Have You Operated a Large Auger With Your Tractor?

[kantuckid]

Some larger landscaping companies around here use a 24 inch auger for tree planting holes.

Very rural, no landscaping Co.'s here.

 

[kantuckid]

I would just hire a contractor to do the job. Its a one time need only, so renting equipment and training yourself saves very little.

The guy that owns the small excavator IS a contracto who mostly builds houses and additions. He uses it for his own footers. If it ever stops raining he's my guy.

 

[kantuckid]

Pole barn companies also usually have large augers. If there's one near you you might try them.

Aaron Z

i asked my metal roofing rep(they build pole buildings) and he said the machine guys are job to job with no time for odd jobs like me.

 

[kantuckid]

View attachment 661414 this is a rock i found with a 24 auger. It was mounted to skidsteer.

Isnt there any rental yards in your area? I rented a skid steer with 24 auger for $200 for 3 hours use when i set my front porch. Rental yard 20 min away so it wasnt bad. No way my 45 hp kioti would have pushed that auger into the ground

nearest is a 3 hr RT that has whats needed, so it's far cheaper to use the small excavator guy who is local. Per the thread title I began with renting a 24" auger then got cold feet. My 76 yr old back will not be digging these by hand. A HS kid costs $10 hrly so no economy in him on that much shovel work.

 

[kantuckid]

This is exactly why I got a M62. I can just throw a HYD auger on the front and drill whatever I want. Rental is 45 min away but doable.

His piers could be 6 feet deep. Good luck with that shovel.

How much more in concrete costs will the horizontal piers cost ya? When I looked at this it was quite a bit more than a vertical cylindrical pier.

Will be 8" sonotubes inserted in either brand of 24" base. Bag mix in 50# bags cause thats what old farts can lift now days and it's a remote site so no ready mix trucks and too far for FEL bucket of readymix.
One son does these calculations for a living as a civil engr so that IS the design for my walls, nothing more or less and lots less mix this route vs. a horizontal footer.

 

[WoodChuckDad]

What do you do if you hit the rock with a big augur?

Break the sheer pin.

 

[oosik]

Speaking of large augers. I have ten power poles down the side of my driveway. I thought they would use a 12" or 18" auger to dig the holes for the poles. Boy - was I ever wrong. A HUGE semi truck with a gigantic hydraulic auger mechanism and a 3" auger. It would auger and also could operate as a rotary hammer.

So they auger/hammer a 3" hole down as deep an necessary. Then they drop some type of electric detonator to the bottom of the hole - fill the hole with high nitrogen fertilizer( I guess). Pack the top tight with dirt and heavy rock. Run the electric connection over to a truck parked about 150 feet from hole. Everybody crawls UNDER the truck and they touch it off. A mighty ROAR - rocks flying everywhere - a cloud of dust. They now have a hole big enough to drop a power pole into.

Eight of the ten poles had to be "developed" by blasting. Basaltic lava bedrock is very close to or at the surface.

At my request - they came down to where I was working on the house and I got to witness two of these operations.

 

[jimglassford]

Speaking of large augers. I have ten power poles down the side of my driveway. I thought they would use a 12" or 18" auger to dig the holes for the poles. Boy - was I ever wrong. A HUGE semi truck with a gigantic hydraulic auger mechanism and a 3" auger. It would auger and also could operate as a rotary hammer.

So they auger/hammer a 3" hole down as deep an necessary. Then they drop some type of electric detonator to the bottom of the hole - fill the hole with high nitrogen fertilizer( I guess). Pack the top tight with dirt and heavy rock. Run the electric connection over to a truck parked about 150 feet from hole. Everybody crawls UNDER the truck and they touch it off. A mighty ROAR - rocks flying everywhere - a cloud of dust. They now have a hole big enough to drop a power pole into.

Eight of the ten poles had to be "developed" by blasting. Basaltic lava bedrock is very close to or at the surface.

At my request - they came down to where I was working on the house and I got to witness two of these operations.

That is a lot of work for a 3 inch hole.

 

[JimR]

How many piers? Get an 8" augur bit, lay out the 24" hole,
drill 3 holes around the perimeter, and use a shovel to finish it?

That is smart thinking. Would 4 holes be better since he needs a 24 inch hole.

 

[jrskblx125]

Not sure if you said you had a backhoe on your machine, but here in massachusetts they sell preform footings at local lumber yards. I just used my loader with an eye bolt on top of footing and plopped them right in. The preforms were $90 each and it certainly wasnt worth it to me to buy the $20 big foots and $8 ish tubes, take the time to tape them, set them and spend the time mixing the concrete. If i remember right crete bags are $5 each and i needed 7 per bigfoot and 10” tube. I just dug trench and luckily didnt catch many rocks. Ive done it both ways and the preforms were a huge time saver.