What 3 point post hole digger?

[valley]

Greetings, We just bought a few acres and need a post hole digger. We will be putting it on the Foton 254. I know nothing about three point diggers.
I'ed like you thoughts about size or type or if I should get a gas hand held. Thankyou


Richard

 

[greg_g]

Well, most standard duty tractor PHDs are the same physical size, mine is compatible with both Cat 1 and Cat 2 hitches. And in adverse soils, I don't think a 254 can handle more than standard duty anyway. What differs is the diameters of the various augers. And obviously the bigger the hole and the worse the soil conditions - the more power you need from your tractor. And understand that you want to dig holes a good 50% bigger than the post that's going into it. Otherwise odds are pretty good you'll end up with a fenceline full of cockeyed posts. I use a 6" auger for 4" line posts, a 9" auger for 6" brace and pull posts, and a 12" auger for 8" corner and gate posts.

Digging conditions are important too. Rocky soils usually require a helper on the ground, even with a tractor PHD. But in soft earth I've dug lots of holes w/o ever leaving the tractor seat. Small "gas hand held" PHDs are ok for small posts in soft soil. One man can usually handle that. But in rocky soil - and with augers larger than 6" - ain't no safe practical way to do it with less than 2 guys.

//greg//

 

[MMagis]

When you say “a few acres”, it makes wonder how many holes you’ll be drilling. If not a huge amount, it may make more economical sense to just rent a 2 man gas unit, or maybe even rent a 3pt if your local rental shop has one. A PHD is one of those attachments that seldom get used after the first year or so for most folks. I’d hate to see someone drop $1000 on something that will only be used to drill 30 holes with.

 

[Diamondpilot]

I have a old Ford PHD and my 284 will easily turn the 9" and 12" augers. In all honesty they are all about the same. One feature I like on mine compared to the unit my neighbor has is it has a place on the gear box for a piece of 3/4" pipe to use as a handle for your helper to steady and hold the digger perfectly vertical.

Chris

 

[valley]

Greetings, The place is 5 acres. We want to fence the perimeter and sections across. We are thinking about a barn with 6 stalls, each stall having a corral. I don't mind buying a two man post hole digger if that would do it, well one man and one woman. Ever used thoes one man phd, could that work? 6" holes will be fine, I think. The one place I tried to dig was tough digging there were small stones lots of them. I haven't tried digging around the whole place.
I've never used a two man post hole digger or a three point, dug all the holes here by hand. I'll reread your post a bit.

Thanks for posting your thoughts.

Richard

 

[zonta223]

Hi
I own a one man PHD. it has 4,6 and 8 inch augers. It's effectiveness is governed solely by the type of ground you are digging in.... Hard rock forget it...just will not work....Soil with rocks can cause only minor problems....use the 4 inch auger first then ream the hole out with a larger auger.
Until I had a few medical problems with my hands I used it a lot...Its very handy to put poles in on steep hillsides where a tractor could not operate. .. I have now made a simple bracket system to hang it off the 3pl arms to take the physical load.
But as Chris says a cheap 3pl PHD is the way to go less physical strain and if you intend putting in a lot of poles a hand held PHD is a back killer.
The other option is to do what I did look around for a cheap second hand post knocker....No holes to drill just bash the poles into the ground. put in hundreds of post in my vineyard...lot faster and easier than digging a hole for every post.

regards

 

[valley]

We are not out of escrow yet but next time I go out there I'm going to walk the property and see if the ground varies. Maybe it might make sense to drive Tstakes and have post every so often, depending on how tough the digging.

 

[doxford jim]

Hi,

I recently replaced a 5"-6" fence post by hand and it was shear bloody murder.
Dug down with the two handle hand PHD and digging bar, about 15" and then drove the post down to 48" using a post hole pounder - hand version made out of thick walled steel pipe with two long handles on the outside. These things work, but unless you are used to using them and are very fit, you will find it hard work - I felt the effects for a couple of days

I have recently bought a TPH PHD for a fair price - new, including the 12"auger and 12" extension for $900 plus taxes. It is a Speeco - not the best but adequate for my needs. Used ones several years old were selling at $750 , so there is no real saving in buying a used one.

If your land is such that you cannot use your tractor safely then a gas powered, two man PHD might be the only way to go.

HTH

mariner

 

[zonta223]

Hi,

and then drove the post down to 48" using a post hole pounder - hand version made out of thick walled steel pipe with two long handles on the outside. These things work, but unless you are used to using them and are very fit, you will find it hard work - I felt the effects for a couple of days


mariner

Wow sounds like hard work. I did mean the type driven by the tractor.
However if you only want to put up end strainer posts and use what we call "star pickets" think you call them "t Pickets" the easiest way to drive them into the ground is with a an electrical breakers/jack hammer. Hire/buy a generator big enough to run the hammer....put it in a trailer...drive the trailer down the line where you want the pickets......and drive the pickets to full depth in seconds....with a helper you can do 100's of them a day with very little strain.

Just another option

regards

 

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