Post hole digger for 60HP Kubota M6040

[jpsheb]

Going through hardpan, you are going to need downpressure and a sturdy, aggressive tip and teeth, possibly cast.

We have a fair amount of rock here and my PHD is about worthless. 90% of the holes I dig need extra weight on the PHD and I have to bend back the teeth after every hole. I buy sheer pins by the pound.

If you have a lot of hole to dig at one time, you might see about renting a skid steer with a proper PHD. A lot faster and will hold up a lot better.

Ken

Well, I guess I'll stock up in sheer pins

For the harder ground, Does anyone use a 4" to pilot first and then expand the whole with the 9" next? Are carbide teeth an option? I only ask because the hardpan is pretty common around here--as is tooth dulling. Enough of a problem that the guy I hired to do the job last spring ended up not doing the job. He was able to drill through the topsoil and a little clay just fine, and then just spun on top of the hard pan.

Another idea...I can drill holes up to well over an inch in concrete and hardpan with with my little 2-HP dewalt hammer drill. Does anyone make anything like for 3PH use?

 

[Ken45101]

I've looked at the downpressure units. They seem nice, but expen, for 500-lb of down pressure. Has anyone:

1.) simply used weights to provide the down-pressure?
2.) Used some kind of simple lever linkage to push down on the PHD by raising or up-tilting the FEL?

500# of weight will not equal the downpressure from a skid steer. Now maybe if you rig up 1500# of weights, that would help a lot.

Furthermore, those units are often built a lot heavier duty than the typical 3pt PHD. It's not just a weight issue, it's also an issue of the design and strength of the drilling end of the auger.

Maybe the issue is with my limited imagination but I can't envision any simple linkage from the FEL to the 3 pt. Even if you lifted the front end of the tractor up in the air with the FEL, it would not make a difference to the PHD, it would just ride up higher on the 3 pt.

Ken

 

[MtnViewRanch]

I agree--the right tool for the job needs to be able to do the job every time, and *when* you need the job done. If that tool is too much, I try not to buy something cheaper, but to wait and save until I can afford the right tool.

Do you have any regrets regarding the LandPride? Has it worked well for you? My two local Kubota dealers deal in, repsectively, Farm King and LandPride. The dealer who sells the Farm King is the more reputable of the two, but I really can't find much info on the Farm King--and it seems they only make one model, capable of running up to an 18" auger.

None, this Implement HAS NOT let me down since I bought my down pressure kit. :thumbsup: My only regret is that I did not purchase EVERY size auger. I did not buy the 16" auger and there have been times that I would have preferred to use a 16" auger vs an 18" auger which I ended up using.

We have decomposed granite here. If you know anything about ground, when it is hard and dry, it is very difficult to dig through. Even with our Case 580E back hoe. So hard that you can fill a hole with water and that water will be there for days. Ever since I have had the down pressure kit on my PD35 I have not had to take more than a couple of minutes at most to dig any hole. That goes for any hole from 6"-24" to full depth. I only dig with the tractor at an idle. Never dig a pilot hole, the augers are not designed in a manor where that can be done safe or end up with a round hole. The augers are not like a std twist drill bit that you use in a drill press or hand drill.

There are people that say, buy a cheap unit, why buy an expensive unit? As you have already indicated, you understand the difference and won't bother waisting time and money on a unit designed for a smaller tractor and soft ground. I too purchase the right tool for the purpose, if I can't afford it, I wait until I can. No good reason to buy something that you will just have problems with and won't get the job done in the manor that it should be accomplished.

I typically do not have problems with my stuff, others seem to at times. A lot of that is because I use the right tool for the job. Yes, there are times when the right tool cost quite a bit of $$$$. That is just how it is and we all have to deal with that the best that we can.

Just my :2cents:

 

[jpsheb]

500# of weight will not equal the downpressure from a skid steer. Now maybe if you rig up 1500# of weights, that would help a lot.

Furthermore, those units are often built a lot heavier duty than the typical 3pt PHD. It's not just a weight issue, it's also an issue of the design and strength of the drilling end of the auger.

Maybe the issue is with my limited imagination but I can't envision any simple linkage from the FEL to the 3 pt. Even if you lifted the front end of the tractor up in the air with the FEL, it would not make a difference to the PHD, it would just ride up higher on the 3 pt.

Ken

My bad...I should have clarified, I was only talking 3-point hitch augers. There's no comparison between the drilling capacity of a skid-steer & my tractor. But (for now) a skid steer is out of the budget. The down force units I've seen for tractor 3PH PHD's had 500-lb of down force. I was just thinking there had to be a cheaper way to do it than the unit cost. Weights came to mind.

Now that you mention it, the off-the-shelf down-force unit would be much simpler than using some kind of FEL contraption. ON the other hand, a small boom could be used, extending aft and from the top of the PHD to provide mechanical advantage and adjustable down force. For example, such a boom could extend further back a distance equal to the distance between the auger and the 3-point hitch. With 250-lb of weight mounted on a long screw-rod & collar mechanism, the downforce on the auger could be adjusted between 250 & 500. It's just an issue of leverage. I may have to look into this, but not until I'm familiar with the load capacity of the auger mechanism.

