post hole digger recommendation

[Timber]

I think it depends a lot on your soil condition too. I have rocky soil so the 9 inch auger is my choice in size. I find a smaller hole is more likely to go through roots and stone. The bigger the auger the more likely it is to grab a stone that didn't need to be disturbed. The is also the isue of the integrity of the hole wall. The hole will better suport a post in a tighter hole. I personal never use cement in any post work. I also have stated many times over that the auger is only good for part of post holes. You need a clam shel and at least 1 bar. I have several diferent kinds, for shaving, tamping & hooking rocks out. The smaller the hole the stronger it is

 

[Charlesaf3]

If you buy a hydraulic unit and add the extra hydraulics on your tractor plus the carbide bit you'll be spending about $4,000.00! Thats $40.00 per hole!

Nah, its expensive but not that much raddad. And down pressure, reverse, QA, and no sheer pins is nice

 

[Raddad]

The features aren't the point. Who cares if it's $4,000.00 or $3000.00 For 100 holes rent a PHD or for that amount rent a skid loader with a PHD. If you hire someone to dig them for you, spend the extra thousands on some tools you will actualy use and get a return on your investment. Is your tractor a tool or a toy. Is it for getting work done or for a status symbol? It's ridiculous to spend that kind of money for so few holes no matter how much money you have to burn. This is the kind of logic that leaves you with impliments stored all over your property that you hardly ever use and end up selling for a loss years later.

As far as the added features 99% of the holes that are dug don't require them.
The hydraulic PHDs only make sense for use in very difficult conditions and for hundreds and hundreds of holes.

I have 4000 hours over 25 years on my B7100 and I'm glad I knew when to rent and when to buy an impliment.

 

[Charlesaf3]

well, clearly you make a good case for a clamshell digger and a wheelbarrow - good for you, but I'll stick with my approach.

 

[Timber]

I don't know, I grew up on farms my whole life, there are 3 things I spent every summer doing, picking rocks, weeding the garden, and digging fencepost holes. I personally consider my PHD the most important implement I have. There are only 2 ways to do it with a drill or by hand and take my word for it when I bought my PHD there was no question I would buy the best money could buy. If you have animals it is the most important thing to own. A fence on its own will last 10 years. A fence with horses and cattle scratching there big hams on them last about as long as it takes to set far end and come back to the beginning.

 

[silverdollar6]

Why not just start selling the holes and make money with your PHD?

 

[Timber]

I bet there is a hole family out there for that market

 

[EddieWalker]

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

I agree with this in theory, but have found it impossible to accomplish with my 12 inch auger.

It might be me, but I've found that the auger will catch on a root or rock and change directions. If I put in ten holes that are supposed to be in a straight line, I will have to modify at least four of them with my digging clams and shovel.

I can't imagine any reason for an auger less than 12 inches and would really like to have a 16 inch one. It's allot easier to fill the hole than to hand dig out one side of it to get a post to line up.

Also consider that a 4x4 post will only have 4 1/4 inches on the sides of the post if the post is perfectly centered. This isn't very much room at all if you hit a root or something. My posts are five inches on my fence, so I only have 3 1/2 inches of adjusting. That's not very much.

Good luck,
Eddie

 

[Timber]

Hi Eddie,
I think it has to do with 1, I have a 9 inch drill LOL but really the thing I came away with as a kid and setting a lot of post holes is I never ever use cement in a post hole so the integrity of undisturbed soil has great value. I also have great digging bars. I'll post some pics this weekend. When I set up to lay fence post I have a Spade, Auger, clam shell, and 4 different bars. These bars range in tasks from hooking rocks, cutting roots clean deep in the hole to shaving the side of the hole to tamping the soil in tight around the post. It is kind of funny there is an entire science to digging in the ground. It is like working a piece of wood, no 2 boards are the same. You have to work it with the grain and the knots to shape it to what you want. The ground is the same. You dig one hole nice and easy, 5 minutes you’re done. 8 feet away hour and 1/2 later to dig the same hole. I know how big a rock is in the side of a hole by the sound it makes and what the soil does when I hit it with a bar. You know this; there is no way you can't if you dig enough LOL. Funny thing is, the things I hated as a kid I enjoy now because I understand the way and the why things happen the way they do. I love to lay fence

 

[N80]

Ever seen a manual post hole digger with 7 foot handles? As a young buck that's what we used to dig anchor holes for guy wires when you couldn't get the pole truck in close. I was just out of hig school when I started and I thought I was in good shape. Then they handed me these things and said 'dig'......at an angle. The hole had to be around five feet deep. That first day I'd have to rest 2 or 3 times to finish one hole. Once you start getting down 3-4 feet you have to pull them out while holding pressure on the handles but because they are so long you have to do it hand-over-hand. I thought I was going to die. By the end of the summer I could do one after another without resting.

That was only 24 years ago. It never dawned on me to wonder if there wasn't a better way. Maybe in 1982 there wasn't. Sure got me in shape, but I remember the agony of realizing that the truck wouldn't reach a site and that everything was going to be done by hand. Even setting the pole. That hole had to be five feet too, and big!