Post Hole Auger

[teg]

One test you can do, remove the auger bit... normally, it's 2 bolts holding it on. You can see if it travels up and down. There might be a problem with the PTO shaft being too long and that is bottoming out... if that is the case you can do some damage to the unit and tractor...

PS. Hey Tom_H!!! can you change your very very large inline photo to be an attachment??? If you need instructions for doing that, let me know.

 

[City Dude]

Moisture content of soil makes big difference along with ever changing soil types. I tried in an area of moderately moist silty/clay soil. While the blades may not have been the sharpest, without sufficient down force all it did was "polish" the soil; the friction dried up the soil at the contact point and it was like cement when I pulled the auger up. Moved to another area with a more sandy content and it went 4 feet even without me adding my weight to it. When I hit river rocks.... it's Miller time! I have been told to rent a bobcat to get all my posts sunk.

 

[GGB]

I'm not sure what the rest of the TBN'ers would think about this solution, but here's what we did. My neighbor brought his post hole digger over to help me with 2 holes and we couldn't get throught the hardpan. The area where we were digging is pretty much hard clay, and we weren't making any progress. So I pulled out the garden hose and started running water into the hole while he was running the auger. I figured at worst, it would help cool the bit, and at best it might loosen the clay at that point. It didn't take much longer to get through, and actually seemed to make a very nice hole.

The next day, most of the water left in the hole had drained, and then I just used my regular clamshell post hole digger to finish cleaning it out and filling with gravel to the level I needed for the project. Again, it seemed to make a nice hole with firm sides.

Although it might have worked without running water, I wonder how long we would have been there trying to get it otherwise.

Good luck with your project!

GGB

 

[Tom_H]

One test you can do, remove the auger bit... normally, it's 2 bolts holding it on. You can see if it travels up and down. There might be a problem with the PTO shaft being too long and that is bottoming out... if that is the case you can do some damage to the unit and tractor...

PS. Hey Tom_H!!! can you change your very very large inline photo to be an attachment??? If you need instructions for doing that, let me know.

teg is correct re. this method to test. If travel is an issue, this can be compensated for simply by inching the tractor forward and away from the auger as the auger digs in. One must also inch back closer to the auger when withdrawing from the hole.

teg, the pic is an attachment in an older post. I copied the location and inserted that between the image and end-image brackets. When I first load the page, it shows very large for about one second, then resizes to about twice the height and width of a thumbnail on my screen. Please feel free to give me the information needed to change the image.

 

[newbury]

I'm not sure what the rest of the TBN'ers would think about this solution, but here's what we did. My neighbor brought his post hole digger over to help me with 2 holes and we couldn't get throught the hardpan. The area where we were digging is pretty much hard clay, and we weren't making any progress. So I pulled out the garden hose and started running water into the hole while he was running the auger. I figured at worst, it would help cool the bit, and at best it might loosen the clay at that point. It didn't take much longer to get through, and actually seemed to make a very nice hole.

The next day, most of the water left in the hole had drained, and then I just used my regular clamshell post hole digger to finish cleaning it out and filling with gravel to the level I needed for the project. Again, it seemed to make a nice hole with firm sides.

Although it might have worked without running water, I wonder how long we would have been there trying to get it otherwise.

Good luck with your project!

GGB

I had the same problem digging a 10'x15' foundation hole for my shed in REAL HEAVY clay (almost shale). Luckily I was young and stupid because all I had was a shovel, a pick, a pinch bar and hose. I'd flood the area every night, go out in the early morning and use the pick and pinch bar to break holes in it up to several inches deep, flood it again, go to work, and when I got home around 4pm I could shovel off the top several inches. Repeat for two feet. I should have rented a backhoe.

 

[Tom_H]

I had the same problem digging a 10'x15' foundation hole for my shed in REAL HEAVY clay (almost shale). Luckily I was young and stupid because all I had was a shovel, a pick, a pinch bar and hose. I'd flood the area every night, go out in the early morning and use the pick and pinch bar to break holes in it up to several inches deep, flood it again, go to work, and when I got home around 4pm I could shovel off the top several inches. Repeat for two feet. I should have rented a backhoe.

Before I had my backhoe, and before I added ballast and carbide tipped auger to the PHD, I did the same thing. Our hardpan is a claypan that is cemented with silica that was deposited from a volcanic ash cloud long ago. The silica leached down and did the same thing Portland Cement would do-turned it into an almost completely water impermeable concrete. The name for this is Duripan. I would fill the hole with water one day, and would then be able to slam the 20 lb. 6' pinch bar straight down over and over to chisel out 1/4" to 1/2" of the stuff, remove spoils with the clamshell diggers, and add more water for the next day. That was slow and hard work. Thank goodness for big machines.