Post Hole Digger - if stuck

[patrick_g]

Not sure if this actually helps or not. Your 3pt lower arms should just be floating, so raising the front of the tractor should do little or nothing. I think. But if it works for you, GREAT.

It works for me too when the slope if any lets me contact the ground with enough FEL motion left to significantly raise the front of the tractor.

Didn't investigate the exact workings of the arrangement, just did it and it worked.

I'm still going to get a hydraulic down force kit.

Pat

 

[bughouser]

Not sure if this actually helps or not. Your 3pt lower arms should just be floating, so raising the front of the tractor should do little or nothing. I think. But if it works for you, GREAT.

I think you may be right about the 3pt arms floating, maybe when the front of the tractor is raised it changes the angle of the auger tip to the ground and that helps it dig.???

 

[ultrarunner]

Yep, Land Pride PD35. I am a weekend warrior, and one weekend I spent more than a day trying to put in a few 18" holes. Before I went home I put 40 gallons of water in 2 that I could not get down much more than two feet. During the week I made a stop by the local John Deere - Land Pride dealer and ordered the down force kit. With a limited amount of time to get things done, I just don't have the time to fool with a few holes most of a weekend. Finished the holes the next weekend without the down force kit, (3 week delivery time) but from then on, I have been able to drill a hole when and where I want to.

Oh, don't know about anyone else, but I learned the hard way that you need to put the down force kit on while the PHD is on the tractor. I installed mine while it was hanging on my PHD stand, and while most of everything was ok, I did have to re-adjust the position of the hydraulic before I could even get the PHD hooked up.

One last thing, if I remember right, the down force kit was about $550 and worth every penny. Ultrarunner, how much did you have to pay for yours? Just wondering.

I think I paid about $1600 for the Landpride Post Hole Digger with down pressure kit with top and tilt hydraulics added and a 12" pengo auger... not inexpensive... but really my only option for my BX23...

 

[patrick_g]

I think I paid about $1600 for the Landpride Post Hole Digger with down pressure kit with top and tilt hydraulics added and a 12" pengo auger... not inexpensive... but really my only option for my BX23...

Of course there is always the alternative of hand digging, blasting, etc to "save money."

A PHD, when working nicely, is a true thing of beauty, especially compared to the alternatives. A simple cost benefit analysis would show that if you only dug, say, 200 holes over the life of your digger then your cost per hole is just over $8. I'd hate to try to get holes dug for (or dig them myself to save) $8.

Pat

 

[Charlesaf3]

just saw this - ultrarunner, only thing I would have done differently is not get the 24" auger - not worth it, and eats too much torque. Love the hydraulic phd, and having it on FEL is really nice. My b3030 is barely big enough for it though - I wouldn't put it on any smaller tractor, and in fact would say it should be on at least an L or equivalent.

 

[ultrarunner]

Thanks Charles for the update... very nice set-up!