Auger Technique

[MikePA]

I want to make sure I am doing this right, with the right auger, because each post hole is taking me 45 minutes and at this rate it will take me over 138 hours to complete fencing my pasture!!!! /w3tcompact/icons/shocked.gif/w3tcompact/icons/shocked.gif

Equipment: Leinbach Post hole digger and a 9" auger.
Tractor: TC25D running at idle.

Lower auger to ground and start it spinning. The auger 'jumps' when rocks are hit. See the attached picture for a sample of the amount and size of rocks I am getting out of a 36" deep hole.

I let the auger 'work' on the rocks, i.e., I don't lower the 3ph. If too many rocks appear, I stop the auger, get off the tractor and clear the rocks away. Get back on the tractor and start digging again. Getting on and off the tractor to clear the rocks away is what takes so much time.

If I speed up the auger, when the rocks jam against each other and the auger, the auger stops and a shear bolt breaks. Running the tractor at idle usually results in the the tractor stalling (disengage PTO, take out of gear, restart tractor).

Is there a better/faster technique?? Or am I doomed to 45 minutes per post hole? BTW, 45 minutes is the average if I don't hit rocks that are so big that I have to stop digging, move the tractor and attack the rock with a digging iron!

 

[EdKing]

Mike, with our wonderfully rocky soil here in PA, that is pretty much the way it goes with post holes and a compact tractor. The only way I can see to speed up the process is either get access to a heavier machine with a heavy duty PHD and auger, or have some one else to clear the rocks after you stop the PTO. With any luck, you will hit some "sweet stretches" with little to no rocks to slow you down.

 

[upgw]

Mike, You must be near me in SE PA, except my rocks are red (iron ore). I'm averaging over an hour per hole, with 1+ shear bolt(s) per hole (I buy them by the bagful now). Much of the time is spent with an iron smashing out rocks, it's not fun. My arm hurt for a week after the last batch of holes, now I've given up until we get some rain (no rain in 6 weeks, makes it even harder). Occasionally, you'll get one all the way down with no rocks, then it's just a few minutes per hole, but I'm getting very few of those. The slower I run the tractor engine, the more time I get to pull the auger up before the bolt breaks, but even then I'm not fast enough.

- Patrick W.

 

[MikePA]

Patrick, this question will show you how much of a rookie I am...Will getting rain make digging easier or harder? The stuff I am digging into is not hard packed clay, it's more like a powder. If we ever get some rain, I will find out I guess. /w3tcompact/icons/laugh.gif At least now I don't have to scrape the auger off. The dirt just falls off.

To all the other people who responded...thanks for letting me know that I'm doing things the right way. I just have to lower my expectations for how fast this process will be. This is not fun seat time. The levers on the TC25D (maybe all tractors?) are not ergonomically arranged for post hole digging.

Left foot - clutch for the rear PTO
Right hand - 3ph control

Then twist around to watch what you're doing.

 

[WVBill]

Mike: I don't know but let me throw a theory out there for folks to comment.

In the picture you attached, if that's a standard 8" hand post hole digger, it looks like you are ending up with 24" holes - all but 9" hand dug... ouch!. Are the rocks shown in the picture broken up in the process of hand digging them out or are they the sizes you are encountering with the auger? Looks like the largest one is about 9".

Would a bigger auger help? My theory is that if a 9" auger runs into a 6" rock it is going to jam it up. On the other hand if a 12" auger runs into a 6" rock, there is a higher probability that it will be able to dig out and eject the rock.

 

[MikePA]

WVBill, I should have clarified. I use the hand post hole digger to clean out the bottom of the 9" diameter hole I dig with the 3ph post hole digger. I laid it beside the rock pile to provide a size reference. The rocks in the picture are the sizes I am encountering.

Interesting theory about using a 12" auger. What do the rest of you think?

I assume that the way an auger attaches to the phd is standardized, i.e., 2 bolts?

 

[upgw]

Well, I figured moisture in the soil would make it easier to dig the rocks out with the breaker bar, the PHD probably doesn't care one way or the other. My back prohibits me from doing this from the seat of the BX2200, I stand along the rear side, stretching across the seat, the PTO engage is next to me, but up/down for the 3PH is on the other side... it's probably designed to keep people from doing what I'm doing, doesn't seem that unsafe to me, I stay clear of the PHD. I have a 9" Rhino auger, very nice 'bit'. With a heavier duty, clutch protected PHD, I think it would probably pull some of the rocks up. I'm going to see if I can put a slip clutch on the PHD... tired of replacing bolts.

- Patrick W.

 

[gbirky]

Mike,
Welcome to the wonderful joys of digging post holes. When I was a kid, I spent alot of seat time on an 8N digging post holes. When I wasn't in the seat, I was the one with the shovel and spud bar (digging iron) standing by to clear the rocks. I grew up and live in Western MD, just south of Hagerstown. And man have we got rocks. When they built our house, they could only go down about 4' before they had to blast through solid limestone. I remember some holes requiring six tries, pulling the auger out and moving the tractor to dig out 12" and larder rocks.

When its dry, the ground is harder. Even though what you are getting out looks like powder, the phd is making it out of rock hard soil. It really does help to do this as a two man operation. Its much easier with two, even if you aren't the one running the tractor.

Greg

 

[MikePA]

<font color=blue>It really does help to do this as a two man operation. Its much easier with two, even if you aren't the one running the tractor.</font color=blue>

This will prove to be a problem since there's only one man available. I tried to 'draft' my wife to assist and she said, "When I assist you, I end up standing around. I have my own work to do." I even offered to let her run the phd and I would clear the rocks. No deal. I told her things would go much faster in getting a fence around a pasture for her horses. Still no deal. Why she didn't want to stand around in 95 degree heat watching an auger turn around is beyond me! /w3tcompact/icons/laugh.gif

 

[jimgerken]

The larger diameter auger absolutely makes a difference in the rock-size handling capability. I borrowed a TSC PHD, with 12" auger and used it quite a bit, then went out and bought a 9" auger for one particular part of the project. I bolted my new 9' auger to the borrowed PHD gearbox and drilled 28 more holes. Thankfully I ran into very few rocks, BUT the rocks that stopped me were small enough that they would have passed through the 12" auger. Worth a try.