Post Hole Digger and Rocks?

[whistlepig]

I'm the same way. I'm not going to rent a skid loader if I have a tractor. I used to live along an old river bed that was almost pure rock. I got it done with the tractor and a post hole digger. It can be done as long as you don't mind using a spud bar.

 

[sodamo]

And where you encounter those rock relative the depth of the hole can make quite a difference. If my place is too rocky at the beginning of the hole, mostly I have to change location of the hole unless I can shovel past them enough for the auger to grab a bite.

For me, augering a hole is a two person operation. Usually, it's my wife on the tractor and me on the Phd yelling directions. Well, she says I'm yelling, I say I'm just trying to endure I'm heard.

 

[Mace Canute]

Rocks! Man, back when I was a Lineman building power lines, I ran into some rocky soil occasionally. One time I was running a digger truck and was trying to dig a hole for a power pole. I hit a SOLID rock a couple of feet under the ground and when I repositioned down the line the full distance of the stinger, about 5-6 feet, I still hit the same rock. I swung around to the other side of the truck and tried it there, and hit the same rock again! That's an awful big rock for the area! I'm very sure it was one big rock since I couldn't even get the point of the auger to find any crack. Another time, I found a layer of rocks about 8" below the surface. It took me 3/4 of an hour to dig that hole, laying the auger over trying to force the point between them. The pole had to go "there". They were so tight together, you would think they were hand shaped and laid together to fit without even a small gap. Once I got a couple of them broke apart, I hauled them out of the hole by hand and finished in a couple of minutes, but that first little "chink in the armor" was tough! Another time I got through the grass and maybe 4 inches of "soil" and I hit small rocks, pure small rocks between 1" and 4 inches in diameter, and no soil whatsoever. They were all rounded off so they were old river rocks but had to have been deposited there (like all rocks around here) by the glaciers from last ice age. Took hours to dig a hole there. A BH would have been faster but there wasn't one around for miles and miles, so we did it the only way we could. The 6 foot deep hole was almost 12 feet across at the top. Filling it in was almost as slow as digging it and worse since it was all by hand. Rocks that size are the devil to shovel by hand! If I never see another rock again in my live, it will be too soon.

 

[Gary Fowler]

I have a few rocks in my Arkansas dirt also, luckily most of them are below post hole level, but there is a lot of small rectangular rocks 1-3" long that the PHD goes thru fairly easily but there are the occassional ones like the photos that you just have to do something different. The perk test photo is pretty typical of what you find when digging with the occassional super rocks encountered.

 

[JohninCT]

It can be done as long as you don't mind using a spud bar.

I agree. Dug many post holes here in rocky soil of CT. You need to have a good digging bar and a clamshell post hole digger to clear those pesky rocks out of your hole so the auger will penetrate further. Some holes you can dig right down no prob. Others you need to stop and clear out maybe two or three times. It's a crap shoot, but it can be done.

 

[beenthere]

..........
The wife still thinks I am nuts for wanting a SCUT rather then a craftsman.

~Kevin

Hopefully you win THAT battle. Craftsman and SCUT are not even in the same sentence.

And JohninCT has the answer to rocks in the way of an auger. Pick them out and move further down with the hole.

If you want to have some fun, go into the hardware store and ask the new recruit if they have postholes for sale.

 

[kday64]

Hopefully you win THAT battle. Craftsman and SCUT are not even in the same sentence.

BT,

I am winning the battle. The hold up at this point is the shed. Our house does not have a garage and the shed at the back of the property is only so big. The double doors only give me a 46" opening and the mowing deck I want is 54". Ah heck, the snow thrower is 51".

Guess I need a new shed as well! Dang it

~Kevin

 

[kday64]

Hi all,

Well I have done some more research and I think the proper answer to my rock problem is manufactured by Land Pride.

I am thinking that the Land Pride PD10 combined with the optional down pressure kit would allow me to smoothly break through the rocky soil.

Land Pride Post Hole Digger Manuals

Additionally, I think a BellTec Bit would go along way and certainly help prevent the sound of a snapping shearbolt.

BELLTEC Industries :: Bullet Tooth Rock Auger

What do you all think?

~Kevin

 

[whistlepig]

I really like the augers. Didn't know they made such a thing. You might want to look at Bush Hog post hole diggers also. I have a 2102 Bush Hog and it can take an optional down pressure kit. The Bush Hog set up looks a bit beefier than than the Land Pride set up. Nothing against Land Pride. I have a Land Pride rotary cutter that I like very much. Looks like you are going the right direction. I sure would like to know how will this set up works if you go that way.

 

[kday64]

I really like the augers. Didn't know they made such a thing. You might want to look at Bush Hog post hole diggers also. I have a 2102 Bush Hog and it can take an optional down pressure kit. The Bush Hog set up looks a bit beefier than than the Land Pride set up. Nothing against Land Pride.

Whistle, I went to my local tractor equipmeny store and walked around the lot and I got to see a Land Pride PHD next to a Bush Hog 2102. Though I am not sure of the Land Pride model number I have to agree. The Bush Hog looked, felt and smelled of durablity and strength. The Land Pride model did not.

All this research is because the local fence companys want $9k to install a fence in my back yard.

~Kevin