3 pt. auger/post hole digger

[rScotty]

Lots of food for thought here, I may have to re-think how I was planning to do this.

I think that's a real good idea. Post hole drills are fine for post holes, where a little wandering and slant won't hurt. I've got one lashed to a tree where it has lived now for at least 30 years...Since we built the last corral.
But if you are going to lay out a pole barn you may want something more accurate. Even a small 20x40 foot post barn is going to have upwards to 50 6" posts - and it's best to keep them online and plumb.

Just for comparison, what is the cost to have someone put in the holes? We found a well driller who would do our grid square and true for a reasonable price. With his truck-mounted rig it went real fast. Any depth, no problem.
rScotty

 

[Oaktree]

Have you tried to get quotes or checked with local sources (builders, ag department?) to scope out the price?
As you write, renting is not the best for those of us that tend to take a long time to finish a project. And if you graduate to renting a skidsteer WITH an auger that gets into $$$.

Neighbor of mine does site work, don't know if he has an auger, but does have a skid steer. I'll check and see what he'd want to do this. Was sort of wanting to DIY, but it might be easier/cheaper to just let the pros do it.

 

[BlueKnife]

Neighbor of mine does site work, don't know if he has an auger, but does have a skid steer. I'll check and see what he'd want to do this. Was sort of wanting to DIY, but it might be easier/cheaper to just let the pros do it.

If your tractor has front remotes and quick attach, you can run the auger yourself. No need for a skid steer. @newbury, mentioned the learning curve taking time, and he's right, it does, but it's not that long if you're even semi competent at operating your tractor. Depending on what you meant by "small" pole barn, you're drilling probably less than 16 holes. A good operator, drilling in soil with minimal rocks, can do that in 45 minutes or less. Hit some rocks and maybe we double or triple that. Most rentals are 24 hours. So, including drive time, you could be roughly 20 times slower than a good operator and still get it done. Most folks who have owned and operated tractors for any length of time aren't going to be nearly that bad. If you do decide to do that, you just want to make sure that the remotes on your tractor are flat face, not ag couplers.

 

[Jstpssng]

Most rentals are 24 hours.

True. Yet the last time I looked into renting a piece of equipment there also was an 8 hour factor, so if you brought it home and worked it for 13 hours you would get charged accordingly.
This was at one rental place, YMMV...

 

[Farmer495]

Neighbor of mine does site work, don't know if he has an auger, but does have a skid steer. I'll check and see what he'd want to do this. Was sort of wanting to DIY, but it might be easier/cheaper to just let the pros do it.

If this is a one time job, far less headache having someone come with a skidsteer loader and hyd auger.

 

[newbury]

If this is a one time job, far less headache having someone come with a skidsteer loader and hyd auger.

Heck, if I'm paying for it I probably would not care what equipment they use, I'm only wanting holes of a certain size installed quickly.

 

[BlueKnife]

True. Yet the last time I looked into renting a piece of equipment there also was an 8 hour factor, so if you brought it home and worked it for 13 hours you would get charged accordingly.
This was at one rental place, YMMV...

Of course. If it takes 8 hours of actual machine time to drill enough holes for a "small" pole barn, something has gone catastrophically wrong. Anyway, I'm talking about the OP renting an auger and running it with his tractor. The 8 hour thing doesn't apply to attachments, as the rental place has no way of tracking that. There's no hour meter on a hydraulic auger.

 

[EddieWalker]

I posted already about having a 12 inch auger, and how often I use it. But when I have to put a post in a spot that I cannot get my tractor to, or if I have the auger off of the tractor, I'll just dig the post by hand if it's just one or two holes.

Connecting the auger to the tractor is a pain.

If I did not have an auger, and I wanted to build a pole barn. I would price what it would cost to have somebody drill the holes for me, but I doubt that I would rent something to do it. If the cost was more then I was willing to pay, I would dig it by hand. Once you get through the first 6 inches or so, the soil gets softer and the digging goes pretty quickly.

This thread is a week old. I could of dug all of the holes for the barn in a week by hand by just doing a couple every evening. Sometimes it's better to just get it done then to search for an easier way to do it.

Get a shovel and start digging. Once you've gone as deep as you can with the shovel, get the clam shell digger out. Mine has metal arms and it's a quite a bit heavier than the ones with wood handles. I have that too but never use it. The all-metal clamshell digs the best. I can usually dig one hole is half an hour or less. I've never had a hole take an hour to dig by hand.

 

[BlueKnife]

I posted already about having a 12 inch auger, and how often I use it. But when I have to put a post in a spot that I cannot get my tractor to, or if I have the auger off of the tractor, I'll just dig the post by hand if it's just one or two holes.

Connecting the auger to the tractor is a pain.

If I did not have an auger, and I wanted to build a pole barn. I would price what it would cost to have somebody drill the holes for me, but I doubt that I would rent something to do it. If the cost was more then I was willing to pay, I would dig it by hand. Once you get through the first 6 inches or so, the soil gets softer and the digging goes pretty quickly.

This thread is a week old. I could of dug all of the holes for the barn in a week by hand by just doing a couple every evening. Sometimes it's better to just get it done then to search for an easier way to do it.

Get a shovel and start digging. Once you've gone as deep as you can with the shovel, get the clam shell digger out. Mine has metal arms and it's a quite a bit heavier than the ones with wood handles. I have that too but never use it. The all-metal clamshell digs the best. I can usually dig one hole is half an hour or less. I've never had a hole take an hour to dig by hand.

Being willing to do manual labor in order to save money is admirable, to be sure, and something that most Americans should engage in more. Just for information's sake though, in my area a hydraulic skid steer auger rents for $165+tax/day. If the ground conditions are as the OP described, he can drill all of the holes in under an hour. That may or may not be worth it to him. If a person has more time than money, hand digging is the way to go.

 

[EddieWalker]

Does that rental include the skid steer and the trailer to haul the skid steer? Here, I have to rent both, the trailer and the skid steer. As a contractor, I do this a few times a year for different jobs. When that happens, my clients are paying for my time to rent the equipment, get it to their place, use it, and return it.

As a homeowner, I hate renting stuff for my own projects. I never have enough time, and the rental process is so time consuming that I rarely do it. I also hate the idea of that money disappearing when I could use it for buying materials.