(BTW...just so you all don't think I'm *too* crazy, I've done this kind of thing before in the engineering world as a licensed PE, with much larger weights and more at stake).

 

[bigbull338]

the best digger to get for reg hard ground is a bushhog posthole digger with the bearclaw bit on the augers.an if your ground has hard rock an sheel to digg through then you need a belltec hydro digger.it works off your tractors rear remotes.an it cost $4500 or more.

 

[jpsheb]

None, this Implement HAS NOT let me down since I bought my down pressure kit. :thumbsup: My only regret is that I did not purchase EVERY size auger. I did not buy the 16" auger and there have been times that I would have preferred to use a 16" auger vs an 18" auger which I ended up using.

We have decomposed granite here. If you know anything about ground, when it is hard and dry, it is very difficult to dig through. Even with our Case 580E back hoe. So hard that you can fill a hole with water and that water will be there for days. Ever since I have had the down pressure kit on my PD35 I have not had to take more than a couple of minutes at most to dig any hole. That goes for any hole from 6"-24" to full depth. I only dig with the tractor at an idle. Never dig a pilot hole, the augers are not designed in a manor where that can be done safe or end up with a round hole. The augers are not like a std twist drill bit that you use in a drill press or hand drill.

There are people that say, buy a cheap unit, why buy an expensive unit? As you have already indicated, you understand the difference and won't bother waisting time and money on a unit designed for a smaller tractor and soft ground. I too purchase the right tool for the purpose, if I can't afford it, I wait until I can. No good reason to buy something that you will just have problems with and won't get the job done in the manor that it should be accomplished.

I typically do not have problems with my stuff, others seem to at times. A lot of that is because I use the right tool for the job. Yes, there are times when the right tool cost quite a bit of $$$$. That is just how it is and we all have to deal with that the best that we can.

Just my :2cents:

Thanks! You're input is worth alot more than $0.02 to someone in my boat. There's a lot of value to be gained by buying the right tool the first time. I'll probably take your advice and get the whole range of auger sizes, even a 4" pilot and maybe a couple of extensions. I'll find uses for them, and like you, will end up regretting it if I don't just get them from the get-go.

 

[jpsheb]

the best digger to get for reg hard ground is a bushhog posthole digger with the bearclaw bit on the augers.an if your ground has hard rock an sheel to digg through then you need a belltec hydro digger.it works off your tractors rear remotes.an it cost $4500 or more.

I looked at them...I assume yours has treated you well. How do they compare to the LandPride or Woods models? Their 2103 looks like the model I's want. Any idea of price for this model?

I'm really trying to narrow down right now--though I may have to start a LandPride vs. Woods vs. BushHog PDH thread (if one doesn't already exist).

Right now, I'm limiting myself to PTO-driven PDH's for the tractor. No skid steers and no hydraulic units. If I really need something ever eventually, it will be one more reason to ad a skid-steer to the stable (ultimitely I'll want one, as well as a mini-ex)

 

[MtnViewRanch]

Now that you mention it, the off-the-shelf down-force unit would be much simpler than using some kind of FEL contraption. ON the other hand, a small boom could be used, extending aft and from the top of the PHD to provide mechanical advantage and adjustable down force. For example, such a boom could extend further back a distance equal to the distance between the auger and the 3-point hitch. With 250-lb of weight mounted on a long screw-rod & collar mechanism, the down force on the auger could be adjusted between 250 & 500. It's just an issue of leverage. I may have to look into this, but not until I'm familiar with the load capacity of the auger mechanism.

I wouldn't bother unless $$$ is a biiiiiiiig factor. Pretty hard to beat the convenience and size of a down pressure kit. As of this posting, I have not read of anyone that has not been happy with the performance or their down pressure kit, and yes there are some people that will critique their own equipment.

 

[bigbull338]

well heres my review on the BH PHD weve been in a real bad drought an the ground is bone dry.so we had to build some fence hooked the digger up.an started digging holes.didnt have a prob digging.could digg them idlng.an 2 or 3 times it sucked the auger in an stuck it.had to use a wrench an fel on another tractor to get it out,as well as digging it out.now i dont know anything bout landpride diggers.

 

[MtnViewRanch]

well heres my review on the BH PHD weve been in a real bad drought an the ground is bone dry.so we had to build some fence hooked the digger up.an started digging holes.didnt have a prob digging.could digg them idlng.an 2 or 3 times it sucked the auger in an stuck it.had to use a wrench an fel on another tractor to get it out,as well as digging it out.now i dont know anything bout landpride diggers.

Don't you clear the auger every foot of depth or so? I always clear the auger and have never screwed an auger into the ground as so many have. I set the position control to only allow the auger to go in a short distance. It would have to lift the front of the tractor into the air to be able to screw into the ground. But then maybe our ground isn't the kind where that happens more commonly.

My experience has been that once you get into the higher level of implements, most of them are all very similar in design and cost.