How to Build a Sludge Digger

Dale Andreatta, Ph.D., P.E.

dandreatta@sealimited.com
October 17, 2015 (Version 2)

There are a number of ways to build a sludge digger. The sludge digger you have probably seen in
videos, such as at www.youtube.com/watch?v=qkxUghbl3ZU&feature=youtu.be were early versions
made of wood that would probably not last long under real conditions. The design shown here has the
main structural piece made of a single metal bar. It will be more durable and easier to build in large
numbers. This is shown in Figure 1.

Figure 1: Photograph of a completed sludge digger. Note that the top of the rope is attached to a hook
at the top (left end in the photo) of the handle, and the extra rope is wound up and tied.
These pages cover how to build a sludge digger in small to medium quantities using minimal tools.

The Bucket
One important piece of a sludge digger is a bucket. Probably, not all people will use the same size
bucket, and the dimensions of the digger must be modified to fit the bucket. The bucket is assumed to
have an outside diameter at the top of D, and a total height of H. See Figure 2 for a sketch of these
dimensions. Ideally, dimensions D and H should be about the same.

The bucket should have nearly vertical sides, but a slight taper as in Figure 2 is OK. The bucket can be
either metal or plastic, if plastic is used, it should be fairly thick. The ideal size of the bucket in American
units is 2 gallons, or about 8 liters.

Figure 2: Cross section of a bucket, showing critical dimensions. D is the overall diameter, H is the
height from the inside bottom of the bucket to the very top. The handle (bale) is removed.
Buckets as small as 1 gallon, 4 liters, can be used. Buckets larger than 2 gallons will be too heavy to lift
easily, buckets smaller than 1 gallon could be used but are too small for efficient work. The size of the
bucket in the videos is 2 gallons, and it has an H dimension of 24 cm and a D dimension of 23 cm. The
handle (or bale) to the bucket is removed.

The Handle
Typically, the main handle is made of wood although a square metal tube could also be used. The metal
tube would be easier to clean, though it should be cleaned on both inside and out. A typical lumber size
in America is 1 inches by 1 inches, or 38 mm by 38 mm in metric units. This size fits the hand nicely
and comes with slightly rounded corners. Other similar sizes can be used. If they are not already
rounded, the corners of the wood should be lightly filed to reduce the chance of the user getting
splinters of wood in his hands.
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The ideal length of the handle is about equal to the depth of the pit to be emptied. If the digger is used
under a roof, the handle may need to be shorter. The minimum length of the handle would be the pit
depth minus 60 cm, and with this dimension, when the digger is inserted to the bottom of the pit, the
top of the handle will be near the top of the pit, requiring the user to bend over a lot. Still, this is
probably much better than climbing down into the pit. It would be possible to have a variety of handles
available at different lengths. At the job site, the correct length handle could be selected for that pit,
and quickly bolted to the main bar of the sludge digger. The rope would stay attached to the bucket,
but would need to be moved over to the new handle and tied to the top of the handle at the correct
length.

Main Bar
The main bar is the most important structural piece. It must be made of steel, with minimum
dimensions of 25 mm by 6 mm, or 1 inch by inch in English dimensions. With some effort, the bar can
be bent by hand, possibly using a wrench to give additional leverage and a good vise to hold the bar.
Other methods of bending the bar are possible depending on what tools are available.
The dimensions of the main bar depend on the size of the bucket. Figure 3 gives the dimensions. The
holes shown are for attaching the bar to the handle, and they are typically 2 mm larger than the
fasteners. Typically inch or 6 mm fasters would be used, therefore the holes should be about 8 mm.
A complete list of fasteners and parts is at the end of this document.

Figure 3: Drawing of the main bar of the sludge digger. The bar must be made of steel for strength and
rigidity.
Depending on the equipment available for bending the bar, it may be best to start with a long piece of
stock, make all the bends, then cut the bar to length and drill the holes. Alternatively, one could cut the
piece to length, drill the holes, then make the bends. If one does this, the developed length of the bar
(the developed length includes allowances for the bends) will be 20 cm +1.04 times D + H. If you cut the
bar to length before bending it, it will be best to make the bottom bends first. The dimension D/3+1cm
at the bottom is more critical that the 10 cm dimension at the top.

Wood Blocks, Pivot, and Bracket

The same wood stock used to make the handle can be used to make the wood blocks that attach to the
main bar. The total length of these pieces is 2/3 of the bucket diameter + 1 cm, and they can be cut as
in Figure 4, then attached to the lower part of the main bar also shown in Figure 5. The wood blocks
attach to the main bar with 2 screws, the heads of which are on the bottom side of the wood blocks.
The 50 mm dimension shown in Figure 5 needs to be closely held.

