Post Hole Digger Mod

[Wsmitty]

A few weeks back I snagged a Leinbach PHD of of craigslist for $200. I was quite pleased with my find but later noticed that the auger only had 1 shear bolt hole. It seemed like the previous owner shortened the auger by cutting off of the top end. Once I mounted it up to my JD 790, I could see why.

When mounted on my tractor, I tried every possible hole location and adjustment possible but couldn't get the tip more that 1-2" off of the ground with the lift arms fully raised. I researched online and it seemed 42" is the standard length. The auger on mine was 39" long. I went down to my local Tractor Supply and their augers are 42" PLUS another 4" for the pilot tip!

I needed to add some length to the "U" frame to increase the lift. My solution was to take some 1/4 x 2-3/4 stock I had on hand and cut 2 pcs at 6" long and 2 pcs at 3" long. Welded the 3" to the 6" and drilled holes 3" apart. Put everything together and wow, what a difference. Now I can use a standard auger with no height issues and plenty of room for transporting without the tip dragging. I also pulled the auger and the gearbox goes all the way to the ground.

 

[Luke'sScreenName]

Nicely done. Mine only gets about 8" off the ground.

FWIW, if I'm going over rough terrain, I just bungee the auger to the 3pth lift arm. Holds it in like a dog's tail tucked between its legs.

 

[Wsmitty]

Once I get a standard auger I figure I'll be around 8' as well. I'm about 15" off of the ground now but by the time you add back the 3" that was chopped off the auger plus another 4" for the tip, I'll be right at 7-8" clearance from the ground as I would think it should be. I do plan on "tucking my tail" for transport. My crude measurements calculations figured I'd get about 12" more lift at the end by moving the mounting point up 3" at the lift arms. Looks like I got what I was shooting for.

 

[EddieWalker]

great idea. I just drag my tip around behind me.

 

[drueke]

My crude measurements calculations figured I'd get about 12" more lift at the end by moving the mounting point up 3" at the lift arms. Looks like I got what I was shooting for.

Could you provide some detail about your measurements please. I'm having the same problem with a new PHD that is attached to a JD820. It will only go about 18" or so into the ground. Using different mounting holes on the top doesn't seem to make much difference.
The basic question is how did you arrive at 3" rather than 2" or 5" or?

Thanks,
Ray

 

[Wsmitty]

Since I was clueless as to how much offset would give me the clearance I was looking for, I sketched this up in AutoCad.
I rough dimensioned the heights off the ground of the upper 3pt mount, lift arm and top pivot of auger gearbox as well as the distances horizontally from the initial reference at the upper 3pt. All measurements were taken with the lift arms in the full up position.

Once I had the basic sketch, I rotated the auger, boom and horizontal reference line for the lift pin about the 3pt upper mount until the tip of the auger was above the 12" line I drew above ground level. Not very elegant but it gave me a ballpark idea. I got around 3.4" but rounded down to 3".

I cleaned up the sketch to make it somewhat understandable. I hope this makes sense.

 

[drueke]

Thank you for the quick response - I appreciate it. Unfortunately it won't work to solve the issue I have. You were trying to increase the raised tool height, I'm having the opposite problem, the PHD (a Titan PHD50) won't go deep enough into the ground.
I'll keep looking.

Thanks again,
Ray.

 

[drueke]

Problem solved!

i'm new to this 3 point stuff and tractors, etc. So I'm learning as I go. I acquired an old York rake yesterday and couldn't get the lift arms on the John Deere 820 low enough to pick up the York. I noticed a pair of grease fittings on the lift arms and then saw that they were adjustable! Undid the clips, pumped some grease in and lowered the arms enough to pick up the York rake and drove around the back 7 (acres) for a little bit - rake worked fine.

Hmmm, I wonder. Lowered the arms a bit more, about 4 inches total, and there ya go. Mounted the PHD again, went back to the back 7 and tried a post hole, almost buried the whole auger and universal.

I'm a happy camper this evening!
Ray.