Posthole Digger Woods PHD replacement blades/tips (PD65)

   / Woods PHD replacement blades/tips (PD65) #1  

mark.r

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Leesburg, VA
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I bought a new PD65 w/ 12" auger this past spring since we had a ton of fencing to get in. The replacable cutting blades have lasted aprox. 80-90 post but a few weeks ago with only few more post to do that weekend there was a significant drop off in "cutting" performance. To finish out the last few post I was able to flip over/move around the red replaceble cutting edges. That said, for the next batch of post I knew I needed to order brand new cutting edges so this is what I did. Well acutally I ordered two new ones and kept one of the old ones as the PD65 uses three and the blade located in the inner most position sees very little wear so I reused it. I did not however replace the bit . . . and this is where I am concerned my problem maybe. We started our new batch of post this morning. The first hole seem to go fine, without issue. However the next three were terrible. The auger would only go down about 6-8" and then it would simply stop. It would seem as if there were some type of rock or roots in the way but we confirmed by digging down by hand. We ended up finishing those three holes by me having to stand on the 3pt and put weight on the auger (something I wouldn't normally do).

So my question is. Does any have any experience with replacing the bit portion from a Woods auger? I checked mine before replacing the cutting edges and it "looked" pretty good but perhaps I wasn't looking at it close enough. Yes we are dry and the ground is rather hard but this PHD should still dig a bit better than I'm seeing today. I hoping that I just screwed up and should have order the tip with the cutting blades rather than having to wait till fall to finish up this fence due to hard ground.
 
   / Woods PHD replacement blades/tips (PD65) #2  
When say "simply stops" I assume you mean it just spins and doesn't bite anymore? I've got a 12" auger (not Woods) and probably your same soil (down in Spotsy). I had a similar problem and my teeth and bit looked good too. I find if you simply raise it out of the hole and loosen the first few inches with a diggin' bar and then try again it takes a hold again. I also noticed that some weight on top of the auger helps. Mine has a hole/tab on top and I just bolted a couple of old brake drums on it - that was enough weight to make a difference.
 
   / Woods PHD replacement blades/tips (PD65)
  • Thread Starter
#3  
When say "simply stops" I assume you mean it just spins and doesn't bite anymore? I've got a 12" auger (not Woods) and probably your same soil (down in Spotsy). I had a similar problem and my teeth and bit looked good too. I find if you simply raise it out of the hole and loosen the first few inches with a diggin' bar and then try again it takes a hold again. I also noticed that some weight on top of the auger helps. Mine has a hole/tab on top and I just bolted a couple of old brake drums on it - that was enough weight to make a difference.

Yeah, it gets down about 8" and just won't bit anymore. It help a little bit for me to stand on the 3pt. hitch but that only helped a bit. I ordered a new replacement tip for the auger Tues. as I think that is a big part of it. The tip, when new, has a "fish tail" shape that helps to pull the auger inot the ground . . . enough to the point that the cutting blades engage. That is what's NOT happening because the tip is so worn.
 
 
 
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