Figure 4: Wood blocks. These can be cut from the same stock as the handle, and these parts will bolt to
the main bar.
The rod that forms the main pivot should be a bolt of at least 6 mm diameter. The hole in the wood
block through which this bolt goes be as small as possible so that the bucket doesnt move around too
much. About 1 mm larger than the pivot bolt should be about right.

Figure 5: View showing how the wood blocks are attached to the main bar and then a hole is drilled for
the pivot.
The bracket can be made of the same material as the main bar, but it can also be made of thinner
material that is easier to bend. The minimum dimensions of the bar should be about 3 mm by 15 mm,
and it can be steel or aluminum. With allowance for the bends, the initial length of the stock should be
about 180 mm. The bracket is shown in Figure 6, and this figure also shows the pivot bolt. The drilled
holes in the bracket should be about 1 mm larger than the pivot bolt, although 2 mm is OK. If the pivot
rod is 6 mm, the holes should be 7 mm or 8 mm in diameter. They should be drilled after bending, with
some care to keep the 50 mm dimension from the top of the bracket to the holes as accurate as
possible, and even on both sides.

Figure 6: Bracket (top half of figure) and main pivot bolt (bottom half of figure).
It is important that the pivot bolt stay in place, and the nuts on the pivoting bolt can not be too tight or
the bracket will bend. Some type of nut that locks should be used, either a locknut, or two nuts jammed
together, or two nuts jammed together with a lockwasher in between, or a similar technique.
Depending on the length of the bolt and the thickness of the material used for the bracket, spacer
washers between the wood block and the inside of the bracket may be needed on the pivoting bolt, to
keep the bucket from moving side to side too much. See Figure 7 for a photograph of this arrangement.

Nut or nuts

Washers

Figure 7: Photograph showing the bracket and wood blocks, with some washers used as spacers to keep
the bucket centered. In this prototype the hole in the wood block was made larger than optimum,
therefore the pivot bolt is very loose and sloppy in the hole through the wood block. The photograph
also shows a single nut, whereas a double nut should have been used.
Figure 8 shows how the bracket is attached to the bottom of the bucket. Two small holes must be
drilled in the bottom of the bucket 35 mm apart (to match the holes in the bracket) and the holes must
be D/3 from the edge of the bucket. The 35 mm dimension is somewhat critical, the 17.5 mm
dimensions are not critical, but the pair of holes should be somewhat centered at the middle of the
bucket. Two small screws are used to attach the bracket to the bottom of the bucket, the size is not
critical but 6 mm diameter by 25 mm long would be typical. If the bucket is plastic the bottom of the
bucket may be a bit weak, the washers used should be as large as possible to add strength and stiffness.

Figure 8: This shows the bracket attached at the proper position on the bottom of the bucket. The top
half of the figure is a top view, the bottom half is a cross section from the side. The nuts and the long
ends of the screws should be inside the bucket.

Hole in Bucket
If the bucket will be used in thick sludge, a hole of about 20 mm diameter should be drilled somewhere
in the bottom of the bucket. This hole is to let the air out of the bucket when it is inserted into thick
sludge. If the system will never be used in thick sludge, this hole can be omitted.
In thin sludge the hole must be plugged, and a bolt and nut with washers is needed, as shown in Figure
9. This picture shows thumbscrews that need no tools to be applied and removed. Ordinary bolts may
also be used. Again, these parts are in place for thin sludge when the bucket is inserted into the sludge
right side up. These parts are removed when thick sludge is being dug out.

Figure 9: Photo of some thumbscrews (wingscrews and wingnuts) that can be used to plug the hole in
the bucket, and be removed without tools.
(It might be tempting to think of some type of automatic valve that will open and close automatically,
such as a check valve. This may be possible, but my experience is that the hole must be closed tightly or
it will leak thin sludge. The extra effort of removing or adding the plug is only a minor issue.)

The Pivoting Bar

The pivoting bar is a light wood or metal bar as seen in Figure 10. Again, metal would be easier to clean.
It attaches to the bucket with a hinge. The direction and location from which the rope pulls the bucket
is important, and the pivoting bar provides this function. If made of wood, the pivoting bar should be
about 20 mm by 20 mm, with a length slightly longer than the bucket diameter D. The bar attaches with
a light hinge to the top of the bucket, pivoting through an angle of 90. The other end of the pivoting
bar has a hole through which the rope passes. Figures 11 and 12 shows how the pivoting bar changes
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angle relative to the bucket, as the bucket pivots up and down. The hinge may be attached in a number
of ways, but must allow the proper rotation of the pivoting bar relative to the bucket.

Figure 10: The pivoting bar with the hinge at one end.
The handle attached to the main bar as seen in Figures 11 and 12. The heads of the bolts are on the
rope side so that rubbing and chafing of the rope is minimized, with the nuts on the side opposite the
rope. When all of these pieces are assembled, if they are assembled properly, the bucket will have a
maximum upward pivot angle that is limited by contact at point A, seen in Figure 11. When the bucket
pivots down, the maximum down angle will be limited by contact at point B, seen in Figure 12.

