First time PHD use, and some questions.

[fredhargis]

I used my post hole digger for the first time yesterday, and things actually went very well after I had read everything I could fins on TBN about using it. A couple of things happened: at times I had some pretty sever wobble on the auger, which was shaking the whole tractor. I had not tightened my lift arms, and I'm guessing they need to be fairly tight (?). The other thing was that the auger did not clear the loose dirt from the hole, despite constant lowering/raising it. Almost seemed like tit wasn't turning fast enough to throw the dirt off the flights. My PHD says to limit PTO rpm's to 300, but I ran it up to probably 450-500 and still didn't clear the dirt. Since I was only digging one hole (and 2 others for practice) I just cleaned it out with my hand held post hole digger. What was I doing wrong?

 

[jake98]

I hate to say 'let it dig more before you pull it up', because they do get stuck, but that's how it seems to work for me.

 

[woodlandfarms]

If I hadn't typo'd the title you probably would have found the link

The guys here gave me some great advice

http://www.tractorbynet.com/forums/power-trac/212741-new-post-hold-digger-how.html

 

[fredhargis]

Thanks for that link, it was a thread I hadn't seen.

 

[Chilly807]

I've found the best way to clear the hole is to stop the auger while it's at the bottom, then slowly lift it out, drive ahead a few feet and give it good sharp spin.

Sean

 

[inveresk]

See the video.

Post Hole Digger - YouTube

 

[whistlepig]

I used my post hole digger for the first time yesterday, and things actually went very well after I had read everything I could fins on TBN about using it. A couple of things happened: at times I had some pretty sever wobble on the auger, which was shaking the whole tractor. I had not tightened my lift arms, and I'm guessing they need to be fairly tight (?). The other thing was that the auger did not clear the loose dirt from the hole, despite constant lowering/raising it. Almost seemed like tit wasn't turning fast enough to throw the dirt off the flights. My PHD says to limit PTO rpm's to 300, but I ran it up to probably 450-500 and still didn't clear the dirt. Since I was only digging one hole (and 2 others for practice) I just cleaned it out with my hand held post hole digger. What was I doing wrong?

If the ground is dry and hard the auger will "chatter" on the dirt. Also the auger will wobble on hard dry ground until it gets started digging. The sides of the hole will stabilize the auger and the wobbling will stop when it starts digging. Take small bites with the auger and raise it frequently so not to get it stuck in the hole. Just before raising the auger disengage the PTO and raise the auger. After the auger is out of the hole reengage the PTO and give a few short spins at the top of the hole. This will flip the dirt off the auger. If you pull the auger out of the hole while it is running all the dirt will fall back in to the hole.

 

[Chilly807]

If the ground is dry and hard the auger will "chatter" on the dirt. Also the auger will wobble on hard dry ground until it gets started digging. The sides of the hole will stabilize the auger and the wobbling will stop when it starts digging. Take small bites with the auger and raise it frequently so not to get it stuck in the hole. Just before raising the auger disengage the PTO and raise the auger. After the auger is out of the hole reengage the PTO and give a few short spins at the top of the hole. This will flip the dirt off the auger. If you pull the auger out of the hole while it is running all the dirt will fall back in to the hole.

Spot on, Dave.. :thumbsup:

 

[fredhargis]

Thanks guys, more great tips. I intend to build that plumb indicator someone pic'd on the linked thread. On the next holes I drill I'll try the stop/raise/spin method. I noticed on the video it still looked like he had a small amount of loose dirt in his hole, but quite a bit less than I had.

 

[Chilly807]

When we use the PHD, usually my wife acts as the "spotter" to keep things plumb. Start the hole, after about 6 inches or a foot, move ahead a couple inches and drill some more, then move a little more. Unless you have a tight fit on the posts, close is good enough.

If I'm using it by myself (not the best case, but necessary sometimes), I'll stop halfway down and walk back to have a look, then move as needed.

Sean