JD 4052, 300 Post Hole Digger, 9x36 Auger

[Texasmark]

Never dug a hole with a hydro and JD Ind PTO, 4010, 4020, and 4230, but none were hydros. Gear box is 3.5:1 making the auger turn at a comfortable 154 rpm if you go all the way to 540 on the drive which I probably wont.

How does the 300 series hold it's position with a one person operation? I noticed that the 4052 has drop pin stabilizers on the lift arms like my Branson so it should pretty much stay where you put it with no side to side motion. My Fords just flop all over the place, the 2000 with tranny PTO and the 3000 with Live double clutch disc...half height of the clutch for disengagement which is a real hole digging tractor. The 6530 is clutched shuttle shifter with full Ind or clutch interrupted Ind.

So I guess you pedal and steer yourself to the desired punch spot, kick in the PTO and start her down, up and down as you go to expel the clippings. Kick it off at the bottom of the hole, raise and hit the power again to sling off the shavings leaving a pretty much clean hole. If you need any fore-aft alignment just foot off the brake and touch the hydro in 1st range with the auger running......I'm bouncing this off you guys and gals.....thinking about what I'm saying while I type it......seeing if it sounds right.

Thanks,
Mark

 

[beenthere]

Worth a try.. and adjust as you go.
Let us know how it goes, and what works best.

 

[AKfish]

Sounds like all the right moves.. Except one - I never start the PTO until the auger bit is positioned on the drill spot and as close to vertical as my eyeball gets me.

On any slope, the left and right tilt can be a problem. My immediate supervisor; (wife) is very experienced at holding the gearbox straight until the auger gets a good bite.

 

[MF283]

I've never shut off at the bottom, pull it up & let it get as much dirt out as possible, once close to total exit, then shut it off. My old Servis PHD has a rod to insert in the head so you can adjust from the seat, of course the way new tractors are built, makes it useless.

Ronnie

 

[Texasmark]

Sounds like all the right moves.. Except one - I never start the PTO until the auger bit is positioned on the drill spot and as close to vertical as my eyeball gets me.

On any slope, the left and right tilt can be a problem. My immediate supervisor; (wife) is very experienced at holding the gearbox straight until the auger gets a good bite.

I must have "misstated"......... I agree that you need to get the bit on the spot before you start it rotating. Now that you mention it, I think I recall (been lotta years since I dug a hole) letting it drop to the ground and making an imprint and then turn her on.

Most of it is level. Have 36 holes to dig. Probably 5 will need the lift arms leveled once the tractor is in position. I asked about rigidity of the JD platform as there will be no help. Will be a one man show other than eyeballing and pointing out direction for corrections from coworkers from a safe distance.

Thanks for your reply,
Mark

 

[Texasmark]

I've never shut off at the bottom, pull it up & let it get as much dirt out as possible, once close to total exit, then shut it off. My old Servis PHD has a rod to insert in the head so you can adjust from the seat, of course the way new tractors are built, makes it useless.

Ronnie

In thinking about it leaving it running would sling off clippings as you came up. Trying to recall why I started stopping at the bottom. I think I got a cleaner hole, why?????? Don't know. Will check both ways. I just remember coming up with the blade full of dirt and hitting the pto and it flying off away from the hole rather than piling up along side. That may have been it......just dawned on me:

Cut power when finished digging at the bottom of the hole. Have coworker scrape clippings from around the hole that have piled up while digging while auger is still buried. Pull out auger and once clear of the hole, while it's still coming out, hit the pto for a second to pitch the load on the blade which scatters. That's why. Made for a clean hole . Think I'll stay with that.

Thanks for the reply.
Mark

 

[Texasmark]

Worth a try.. and adjust as you go.
Let us know how it goes, and what works best.

Will do. Noticed your lineup. I don't have nor need a Gator but I do need a little "get around" vehicle for spraying fire ants, fence lines, and general chores and transportation around the place. My L110 was getting tired. I got a new V twin BS 18 off ebay for just under $600 with free shipping, pulled the transaxle, opened it up and checked everything, cleaned the filter, new synthetic 10W-40 (Recommended by tidy tranny or whatever their name is over the parafin 10-30 that came in it), put an old freezer wire drawer on the hood , like the basket on the front if bicycles but bolted to the plastic hood and added a 4 gallon back pack sprayer with a 60 psi 2 gpm sprayer mounted on the back with more refrigerator wire grills. Then I got a set of ATV balloon snow stud tires for it (5psig) and some soft springs that are used on OEM Cub Cadet lawn tractors and fixed up my all weather/all terrain soft riding multi-function vehicle. Works really neat.

 

[AKfish]

Will do. Noticed your lineup. I don't have nor need a Gator but I do need a little "get around" vehicle for spraying fire ants, fence lines, and general chores and transportation around the place. My L110 was getting tired. I got a new V twin BS 18 off ebay for just under $600 with free shipping, pulled the transaxle, opened it up and checked everything, cleaned the filter, new synthetic 10W-40 (Recommended by tidy tranny or whatever their name is over the parafin 10-30 that came in it), put an old freezer wire drawer on the hood , like the basket on the front if bicycles but bolted to the plastic hood and added a 4 gallon back pack sprayer with a 60 psi 2 gpm sprayer mounted on the back with more refrigerator wire grills. Then I got a set of ATV balloon snow stud tires for it (5psig) and some soft springs that are used on OEM Cub Cadet lawn tractors and fixed up my all weather/all terrain soft riding multi-function vehicle. Works really neat.

Sounds like a pretty sweet ride! Like the creative "re-purposing"!

 

[Texasmark]

Sounds like a pretty sweet ride! Like the creative "re-purposing"!

It is and works super with old, tired, backs...my back.

I forgot to mention, I removed the mowing deck too.

 

[Texasmark]

Worth a try.. and adjust as you go.
Let us know how it goes, and what works best.

Things went better than expected. I decided the owner needed to learn how to use HIS tractor so might as well jump right in. I went through some notes I drew up talking him through the process and telling him what to expect if things went right and wrong.

First off he was using the JD 300 series PHD with the 3' x 9" auger....a good match for his 52 hp tractor. One thing I noticed about the auger was the long shaft and sturdy mount. I know the sturdy mounting really helped but the long shaft was apparently long for a reason........

I used spray paint to mark the spots on the ground and he had no problem positioning his tractor such that the tip sat right on the spots. Once on the spot and lined up he didn't have to make any ground position adjustments.

I had him at 1800 rpm which was a couple hundred over the peak of the torque curve so that loading would increase torque, but have a slow speed so that he had time to see what was happening and correct if things were going wrong.

Things went well for the first half of the holes where the ground was damp. About half way down to the bottom we ran into wet clay and the auger wanted to make like a screw in wood and auger itself in. This proved to be a problem but was a good learning experience for him to learn to nibble at it, taking small bites, up and down, to keep things working.

First 2 holes went without incident but the third was an auger in and he popped the shear bolt. You know, having all the protective shields in place are really nice for personal safety, but are a PIA when trying to do anything like change shear bolts or greasing.

I had the 2' pipe wrench and cheater bar and replacement shear bolts just-in-case and showed him how to recover from that part of the learning curve.

In short, hydrostatic steering and propulsion with an Ind. PTO work very well for the first time operator. He'll do just fine.