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Figure 11: The entire assembly, shown in the up position. The plug in the bottom of the bucket is in
place, as would be used for thin sludge.

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Figure 12: The entire assembly shown in the down position with the plug removed, as would be the
case for thick sludge.

Rope
The rope can be of just about any size that fits comfortably in the hand. The length of the rope is not
critical, but the working length is important. Extra rope can be tied up at the top of the handle if
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necessary. The top of the rope should be tied around the eyescrew at the top of the handle. The length
of the rope should be such that when the bucket is in the down position, as in Figure 12, the rope is just
a little bit loose. Knots can be tied into the rope to make it less likely to slip through the hands, as seen
in Figure 1. If a variety of handle lengths are used, the rope should be long enough to fit the longest
handle, then the excess rope can be tied up at the top of the handle.

General Notes
Any and all parts of the sludge digger except the fasteners may be painted. This improves the
appearance, will probably make the materials last long, and make them easier to clean, depending on
what type of paint is used.
At the top of the rope, it may be possible to use the eyescrew onto which the rope ties as a security
point, passing a lock or chain through this hook to prevent the digger from being stolen.

Using the Sludge Digger

The system can be used left handed or right handed. With left handed, the rope is in the right hand with
the handle in the left hand, and the bucket tips to the right. With right handed operation, the rope is in
the left hand with the bucket in the right, and the bucket tips to the left.
The operation of the sludge digger is different for thick and thin sludge. For thin sludge the hole in the
bucket is plugged, and the bucket is pushed down into the sludge right side up, as seen in Figure 11. The
thin sludge spills over into the bucket. Then the bucket and handle are pulled out together, holding the
rope tight so the bucket doesnt tip and spill. The rope and bucket can be clasped with the same hand,
alternating left and right hands as the system is raised. Having knots in the rope helps to keep the rope
from slipping through the hands. When the bucket is above the transport vessel, the handle is held in
one hand while the rope is lowered with the other hand and the bucket tips and spills the sludge into
the transport vessel.
If the sludge is thick the plug in the bucket is removed, and the bucket is lowered into the sludge upside
down, with the rope loose. When the top of the bucket hits the sludge the handle is pushed down and a
little bit to the side, so the bucket pivots fully upside down, as in Figure 12. The bucket is pushed down
into the sludge and the air escapes through the hole in the bucket. When the bucket is fully pushed
down into the sludge, the rope is pulled, pivoting the bucket up as in Figure 11. The handle and rope are
pulled out of the pit together, in the same was as for thin sludge and the rope prevents the bucket from
tipping and spilling. Since the sludge is thick, it does not flow through the small hole in the bottom of
the bucket. Once the bucket is above the transport vessel, the rope is lowered and the bucket tips and
dumps into the transport vessel.

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For a septic tank, it may be necessary to use the thin sludge method to get the sludge at the top part of
the tank (the supernatant) and then change to the thick sludge method to get the bottom parts.
A video showing both methods of operation is available at
www.youtube.com/watch?v=qkxUghbl3ZU&feature=youtu.be.

Future Work
Several variations on the sludge digger are being developed.
The major fault to the current sludge digger is that is requires a hole of about 25 cm diameter to go into
the pit. A dipping device with a tall thin bucket is being developed that will go through a 100 mm
squatting hole. This device will have a rope but no long handle, and will probably only work with thinner
sludge.
Also under development is a bucket device that has a large bucket like the sludge digger, but is much
simpler and does not have the long handle. This is intended for thin sludge only.
Finally, for very hard compacted sludge (more like soil) a digger with a sturdy steel bucket with sharp
edge is being developed. This will not fit through the squatting hole and will have a strong handle.

List of Parts
Main Bar: 6mm by 25 mm, or similar, steel.
Bucket: Sturdy plastic or metal, 4-8 liter capacity.
Handle: Wood or metal square tube, 38 mm by 38 mm, or similar. Length determined by depth of pit.
Rope: Any reasonable size, length determined by length of handle.
Eyescrew: Attaches to top of handle.
Bracket: Material is steel or aluminum, minimum 3 mm by 15 mm by 180 long.
Hinge: With small screws to attach one side of hinge to bucket and other side to pivoting bar.
Pivoting Bar: Light wood or metal bar.
Pivot Bolt: Quantity 1, 6 mm diameter or similar by 75 mm long, or similar, with nuts and washers.
Handle to Main Bar Connection Bolts: Quantity 2, 6mm or similar by 60 mm long or similar.
Wood blocks to Main Bar connection bolts: Quantity 2, 6 mm or similar by 100 mm or similar.

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Plug Screws and Washers: As needed, see Figure 9.

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