Mont Belvieu, Texas Man dies in tractor accident

[Uncle Doug]

We live only about 10 miles from this school. I had heard that someone had been killed on the job but did not know it was tractor related.

I have also been careless when using the post hole digger. Either standing on the 3 point to give it weight or rocking the arm. Also a common error is using a bolt too long to hold the auger on.

It will make me think twice next time.

Another tractor accident locally about 5-7 years ago killed a local man. He was using the FEL to lift the front tires off the ground while working under the tractor. His kid was in the tractor seat and must of hit the handle dropping the weight of the tractor on the man.

 

[Kfbeal]

Has anyone consider going out the day before and pouring a bucket of water in a small hole where the post hole will be drilled?

We have heavy black land that was farmed for years and packed. We've poured 5 gallons in a hole once only to have it sit there for 4 days after it was poured. At times, the only option is to move over.

 

[Soundguy]

I see in our local paper, a guy was working on a TLB ( with fops I believe ) in a rural area doing land clearing, and something happened... he lived.. the newspaper showe dthe pic of his cab.. it looked like a crumpled soda can... guess he was trapped.. but lived. They found him via GPS off his cell phone...

soundguy

 

[gemini5362]

Has anyone consider going out the day before and pouring a bucket of water in a small hole where the post hole will be drilled?

Usually I just move the hole over. If I cannot do that easily I start the hole and then when I gt to a point where it stops drilling I pour a bucket of water in the hole and that helps sometimes. If I cant get it out that way. I reevalutate whether or not I absolutely cannot move it over. IF it has to be there I get a shovel and rock bar and then do it by hand.


Actually this thread is kind of shocking to me. I never in my wildest dream thought about standing on the three point hookup to help it dig. The most I have ever done was to lift the three point hit and drop it a few times. The danger involved in getting within reach of rotating machinery does not come close to the advantage of getting a post hole where you want it. One of the women at work was doing exactly what you are talking about. She left her PTO on and got off the tractor to put leverage on the PHD when it would not dig a hole where she wanted it to. The Drive shaft grabbed her shirt and started winding her into it. Luckily for her the shirt ripped and she was able to break free. She still was bruised up and pretty sore but not seriously hurt.

 

[sweep]

Back in the mid 70's my uncle leaned down by a running pto for some reason and it grapped onto his flannel shirt he wore over another shirt and tore it right off him. Good thing the shirt was worn out and weak and unbottoned.

He got the message.

 

[patrick_g]

I think the heavy walled pipe will fair better than solid rebar.. that.. or weld in a hard pin in the ens of the pipe and then turn down for the correct diameter. shouldn't take much force to 'coax' the bit in. course.. if ya got bad rocky soil.. that's another problem all its own.. that and tree roots.. ugh!

soundguy

I thought of some sort of really hard and tough thing wth an extension added but didn't have any material for it.

Today I was using PHD and put an 8 ft piece of pipe on top of the gear box. My helper and I suspended our bodies over 3 ft from the rotating auger to add our combined weight and still couldn't dig a hole. We put the 8 ft pipe at the center of the U shaped part of the frame and pried down on the gear box and couldn't dig. Well we did dig due to recent rain but only a couplel inches and then hit dry hard ground.

Egon, We put water in every hole that would only dig a few inches. We wanted 30-36 inches. Used FEL to drive pipe in a few inches in some instances.

Driving slowly forward to forcefully engage the auger's "threads" into the side of the hole did get a hole started albeit not vertically but once the hole was dig pretty well at a slant you could use some backing up force to get a more vertical hole.

We had down sized from the 12 inch to a smaller auger due to hard digging which requires more precision to get your weldments to fit up.

In the end today the PHD was making "funny noises." We sheared both mounting bolts that pin the auger to the output shaft of the gearbox and the gear box was leaking fluid. I'm hoping a flange is a tad loose or something simple, not the bearings gone bad. Unfortunately these days of "throw it away and buy a new one", it doesn't take much damage before the parts cost exceeds a fair portion of the cost of a new one and you are better off to buy a new one. If I discover that is the situation when I go in for exploratory surgery tomorrow, maybe I should try to buy the same brand so that I will have a few spare parts.

I only have about 39 HP at the PTO and I think this SPEECO PHD was rated for 80 HP.

