Post hole digger

[joes_427_vette]

Anyone fashion a post hole digger out of a axle ? I'm thinking of using the front drive axle out of an S-10 for the right angle drive. Add some square tubing for bracing and left over pto shaft. Main purpose would be for planting bare root trees so a 16-24" auger could be purchased or fabricated.

 

[ldabe]

I hope you document this with pics, I am very interested to see how it turns out.

 

[Robert_in_NY]

I have seen it done before but can't tell you how or why.

Unless prices have changed PHD were fairly cheap at TSC so is there any reason you want to build your own compared to buying one?

 

[joe48]

check in FARM SHOW MAGAZINE, there have been several articles about people building their own PHD's from axles etc.
Check it out, if you like to build or repair your own stuff, can't beat good old farmer ingenuity.

 

[mjncad]

Unless prices have changed PHD were fairly cheap at TSC so is there any reason you want to build your own compared to buying one?

My guess is that the conventional PHD is a pain in the butt to hook up, use and disconnect that Joe wants to try a different design idea. I had a typical 3-point PHD and traded it in as a down payment on my lawn tractor.

Besides, S-10's were worthless (I know, I owned one), so if a part of one can do useful things for once in its life, then not all was lost with that particular S-10 being a donor.

 

[R W]

I built a 3pl PH digger some time back using a an old diff and and a disused
PTO shaft and safety clutch, the auger was purchased new.
It worked OK and as far as I know it is still being used.

 

[Diamondpilot]

I bought one off a guy. Paid $100 with 9" auger. Used it to build my deck, 35 post, and still have it. What he did was use a Ford Rear End, probably 9", a modified Boom Pole, and a Home Made PTO Shaft.

Chris

 

[Robert_in_NY]

My guess is that the conventional PHD is a pain in the butt to hook up, use and disconnect that Joe wants to try a different design idea. I had a typical 3-point PHD and traded it in as a down payment on my lawn tractor.

Besides, S-10's were worthless (I know, I owned one), so if a part of one can do useful things for once in its life, then not all was lost with that particular S-10 being a donor.

I have found PHD's to be rather easy to hook up. The small ones TSC sells are light enough you can pull them to the tractor. You only have to worry about the main support being pinned to where the top link was and then the 3pt arms are a breeze to hook up as they are floating. I have 2 of the Gold Star brand or what ever they are that Quality Farm and Fleet sold as well as a Massey Ferguson post hold digger. The MF is a lot harder to hook up because it has a lot of steel and weighs a lot more. It is a better auger but is harder to hook up.

 

[mjncad]

I have found PHD's to be rather easy to hook up. The small ones TSC sells are light enough you can pull them to the tractor. You only have to worry about the main support being pinned to where the top link was and then the 3pt arms are a breeze to hook up as they are floating. I have 2 of the Gold Star brand or what ever they are that Quality Farm and Fleet sold as well as a Massey Ferguson post hold digger. The MF is a lot harder to hook up because it has a lot of steel and weighs a lot more. It is a better auger but is harder to hook up.

Mine was a Bush Hog 2102 which is the mid level PHD. It is heavy and it was like wrestling with an octopus and I had the optional parking stands that made it a bit easier to connect/disconnect. I was glad to see it go.

 

[WildWest]

I have seen one made from a toyota axle the guy cut one tube off cut the axle stub then made a plate with a hole in it to weld the axle and the tube together so the spiders wouldnt just spool

But you could just weld the spider gears and then cap off the other end

I assume the 4x4 S10 front is an indepedent setup

I was going to build one myself using a C4 corvette rearend There nothing compared to the C3 And C2 Cast Iron setups but i got a real nice 2.54 posi dana 36

But i ended up finding a complete auger for 100$ before the homemade setup came to be

But im with your id rather build than buy and save some $$$ those TSC augers are cheaply made

And just the bit will cost you over 150$ the augers are about 300-400$ for a "cheap" one

i can take some pictures of my acutal auger if you need some inspiration