post hole digger recommendation

[Tom_Veatch]

The KK will do just fine.
...
When you get one I would recommend the 12" auger instead of the 9 when you buy it. Just from my experience...

I'll second that motion. I bought both the 9" and 12" augers with my KK PHD. The 9" auger is laying over against the wall somewhere, should still be bright and shiny under the dust, never been used.

 

[Atlas]

Somebody else's PHD would be best!

That's what I do. My neighbor has a PHD but no tiller. I have a tiller but no PHD. It's a fair trade.

 

[N80]

I'm going to use 6x6" treated posts for the tractor shed so I guess I'll need a 12" augur.

 

[Timber]

I didn't have any trouble with a 9 inch auger with my 6x6 fencepost. It is a lot easier to dig a 9 inch hole than a 12 in hole. Just put the hole in the right place to start with

 

[Slippy]

I have PH digger from TSC, was not expensive. I idle tractor as low as possible, and just set it on the ground. The teeth and bit will do the work. If it hits a rock it will jump and shake in the ground. At that point I bring it up about an inch and then drop. I do this again and again as it digs. If up put pressure on it and force it, it will shear the shear bolt. I can now dig tons of holes this way without shearing a bolt. Before, I would break a bolt on about every hole. The key is to keep the rpms low in my opinion. I also pull the auger up 2 to 3x to clean out the dirt as I go. This helps so that at the end of the hole you don't have a bunch to clean out by hand.

 

[Raddad]

Something is wrong besides lots of rocks or roots, if you're breaking that many shear pins.

I have a Land Pride PHD with a 7/16" grade 2 shear bolt on the input side. (The PTO) The augger has 2 each 1/2" grade 5 bolts holding it to the PHD. I run mine at about 1500 RPM on the motor which runs the PTO at about 300 RPM. The gear reduction in the PHD is 3 to 1 which translates into about 100 RPM for the augger. This is the speed Land Pride reccomends for a 9" auger. I have broken only a few shear pin bolts. I try to lower the PHD as slowly as possible while lifting to clear the hole 3 or 4 times. If you gradualy lower it into roots at high RPM it can cut them with more rotations taking a small bite each time arround. When it hits a rock it jumps arround before it can take too big of a bite and break the shear pin.

How do the rest of you run your PHD in various conditions and how many shear pins do you break?

 

[runningbird]

where is the shear pin?

 

[Raddad]

The bolt that holds the PTO shaft on the PHD is the shear pin.

 

[HomeBrew2]

I didn't have any trouble with a 9 inch auger with my 6x6 fencepost. It is a lot easier to dig a 9 inch hole than a 12 in hole. Just put the hole in the right place to start with

This thread is kindof broad based and it's tough to know who you replied to without using the "quote" feature. A 9" bit, in my view and those with more experience than I from many other threads, is fine for 6x6 fence posts. At least one poster spoke of a pole barn ... I can't imagine using anything less than a 12" auger for 6x6 barn posts. You need a lot of concrete for barn (structural) posts. To me, 12" holes seem small but also seems to be sufficient from what I have learned here on TBN.

 

[N80]

That was me talking about the pole barn. But think small. Just a 3 bay, open side, flat roof shed. We have dense clay soil here and I probably won't even use concrete. I'll dig the hole, put some gravel in the bottom and then fill a little gravel around the base of the post and then fill back up with dirt. There's an old barn on my place from the 1920's done this way with cedar posts. It is falling in all around but the posts are still solid as a rock. I think the 9" auger will be okay, but as Timber said, I'll need to get them in just the right place.