I'm looking to add a PHD to my attachments for my 47HP TYM. I'm looking for 12" capacity. Here are the options.
1.
from Dealer for $1,250
2. from
TSC, for $650. That is half the price!
I'm looking to use it for planting a few hundred trees each year. Is the dealer on worth twice the price?
Before you open your wallet I want to make your life easier;
DO NOT use the standard auger unless you have sandy soil.
Invest in a tree transplanting auger to do this as the tapered
transplanting auger will eliminate the stress that the compacted
soil will create against the auger as it penetrates the soil.
I convinced my brother to do this with his post hole digger and
he had no problems getting to depth for his deep post holes
using his small agco tractor.
When I planted my first annual Christmas tree, I had a deep hole
that I filled with shovels full of pea gravel for drainage and
concrete sand until the root ball was near the surface and then
I covered it with concrete sand.
Forty years later that first live potted Christmas tree is 50 feet tall.
The only faster way to do this is rent a backhoe with a very wide
bucket to plant the trees.
The downside to this method is that the block of dirt will have to be
broken up and the rocks in the dirt will be hidden where with a
transplanting auger the rocks will be spit out where you can see them
and toss them into a wheel barrow or the loader bucket if you have one
mounted on your tractor.
The transplanting auger will create a wide tapered hole that will let
the tree roots grow rapidly in the loosened soil if watered regularly
with a hose or drip irrigation method.
A tree transplanting auger will save you a great deal of work and
will create less stress on your mules rear PTO and the gearbox of the
post hole digger.
I have talked about the transplanting augers before on the forum and
uploaded links and pictures.