Rob_P Posted June 7, 2017 Share Posted June 7, 2017 Has anyone purchased the shale that U-dig ships out? Me and the lady are considering getting some but don't want to bother if it's no good and I'm also curious about the sizes of chunks. I work with some guys that buy "pay dirt" for gold and never seem to get anything and I want to avoid that. I realize there's no way of telling but if there's been positive experiences it'll ease my mind. Thanks! Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Fossildude19 Posted June 7, 2017 Share Posted June 7, 2017 I was once gifted a box of the shale from U-Dig by a good friend of mine here on the Forum. (Thanks JimB88!) The chunks were fairly sizeable, but they did all fit in a large Priority Mail box. And it was all of 40-45 lbs of rock. I ended up with a number of trilobites - probably around 20 Elrathia kingii of varying sizes (One of them being a 2.5 incher!) 8 or 9 agnostid trilobites, and a few partial Asaphiscus wheeleri. I would just caution you to make sure you split the shale into the smallest pieces you can. Some of the trilobites are tiny, but I would say that the majority of the Elrathia were around the 3/4 to 1 inch size. If you cannot get out to Utah to dig there personally, I would recommend this route. I was not disappointed. Good luck. Regards, 5 Tim - VETERAN SHALE SPLITTER VFOTM --- APRIL - 2015 __________________________________________________ "In every walk with nature one receives far more than he seeks." John Muir ~ ~ ~ ~ ><))))( *> About Me Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
bcfossilcollector Posted June 7, 2017 Share Posted June 7, 2017 Wow a 2.5 inch kingii ! While we all know how common Elrathia kingii's generally are, specimens around or over 2 inches are very uncommon. One of my favourite trilobites! Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Herb Posted June 7, 2017 Share Posted June 7, 2017 How much is the box? "Absence of evidence is not evidence of absence"_ Carl Sagen No trees were killed in this posting......however, many innocent electrons were diverted from where they originally intended to go. " I think, therefore I collect fossils." _ Me "When you have eliminated the impossible, whatever remains, however improbable, must be the truth."__S. Holmes "can't we all just get along?" Jack Nicholson from Mars Attacks Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Fossildude19 Posted June 7, 2017 Share Posted June 7, 2017 Herb, Last I checked, it was $69.99, plus $20 shipping. U-DIG EDIT: 11/11/21 - Price has gone up to 75 and shipping. 2 Tim - VETERAN SHALE SPLITTER VFOTM --- APRIL - 2015 __________________________________________________ "In every walk with nature one receives far more than he seeks." John Muir ~ ~ ~ ~ ><))))( *> About Me Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
SailingAlongToo Posted June 7, 2017 Share Posted June 7, 2017 4 hours ago, Fossildude19 said: I was once gifted a box of the shale from U-Dig by a good friend of mine here on the Forum. (Thanks JimB88!) The chunks were fairly sizeable, but they did all fit in a large Priority Mail box. And it was all of 70-75 lbs of rock. I ended up with a number of trilobites - probably around 20 Elrathia kingii of varying sizes (One of them being a 2.5 incher!) 8 or 9 agnostid trilobites, and a few partial Asaphiscus wheeleri. I would just caution you to make sure you split the shale into the smallest pieces you can. Some of the trilobites are tiny, but I would say that the majority of the Elrathia were around the 3/4 to 1 inch size. If you cannot get out to Utah to dig there personally, I would recommend this route. I was not disappointed. Good luck. Regards, @Daleksec Trevor, you should look into this. Less than $100 including shipping!! Don't know much about history Don't know much biology Don't know much about science books......... Sam Cooke - (What A) Wonderful World Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
FossilDudeCO Posted June 7, 2017 Share Posted June 7, 2017 That is a great price! TFF Might wipe them out of shale Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Rob_P Posted June 9, 2017 Author Share Posted June 9, 2017 I'll be ordering a box tonight then! Was worried it would just be a bag of tiny pieces and you more or less would pick through them vs actually splitting. Thanks! Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
jpc Posted June 9, 2017 Share Posted June 9, 2017 One of our volunteers bought a bunch of bags from them years ago and they were trilo-rich. 1 Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Archaeopteris Posted June 10, 2017 Share Posted June 10, 2017 What/who is U Dig? Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Kane Posted June 10, 2017 Share Posted June 10, 2017 2 hours ago, Archaeopteris said: What/who is U Dig? U-Dig is the name of quarry/fossil park in Utah where visitors can pay to collect Cambrian-age fossils. One of its main attractions is its trilobites: http://www.u-digfossils.com/ 2 ...How to Philosophize with a Hammer Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Archaeopteris Posted June 10, 2017 Share Posted June 10, 2017 2 minutes ago, Kane said: U-Dig is the name of quarry/fossil park in Utah where visitors can pay to collect Cambrian-age fossils. One of its main attractions is its trilobites: http://www.u-digfossils.com/ That looks cool! Can we have one in England? Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Rob_P Posted June 23, 2017 Author Share Posted June 23, 2017 Update: the U-dig customer service is amazing an I've only split about half of the 40lbs and I've uncovered about 20 trilo's. So far all have been relatively small but just as exciting! Well worth the price. They even included a few bonus one already cleaned up! 2 Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Darktooth Posted June 23, 2017 Share Posted June 23, 2017 Very cool! I may have to order some myself! I like Trilo-butts and I cannot lie. Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Fossildude19 Posted June 24, 2017 Share Posted June 24, 2017 1 hour ago, Rob_P said: Update: the U-dig customer service is amazing an I've only split about half of the 40lbs and I've uncovered about 20 trilo's. So far all have been relatively small but just as exciting! Well worth the price. They even included a few bonus one already cleaned up! Rob, Glad it has worked out well for you! Thanks for the update. Tim - VETERAN SHALE SPLITTER VFOTM --- APRIL - 2015 __________________________________________________ "In every walk with nature one receives far more than he seeks." John Muir ~ ~ ~ ~ ><))))( *> About Me Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Fossil-Hound Posted June 24, 2017 Share Posted June 24, 2017 I'm moving out to Utah and will be very close to U-Dig. I already own a ton of very large trilobites from the location and can ship you shale if you want. I have a bucket full of trilobite encrusted shale in my in-laws garage and each trilobite is 1-2 inches. I'm talking monster sized E. kingii and a lot of large A. wheeleri. 1 Do or do not. There is no try. - Yoda Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Rob_P Posted June 24, 2017 Author Share Posted June 24, 2017 I might have to take you up on that. The girlfriend wants to split some too but I'm impatient and already split my share. Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
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