I have replaced U-joints a couple times and have an entirely new PTO shaft (much heavier duty) than the original.

Any advice, guys? I mean other than babying the PHD (this or a new one, which isn't happening.) I rarely contact much of a rock and hardly ever a root of consequence but my dirt can be pretty hard when it is dry and below a couple inches it is darned dry (and HARD.) So far I have only "stuck the 12 inch auger in the ground one time. Had to use a pipe wrench with a cheater to turn it backwards and unscrew it out of the dirt. Usually I am careful to lift the 3PH and or depress the clutch before things get out of hand.

Pat

 

[Gittyup]

Might try a different auger style. Some have higher density spirals than others. I use a 12" open spiral auger. The open spiral has a steeper blade pitch to it, causing it to pull itself into the hole. Maybe I'm lucky, but haven't gotten stuck nor had trouble drilling yet. Have gone right through 5" roots without so much as a grunt. Soil here is all clay too. I did do all my drilling in the spring when the ground was pretty wet though.

 

[Egon]

Remember the drill rig used for the pile holes? Sometimes one has to go to entirely different equipment when what you have is not proper for the job at hand today.


Now if you can wait till the rains come! Then it's a different story and you'll sink in the auger and have to back it out.

 

[Egon]

An afterthought:

In another life Hydro jetting systems were used to make holes in frozen ground or to check for buried structures before piles or were driven or deeper holes drilled. These were properly designed units incorporating tank trucks for water supply. In the winter they may have had water heaters also. They were very common units.

Using a portable pressure washer one might be able to jet down a nice pilot hole that could be filled with water and then come by in a few days with the auger.

It might also be possible to make some adjustments and just jet the post hole but again this may be a rube type operation.

Or make use of the lack of rain conditions, set one up properly, form a company and go into business jetting holes and setting posts.

 

[patrick_g]

Might try a different auger style. Some have higher density spirals than others. I use a 12" open spiral auger. The open spiral has a steeper blade pitch to it, causing it to pull itself into the hole. Maybe I'm lucky, but haven't gotten stuck nor had trouble drilling yet. Have gone right through 5" roots without so much as a grunt. Soil here is all clay too. I did do all my drilling in the spring when the ground was pretty wet though.

Both my augers have different "pitch on the threads" starting just above the replaceable tip and going up nearly a foot and then go courser the rest of the way up.

I have drilled dozens and dozens of holes when there was fair soil moisture. I suspect our drought is the culprit. Even though we got some rain the soil is only moistened a couple inches down from the surface which is how far I can "drill" before just spinning uselessly. If I invested a few hours every day for a week or so just running around making sure all the little shallow holes I can dig were full of water I might get the water to soak in deep enough to be able to make the 3 foot holes I want.

Egon, I have a length of 1/2 inch galvanized pipe about 5 feet long with one end cut like a hypo needle and a T fitting on the other. I have an adapter on the side of the T (horizontal port when the pipe is vertical) to accept a garden hose. In use I pound it into the ground a bit, turn on the water and either push manually or hammer it down into the ground. The hydraulic mining action usually blows a hole fairly easily. I have used it to tunnel under sidewalks or to probe into the ground looking for a buried structure, or...

The pressure washer idea you mentioned would be like my home brew rig on steroids! Around these parts finding the fittings needed to set up a rig based on a pressure washer might be difficult but there is always tele-buying via the web. (I really prefer seeing the stuff in my hand when boldly going where I have never gone before.) Except in summer, when you might not mind hosing yourself off, my rig has the downside of a guaranteed mud bath. I have good rain gear but a wet suit (with face mask would be better sometimes.

Since I have had several good years out of the PHD and only have trouble with hard ground, I should probably not be so concerned with an equipment change as exercising patience and spending time watering the little dimples I CAN MAKE to soften the ground.

One of the holes I dug was a dream, just went like a textbook example. This was on a gently sloping area, not a depression, and gave no evidence as to why the soil should have been damp all the way past 3 feet down. Of course I have no clue as to all the varioius subterranean paths of water flow. I have a location near a hilltop that stays muddy (and may show surface water) when all around it is dry.

First I have to repair or replace the PHD then start toting water. It will be light enough to see good enough in a few minutes so I will start my exploratory surgery.

Thanks, everyone for your comments. It helps me organize my thoughts and of course supplies ideas that might never occur to me.

Pat