3 pt. auger/post hole digger

[M59]

For tractor, skid steer, or excavator its the hydraulic flow. more than PSI to run an implement and second is the PSI range. Most tractors operate 2500-2800 PSI - Skid steers 3500, and excavators 3500-4500 - the higher pressure will lift/dig more, the higher flow will run implements like snow blowers, PHD, stump grinders on skid steers, and mulchers etc on excavators.

Carl_NH,
That is why I attached the chart detailing flow and psi. One needs both in the proper quantities to do work.

 

[ning]

This may not be useful in NH but I'll opine for other readers.

In my soil I consider the 3ph auger to have been an iffy buy. I end up digging half of the hole by hand unless the ground is very moist.

Then again, I've got a tough clay here; in the summer the auger won't break ground at all let alone dig, and other than mid winter through mid spring much of the time the auger will get only so far and then start to burnish the clay as it stops digging.

To make some use of it in the tough 9 months of the year, I typically dig an 8" hole to start, and ideally fill the hole with water. Wait for it to soak in, could be hours or a day. Refill. wait. Finally use the auger. If I'm impatient, I spin the auger till it's not going down, then pull the bit out and bust up the bottom of the hole with a pry/digging bar, and go back to the auger. Repeat many many times, cursing the lame auger. Yes I've replaced the teeth on the bit.

The problem is lack of downforce. If I knew what I know now, when I was about to dig a hundred holes to do a bunch of fencing, I would've either rigged up a downforce cylinder, or more likely bought a hydraulic auger to go on the front where you can do downforce.

Low flow tractor hydraulics are fine because you don't need lots of speed, and though I've only needed to manually reverse mine once when it got lodged hard against an underground boulder, a hydraulic's reversibility would be sweet.

 

[jyoutz]

Have you considered having a fencing company come and drill the holes using their hydraulic auger on a skid steer?

 

[jyoutz]

Most of the collapse issues in our area are due to poor roof design, rather than posts. When it is posts, it's often because they rot off at the base. The days of putting wood in the ground for buildings should be past us in my opinion. The old, toxic treatment methods are no longer permitted and the wood just doesn't hold up. Wood doesn't belong below grade for a building.

I built a modified pole barn one time by pouring concrete footers with steel straps to fasten the timber posts to. I used 6x6 square posts instead of poles. I just don’t trust wood in the ground.

 

[BlueKnife]

I built a modified pole barn one time by pouring concrete footers with steel straps to fasten the timber posts to. I used 6x6 square posts instead of poles. I just don’t trust wood in the ground.

Most of the jobs that I do are post frames. I either use steel brackets from a company called Perma Column or a build the brackets my self out of 1/4"x5" flat bar. There are two different kinds of brackets, wet set and dry set. The wet set brackets have four sections of rebar protruding from the bottom that get set in place when the concrete is poured. The dry set have holes to bolt to the concrete. They work really well, keep the wood above grade, where it belongs, and as a bonus, make construction much easier to do with fewer people. I'll put up an entire 24x32 building with 10' eaves solo. The walls get built on the ground and then are stood up into the brackets using my loader and truss boom. There are no temporary braces going everywhere to trip over and mess with.

 

[BlueKnife]

Nope, don't have that.

Isn't the hydraulic pressure on a skid steer way higher than on a tractor (or at least one the size of mine...30 hp)?

The pressure isn't so much the issue as the flow, and that isn't all that big of a deal for an auger, especially for the small number of holes you're talking about. Just means the auger will turn slower.