Posthole Digger Post Hole Digger

[MtnViewRanch]

Well, I guess I'm just lucky, I love my 3pt PTO auger. I don't have one single problem that has been talked about. I would prefer to see what I need to do 5 feet away with my 3pt PHD vs 15 feet away with a bucket mounted auger. If I were to have a hydraulic PHD, it would be a 3pt unit.

To start with I have the PHD on a stand that makes it very easy to hitch up the unit. Zero wrestling with it, usually takes about 5 minutes.

2nd, I bought a top of the line unit and bits. A Land Pride PD35. Now these cost some money, but I'm sure that it contributes to me not having so many of the problems so commonly talked about.

3rd, use some common sense, there is no need to have your tractor above an idle and while you are digging stop and lift the auger about every foot of depth dug. You should not dig a 3 or 4 foot deep hole and never have cleared the auger. Don't set the 3pt to just let it go. (lever all the way forward) Have it set so that it will only go down a short ways at a time. I have always wondered how people have their augers get caught on a root and just screw itself in. What, is it lifting the front of the tractor up in the air? That is what would have to happen if they would have set the hitch properly.

4th, to deal with very hard ground, a down pressure kit will almost always take care of any problems that you may have.

I have DG (decomposed granite) in a lot of areas at my place. Sometimes the ground is so hard that I could put 20 gallons of water in a partially dug hole and it would be there for days. Once I bought my down pressure kit, no more digging problems of any kind. Holes that use to take days to dig now take at most 2 minutes and that is NO exaggeration.

 

[Sniggle]

3 pt augers are not wonderful, but they can work well. I got one that came with my used tractor, and used it to dig over 100 holes for a pasture fence.

The learning curve is steep, and my neck did get a little bit sore, but the implement did the job. This was important as part of my justification for getting the tractor to the boss (read Wife) was that I was going to fence out the pasture.

-Downforce was not a big problem for me...clay soil and the auger dug in.
- Getting the auger out of the ground can be the challenge....I screwed my tractor into the ground a few times early on.
- It can be rough on the tractor.....rocking the tractor to get the auger loose.

Overall, I am glad I have it in the barn, although I really don't want to put up any more fence

Disclaimer: The type of fence I installed was a tensioned wire fence, so only the corners needed to be rock steady, which minimized my need to tamp. I hate tamping dirt around posts. Corners were cemented in. I did hire someone to install the fencing around the riding ring, because that needed to be board fencing. It was awesome to watch the bobcat pound the fence posts into the clay.

 

[MtnViewRanch]

3 pt augers are not wonderful, but they can work well. I got one that came with my used tractor, and used it to dig over 100 holes for a pasture fence.

The learning curve is steep, and my neck did get a little bit sore, but the implement did the job. This was important as part of my justification for getting the tractor to the boss (read Wife) was that I was going to fence out the pasture.

-Downforce was not a big problem for me...clay soil and the auger dug in.
- Getting the auger out of the ground can be the challenge....I screwed my tractor into the ground a few times early on.
- It can be rough on the tractor.....rocking the tractor to get the auger loose.

Overall, I am glad I have it in the barn, although I really don't want to put up any more fence
.

So Sniggle, would you say that part of the learning curve was to not let the auger dig all the way in without clearing it a few times?

 

[Sniggle]

Yes, MVR, the trick is to let the auger dig long enough, but not too long. If you let it dig for too short a period of time, the hole will be oblong shaped and take foreever. If you let it dig in too long, you will have fun getting it out.

I give my Kubota credit for holding together as I rocked the auger out a few times.

 

[Meight]

Hmm, definitely appears to be a post hole digger bashing party. Shame to hear especially since I'm tired of digging holes by hand and the gas powered ones seems like a lot of work. I'm not really interested in renting a skid steer with a hydraulic post hole digger because the point of purchasing a tractor was to eliminate the need to rent so much equipment. Heck the $300 in delivery fees is half the price of what a post hole digger cost and if I rent it twice the post hole digger comes out cheaper.

