TSC 1-man PHD and concrete question

[ChuckT]

Soundguy - We bought one of those one-man PHDs ("Earthquake") from Lowe's about 5/6 years ago. We are somewhat west & south of you - Floral City.

I think the Earthquake was originally made for and sold to northern fishermen for boring holes in lake ice in the winter.

We've (well I've) used our's to fence in 2 of our 6 acres and it does well enough at our modest pace. I'm almost ready to fence in another 2 acre piece this year. You can see we're in a real hurry!

Anyway the thing is easy enough to tote and isn't a real gas hog, but I do keep a wary eye on the tank. Worst thing is that it won't cut roots. It either slides over or past them and then I have to grub it out - no fun. I've seen other diggers that have replacable tips, maybe even carbide and wish ours had something like that.

FWIW
cvt

 

[wickedinhere]

I have the earthquake also and mine works very well i have used the 6 and 8 inch augers with no problems at all. I have dug many holes with mine.

 

[Jim_Fisher]

2 questions.

Anyone here have the 1-man gas powered PHD / auger from TSC? if so.. did you get the 6" or the 8" auger? And how did it work?

I've got lots of fencing to do in the next couple years.. and I ain't hand digging them. 6" auger would be just barely adequate depending on post size.. 8" would be great. but wonder if it will run 8". I don't think the 2 man unit is an option cause I will be alone.. etc. and don't want to lug a huge phd head all the time.


Next question. I mixed up a bunch of sak-crete in a bucket for a weight tub. Normally when i do this it sets up pretty fast. I mixed it up around 6pm yesterday.. and it set.. but the top 1" of it is still.. soft-ish... Did i use too much water? if so.. will it still set.. but take longer? ( that would be ok.. as long as it does setup eventually.

Soundguy

I watched the Terminix guy use a small one man auger, made a hole about 3". Looked to me like he had his hands full. Don't think that I'd want to deal with an 8".

You might want to keep your eyes open for a used post driver. A whole lot easier and faster than digging the hole and tamping the post, especially if you work alone. A small one (Shaver HD-8) requires about four gpm @1500 psi and will drive a 7" post.

 

[johnk]

Soundguy,

If you have a lot of holes to do, first take a picture of your biceps before you start the project and take a pic of the biceps when you are finished. Those augers get heavy lifting out of the holes.........If you're 25 years old and in good shape give the 50 holes a shot...

 

[Ford960]

Hey SoundGuy,
This is what I use, you can get this thing in some pretty tight places.
That auger is 12"x52".

 

[Soundguy]

Ralph.. you and Czech, and a few of the other guys .. I appreciate the responses, but you guys must not be reading my entire post/replies where I am saying that I CAN'T GET A 3pt DIGGER TO THE FENCE AREA CAUSE IT IS THRU DENSE WOODS AND THE TRACTOR ITSELF WON"T GO BACK There... ( ooops caps.. )thus the gas powered one I am looking at. It's either gas.. or I'm hireing it out. I'm not hand digging a couple miles of fencing. Tposting it is bad enough.. hand digging anything more than corner and brace posts is out of the question..

Soundguy

With all the tractors you have, I'd get a 3ph mounted PHD. My neighbor used one with about a 12" or 18" auger on his JD 4310 to plant a whole bunch of trees.

Once used a 2 man PHD. It'll give you a jolt if you hit a rock. Just have to back out and bring in a digger bar to get the rock out. Whereas, a tractor rig might take the jolt and bring the rock right up.

Ralph

 

[AlanB]

Chris, have you looked at one of these? Will it work in your situation?

Harbor Freight Tools - Quality Tools at the Lowest Prices

I have rented this style in the past when I had to do small jobs by myself and they work quite well.

The two man ones can hurt you and I just am not man enough or whatever to run the one man ones. Heck, I would rather hire it out then do it with one of those augers (yes, I am lazy) You might get by with it in your area though.

I am sure this is more money, but the risk of hurting myself, particularly my wrists and back would be worth the price difference.

Around here at least they rent at about $100 a day I think, and I was far more productive then if I was doing it with the 2 man auger.

If that thing would not fit through the trees, I think I would just use the tree's as posts, but again, I figure this is a typing issue, would probably be different if I was actually looking at what you are describing.

Good luck, I don't envy you that task.

 

[weldingisfun]

Soundguy,
I've got and used the Earthquake one-man auger. My wife and I put up about a mile of fence, posts every ten feet with H-braces every 100 feet.
One-man may be right, if you never hit a root or rock. If you do, it will jerk the handles right out of one man's hands in a heartbeat. I know that from experience. Guess that is why the throttle control is built the way it is. Now I did put in posts in SE Texas, where the soil is sandy loam with a rock every 200 feet, without any problems. For what you need to do it will work. Just be prepared for the roots.

Attached are some pictures of a device built mostly from scrap materials to help you with your fencing problems. That is if you are just putting up barbed wire. If you are putting up field wire, now that is a horse of a different color.
I have been using this "wire wagon" for over 5 years and it has never let me down. Bigger wheels would have been better. The ones on it are 12 inch.
Pic 1: Side view shows the overall design. The 1 1/4" pipe on the floor goes through the center of the wire roll. Fasten one end to a post and pull away.
Pic 2: Rear view.
Pic 3: Shows the sheet metal on the floor with the pipe stand.

 

[hunterridgefarm]

Chris,

Since you need to use the 1-man PHD because of the trees and tight spots the only thing I would suggest is getting a good handtruck and over inflate the tires a little. You don't want to drag or carry that PHD around all day.

So you could dig the hole then pull it out set it on the handtrucks and ROLL it to the next hole. The over inflated tires will help getting over roots and rocks.

If you got to use the one man PHD might as well make it as easy as possible

 

[Soundguy]

Thanks for the link alan. However, it will be too big. As it is, I'm gonna have to chainsaw a few sapplings to make my straight shot back thru the woods... there will be areas that will barely allow the hand truck idea thru.. but i think that hand truck idea will work, and WILL be used. thanks for the idea hunterridge.

Welding is fun, I pretty much have just sand or sandy loam. I have yet to find a rock on my property. About 5 ys ago I disc'd about 9 ac of it to a fine powder, and never say anything but dirt.

In the tree'd area, I have.. I'll have to be choosy with watching for roots.

thansk guys!

Soundguy

Chris, have you looked at one of these? Will it work in your situation?

Harbor Freight Tools - Quality Tools at the Lowest Prices

I have rented this style in the past when I had to do small jobs by myself and they work quite well.

The two man ones can hurt you and I just am not man enough or whatever to run the one man ones. Heck, I would rather hire it out then do it with one of those augers (yes, I am lazy) You might get by with it in your area though.

I am sure this is more money, but the risk of hurting myself, particularly my wrists and back would be worth the price difference.

Around here at least they rent at about $100 a day I think, and I was far more productive then if I was doing it with the 2 man auger.

If that thing would not fit through the trees, I think I would just use the tree's as posts, but again, I figure this is a typing issue, would probably be different if I was actually looking at what you are describing.

Good luck, I don't envy you that task.