When the seed starts to grow the dirt soft enough to dig.