On some other forums the value of a post hole digger is usually a greatly appreciated piece of equipment to have.

My soil conditions for the most part are soft dirt. I live on the water in louisiana. Kind of funny because every time I fall a tree you can see the waves travel across the ground.

I could purchase the workforce and in the event I need the downforce kit I can add it later. Of course the downside to it is if I don't need it then I spent a few hundred dollars on a post hole digger thats very similar to the one at everything attachments.

I'm still leaning towards the everything attachments, just don't know which one I specifically need.

Thanks for everyone's opinions and advice.

 

[EddieWalker]

Well, I guess I'm just lucky, I love my 3pt PTO auger. I don't have one single problem that has been talked about. I would prefer to see what I need to do 5 feet away with my 3pt PHD vs 15 feet away with a bucket mounted auger. If I were to have a hydraulic PHD, it would be a 3pt unit.

To start with I have the PHD on a stand that makes it very easy to hitch up the unit. Zero wrestling with it, usually takes about 5 minutes.

2nd, I bought a top of the line unit and bits. A Land Pride PD35. Now these cost some money, but I'm sure that it contributes to me not having so many of the problems so commonly talked about.

3rd, use some common sense, there is no need to have your tractor above an idle and while you are digging stop and lift the auger about every foot of depth dug. You should not dig a 3 or 4 foot deep hole and never have cleared the auger. Don't set the 3pt to just let it go. (lever all the way forward) Have it set so that it will only go down a short ways at a time. I have always wondered how people have their augers get caught on a root and just screw itself in. What, is it lifting the front of the tractor up in the air? That is what would have to happen if they would have set the hitch properly.

4th, to deal with very hard ground, a down pressure kit will almost always take care of any problems that you may have.

I have DG (decomposed granite) in a lot of areas at my place. Sometimes the ground is so hard that I could put 20 gallons of water in a partially dug hole and it would be there for days. Once I bought my down pressure kit, no more digging problems of any kind. Holes that use to take days to dig now take at most 2 minutes and that is NO exaggeration.

There is a lot of REALLY GOOD information here.

I wonder how many of you who do not like your post hole digger have replaceable cutting teet on them? And are they quality carbide teeth or something of equal quality? You can't just grind an edge on the auger and hope that it will get the job done. It's all about the teeth!!!!!!

You don't need a thousand dollar bit, but there is a lot of junk out there too.

Eddie

 

[bilrus61]

Goodness! My Bush Hog brand works great here. No you can't dig a hole easy when its bone dry, yes you have to wait till conditions are good with some soil moisture but compared to digging by hand its a no brainer. Rocking the tractor to get the auger out?? If the auger sticks due to too much soil just half drill the hole, lift the auger out running full speed the soil will spin off and the lower it to finish the hole depth. What brand of PHD were you guys using that performed so poorly? My tractors have had power to spare however with 32 PTO being the lowest and 44 PTO being the highest. Maybe you guys are running too much auger on too small of tractor??? My PHD is a vital tool used to dig bird house post holes, plant trees, double dig a aspaugus bed...oh and dig holes for posts! Digging holes for planting trees is its forte for me.

 

[mjncad]

I had Bush-Hog's mid level model PHD.

Why did I hate mine?

Even with the optional parking stands, it was a PITA to connect and disconnect by myself. As the salesman I bought it from said to me, "PHD's are like wresting an octopus when mounting them to the tractor."

You just haven't lived until you're digging in Colorado claycrete and the auger catches a rock, root, or hard-pan edge and digs itself down to the gearbox before you can cut the power. Getting it out is even more fun if you're a *********.

No hydraulic reverse to make life easier if the auger catches a rock, root, or hard-pan edge.

You have to tweak the tractor's position forward as the auger digs deeper to keep a perpendicular hole. Of course this will happen with a bucket mounted digger of any kind too.

Would I rather dig a post-hole with a 3PH PHD versus by hand with a clamshell digger? You bet.

Would I rather rent a hydraulically powered PHD for the occasional post hole, then own a seldom used PITA boat anchor? You bet.

