MadDog
Platinum Member
This was my Christmas gift to myself and it arrived the Tuesday after Christmas in a palletized crate slightly larger than a casket (which I downloaded from the truck w/my FEL/pallet forks). During the last week I have used it extensively to sink the holes for the rafter-end anchors and end-support beams on the prefab temporary barn that I am building.
So far, I have dug about a dozen holes, 9" diam a couple about 4' and the rest about 3'. the ground was only slightly, if at all, frozen (it has been mild the last several weeks in Boston) but it was very hard packed and, like all of New England, very rocky.
1. Assembly and protective devices: The G20/40 is a very beefy attachment, weighing about 220# exclusive of the auger (another 39#) according to the bill of lading. Assembly is straight forward and the directions are clear, but parts of it are a two person job because of the size and weight of the boom, yoke and gearbox. It took about 1 1/2 hours from palletized crate to mounted on my 3ph and ready to go. The driveline shielding is well designed and should protect against incidental contact although of course, great care should be exercised to make sure that there isn't any. There is also a well designed and sturdy two piece bolt-on shield that protects against accidental entanglement with the auger adapter and bolt that holds the auger on it.
2. Effectiveness: I was pretty skeptical about whether any PHD could operate effectively in the rocks on my land and was pleasantly surprised. Despite the very hard-packed soil that holds any rock almost as if it were embedded in cement, the Danuser is able to extract and bring to the surface just about anything fist-sized and under. For larger rocks, it depends upon how they lie in the soil and whether they are, in turn, tightly wedged in by other rocks. Generally, it has been necessary, at least once per hole, to raise the auger, shut down the tractor (for safety) and loosen or break up a rock with a 6' steel prybar. But for that, you could sink a 4' hole in less than a minute. As it is, it is still a whole lot easier and quicker than digging equivilent holes manually. On Tuesday, I sank 8 holes, placed anchoring pins and refilled them (compacting the fill after every couple of inches) in about 3 hours. By hand, I am sure that I would have been lucky to dig even 3 holes in an entire day's work. Overall, I would say that the PHD is well worth it even in New England soil, although I may change my mind this summer when I dig the 18 foundation holes for my future pole barn.
3. Operation: I entirely agree with the posters on earlier threads who recommend operating a PHD at engine idle or just above. My B7800 idles at about 1200 rpm which probably translates into about 240 rpm going into the PHD's gear drive. While I am not sure, the drive gears may further reduce auger speed somewhat; they certainly don't increase it significantly and the auger was turning plenty fast for my taste at idle. I felt that going faster would be unlikely to increase auger power significantly, but would increase the likelihood of snapping the shearpin or placing unnecessary stress on the PHD or tractor.
As its model #implies, the Danuser G20/40 is rated for 20-40 hp tractors and the 22 pto hp that the B7800 outputs seemed to be fine to run the 9" auger, even in my difficult substrate. I am not sure whether it would have trouble with a larger diam. auger. I suspect that in less rocky soil, this PHD can easily handle augers up to the max 24" that Danuser makes for it.
Of course, I have not used any other PHDs and so cannot compare; nor have an intelligent opinion on whether Danuser's quality is worth its significantly higher price.
In light of my local soil conditions, I needed a well-built machine that would stand up to frequent stresses. I decided on the Danuser after comparing specs and on the theory that while you don't always get WHAT you pay for, you never get what you DON'T pay for. I'm hopeful that I got my money's worth and so far I think I did.
Hope all this is helpful to others.
So far, I have dug about a dozen holes, 9" diam a couple about 4' and the rest about 3'. the ground was only slightly, if at all, frozen (it has been mild the last several weeks in Boston) but it was very hard packed and, like all of New England, very rocky.
1. Assembly and protective devices: The G20/40 is a very beefy attachment, weighing about 220# exclusive of the auger (another 39#) according to the bill of lading. Assembly is straight forward and the directions are clear, but parts of it are a two person job because of the size and weight of the boom, yoke and gearbox. It took about 1 1/2 hours from palletized crate to mounted on my 3ph and ready to go. The driveline shielding is well designed and should protect against incidental contact although of course, great care should be exercised to make sure that there isn't any. There is also a well designed and sturdy two piece bolt-on shield that protects against accidental entanglement with the auger adapter and bolt that holds the auger on it.
2. Effectiveness: I was pretty skeptical about whether any PHD could operate effectively in the rocks on my land and was pleasantly surprised. Despite the very hard-packed soil that holds any rock almost as if it were embedded in cement, the Danuser is able to extract and bring to the surface just about anything fist-sized and under. For larger rocks, it depends upon how they lie in the soil and whether they are, in turn, tightly wedged in by other rocks. Generally, it has been necessary, at least once per hole, to raise the auger, shut down the tractor (for safety) and loosen or break up a rock with a 6' steel prybar. But for that, you could sink a 4' hole in less than a minute. As it is, it is still a whole lot easier and quicker than digging equivilent holes manually. On Tuesday, I sank 8 holes, placed anchoring pins and refilled them (compacting the fill after every couple of inches) in about 3 hours. By hand, I am sure that I would have been lucky to dig even 3 holes in an entire day's work. Overall, I would say that the PHD is well worth it even in New England soil, although I may change my mind this summer when I dig the 18 foundation holes for my future pole barn.
3. Operation: I entirely agree with the posters on earlier threads who recommend operating a PHD at engine idle or just above. My B7800 idles at about 1200 rpm which probably translates into about 240 rpm going into the PHD's gear drive. While I am not sure, the drive gears may further reduce auger speed somewhat; they certainly don't increase it significantly and the auger was turning plenty fast for my taste at idle. I felt that going faster would be unlikely to increase auger power significantly, but would increase the likelihood of snapping the shearpin or placing unnecessary stress on the PHD or tractor.
As its model #implies, the Danuser G20/40 is rated for 20-40 hp tractors and the 22 pto hp that the B7800 outputs seemed to be fine to run the 9" auger, even in my difficult substrate. I am not sure whether it would have trouble with a larger diam. auger. I suspect that in less rocky soil, this PHD can easily handle augers up to the max 24" that Danuser makes for it.
Of course, I have not used any other PHDs and so cannot compare; nor have an intelligent opinion on whether Danuser's quality is worth its significantly higher price.
In light of my local soil conditions, I needed a well-built machine that would stand up to frequent stresses. I decided on the Danuser after comparing specs and on the theory that while you don't always get WHAT you pay for, you never get what you DON'T pay for. I'm hopeful that I got my money's worth and so far I think I did.
Hope all this is helpful to others.
