Post hole digger: PTO vs. hyd. SSQA

[Fallon]

I rebuild a 3pt PHD to fit a QH & mount 200lbs over the gearbox. Ran good behind my L3200. With a 9" & 12" auger. 9" sucked until I got good teeth. The huge carbide frost teeth it came with couldn't bite into our clay. PHD ran off with the tractor.

Upgraded to a L4060 & got a 3rd function on it. Got the small Danhuser PHD (6-12gpm I think) with a 2" hex & 12" auger. Offset mount makes for good, but not great visibility. Visibility & reverse are nice compared to the 3pt, but it has a lot less power. I never got the 3pt PHD stuck (got close a few times) so reverse is just for flinging dirt off.

In the 30ish holes I've dug so far the visibility & ease of mounting have kept pace or exceeded with what my 3pt unit would have done. Hard ground on a big project might have missing the straight mechanical power of the 3pt. Don't know what 10gpm * 2500psi equals, but it's less than the 25 PTO HP my L3200 had (not that I got there at slow PHD RPMs).

With the SSQA hitching is a breeze. Blew out my back twice hitching up the 3pt unit (once after the QH conversion). Never blew a sheer pin on the 3pt. Stall the hydraulic unit all the time, but the relief valve just takes care of that.

 

[gsganzer]

Having just spent 2 days running my landpride 3-pt PTO PHD, if I had it to do all over again, buying a front mount hydraulic unit is a no-brainer. Without down pressure, a 3-pt unit is almost worthless if you have any rocks IMO. I would also buy a hex drive, so you can swap augers easily.

 

[rd_macgregor]

If, for some reason, you ever wanted to auger a post hole at an angle, you could do it with the hydraulic unit.

Also, I once saw a manufacturer online who offered a hydraulic auger drive unit with a cement mixer attachment...I haven't been able to find that one again, though.

I bought a Belltec NC150, but there are several manufacturers of these low-flow units with comparable capabilities.

 

[Fallon]

If, for some reason, you ever wanted to auger a post hole at an angle, you could do it with the hydraulic unit.

Also, I once saw a manufacturer online who offered a hydraulic auger drive unit with a cement mixer attachment...I haven't been able to find that one again, though.

I bought a Belltec NC150, but there are several manufacturers of these low-flow units with comparable capabilities.

Seen those around. Got a 3pt mixer with a busted chain a year or 2 ago. Thought about welding on a 2" hex mount to the drum & scrapping the rest rather than fixing it.

 

[Sun Treader]

I had asked the group about the mixer/auger setup a few weeks ago but no one had used one. This is the model I was eyeing:

Eterra Skid Steer Cement Mixer Attachment | Skid Steer Solutions

Still looks like a good idea to me. I have some holes to auger soon and am going back and forth between the Everything Attachments PTO auger and a skid steer type hydraulic unit. I just don't want to spend three times as much when I'm only augering a few dozen holes a year at most.

 

[woodlandfarms]

You can build your own Hydraulic. I did, works killer. Cost was under 1K with bit.

 

[whirly]

You can build your own Hydraulic. I did, works killer. Cost was under 1K with bit.

Could you give us a list of the parts and a pic of yours?

 

[FatTire]

...and having a brave 200-lb buddy stand on the lower link arms with a 3pt auger helps...

YIKES. No thanks! I'm in the hydraulic SSQA camp. I have the Danuser EP6 with the offset mount. It works well but I wish I'd sprung for the EP10. I really don't care how fast it spins.

 

[FatTire]

Upgraded to a L4060 & got a 3rd function on it. Got the small Danhuser PHD (6-12gpm I think) with a 2" hex & 12" auger. Offset mount makes for good, but not great visibility. Visibility & reverse are nice compared to the 3pt, but it has a lot less power. I never got the 3pt PHD stuck (got close a few times) so reverse is just for flinging dirt off.

.

That would be the EP6. Its spec'd at 1500 ft-lb, while the EP10 is 1900 ft-lb. (@3000 psi).

 

[mopardude318]

So on an M7060 with the 6speed (F12/R12) the hydraulic pump capacity is listed at 16.2 GPM. How much does the hydrostatic power steering take away from this? OR, does Kubota already spec the GPM taken from the steering after the fact, giving us the rating of 16.2 usable GPM?

If that's the case, I'd imagine the Danuser EP10 would be the better choice?