 

[Rudevette]

I just bought the Tractor Supply Countyline digger with a 9" auger and have it hooked on my Bobcat CT235. I drilled my first hole in dry, hard clay to find a challenge. The only challenge is keeping the auger out of the ground. That thing will bite and screw itself into the ground so fast you can't hardly believe it. :thumbsup: I let it dig a little bit then pull it up to clear the hole then repeat. It made that dry clay into something the consistency of finely ground coffee. We made a hole that ended up being a little over 10" across and 50" deep. The auger is really easy to assemble, easy to check and fill the gearbox oil level, uses a basic 80W90 gear oil (which is nice because it's what I consider one of the "staples" of the garage). It has a cast iron gear case and comes with a nice little plastic tube to hold things like the owners manual and extra shear bolts. The unit runs a standard sold everywhere grade 5 bolt for a sheer bolt on the drive shaft. I find that hooking and unhooking is easy by sitting the tip of the auger on the ground, then slowly backing up as the implement goes down which nicely folds the auger underneath the frame and it's right down on the ground to unhook. Easy stuff.

And on pricing. I was out the door with the implement and one auger for right at $600. I priced a bobcat with a 9" auger and it priced out at $3000. Koyker (I think that's what he said the brand was anyway) was exactly the same money after some rebate or another. A skid loader mount auger is also $3000 so for the time being I bought the cheap 3 point unit with hopes of someday upgrading to a skid loader auger. (Of course I need a skid loader first)

BTW, I think that these are nice augers with replaceable teeth and the screw guide on the bottom for the price. With the augers priced at about $100 you can afford to have 3 different sizes sitting in the shed for when you need them. That would be harder to do with the better, name brand augers that run $1000 each size. I'm a contractor and drill maybe 12-20 holes for deck footings at a few different sites each summer and if I can not rent a skid loader with an auger for one job I just paid for this 3 point auger so it works for me.

 

[Gregster613]

"I just bought the Tractor Supply Countyline digger with a 9" auger and have it hooked on my Bobcat CT235. I drilled my first hole in dry, hard clay to find a challenge. The only challenge is keeping the auger out of the ground. That thing will bite and screw itself into the ground so fast you can't hardly believe it. I let it dig a little bit then pull it up to clear the hole then repeat. It made that dry clay into something the consistency of finely ground coffee. We made a hole that ended up being a little over 10" across and 50" deep. The auger is really easy to assemble, easy to check and fill the gearbox oil level, uses a basic 80W90 gear oil (which is nice because it's what I consider one of the "staples" of the garage). It has a cast iron gear case and comes with a nice little plastic tube to hold things like the owners manual and extra shear bolts. The unit runs a standard sold everywhere grade 5 bolt for a sheer bolt on the drive shaft. I find that hooking and unhooking is easy by sitting the tip of the auger on the ground, then slowly backing up as the implement goes down which nicely folds the auger underneath the frame and it's right down on the ground to unhook. Easy stuff.

And on pricing. I was out the door with the implement and one auger for right at $600. I priced a bobcat with a 9" auger and it priced out at $3000. Koyker (I think that's what he said the brand was anyway) was exactly the same money after some rebate or another. A skid loader mount auger is also $3000 so for the time being I bought the cheap 3 point unit with hopes of someday upgrading to a skid loader auger. (Of course I need a skid loader first)

BTW, I think that these are nice augers with replaceable teeth and the screw guide on the bottom for the price. With the augers priced at about $100 you can afford to have 3 different sizes sitting in the shed for when you need them. That would be harder to do with the better, name brand augers that run $1000 each size. I'm a contractor and drill maybe 12-20 holes for deck footings at a few different sites each summer and if I can not rent a skid loader with an auger for one job I just paid for this 3 point auger so it works for me."

I've got a different name brand PHD but Rudevette's comments are right on the money and exactly like my feelings about my PHD and its use. I couldn't have said it any better!! It works just fine on my TYM273 with pto at idle speed.
Greg