Posthole Digger Hydraulic Post Hole Digger

[Djwalker]

I have a McMillen X450 hydraulic auger motor that I can mount on my backhoe on my L3600. It is pretty much the smallest McMillen motor and can take up to 15gpm. I think the backhoe pump does about 8 gpm. I used to have a PTO driven three point hitch auger. I got the hydraulic for a couple of reasons. First, I can use down pressure from the backhoe to help drill. Our soil is pretty rocky and the PTO auger would just hit rocks and stop. With the additional down pressure (essentially the entire weight of the back end of the tractor) the auger goes right in. Second, if you do manage to stall the auger the relief valve just opens- no more broken shear pins. I sometimes used to go through a half dozen shear pins in an hour. Changing them really slows things down. Third, it's reversible. So you can't get the auger stuck. You just reverse the drive and it comes right out. This is useful if you don't clear the auger often enough in wet soil. It is a lot more expensive than a PTO auger but there is no comparison in ease of use.

Dave

 

[centex]

Thanks, I will check this out.