Posthole Digger Post Hole Digger

[yelbike]

Thanks for last few posts. No pun intended. Now I still want to purchase a digger!

 

[jmanatee2]

I have been looking at getting a PHD and I was leaning towards the TSC County line model with a 6" and 9" auger.

I am coming up on a project that I could use it. So I might bight the bullet and get one.

 

[kg7il]

I had a fence to put in, I have more fence to put in.

I don't work as fast as I used to, so renting kinda' makes me uneasy.
Either I rent it for quite a while, or I work to hard to get it done and hurt later. It's not in me to hire some-one (Personality Defect I got from my Dad!) if I can do it myself.

That said, I'm glad I have the 3pt PHD with a 9 inch Auger. I run it off the end of my Kubota L3800. I have a mix of fertile ground and Glacial Till.

It was not difficult to sink the holes, I also used the Sniggle method and cleared often. When I hit the Glacial Till, the rocks ran right back down to the bottom. These I had to clear by hand.

The tractor stays put on most digs with a little break pressure or the parking break. Sometimes I wrestle the handle a bit.

Mine is the Land Pride sold by Kubota dealers.
PD10 Series Post Hole Diggers | Land Pride

I have only the 9" with replaceable tips. In retrospect, I should have purchased the next larger size so I could go beyond 12" and use it for planting trees.

 

[newbury]

I had a fence to put in, I have more fence to put in.

I don't work as fast as I used to, so renting kinda' makes me uneasy.
Either I rent it for quite a while, or I work to hard to get it done and hurt later. It's not in me to hire some-one (Personality Defect I got from my Dad!) if I can do it myself.

<snip>

My thoughts exactly. If I have to go rent something that I will probably use several times it has to cost a lot more than the weekly rental rate.
Now that I'm retired I'm adverse to "get er' done regardless of weather". I've enough inside projects to do if it's bad weather outside.

I just finished cutting a few logs for my sawmill

and what would have taken most people 1 day ended up taking me a week. It was very windy most of the week, so I chose not to drop trees when the wind was up or it was raining.

However reading this thread makes me wanting to look up used PHD's on Craigslist for the people who bought one new, used it a little and didn't like it.

 

[MrWhippy]

If your hydraulics can handle it, AND you don't mind if a post isn't perfectly straight,

A post driver is much faster and gives you a stronger fence than a PHD. We have a 3pt PHD and it is ONLY used if I'm setting posts with a level. Otherwise, we drive posts. They are TIGHT from the get go and it takes a fraction of the time. By that I mean, it takes less time to drive the post 3 feet into the ground than it takes JUST to dig the hole with a PHD--not including the post setting time.

A side benefit: If you have a Post Driver and a helper, it can make for a nice side business.

 

[Missouri Pioneer]

MrWhippy, what post driver do you recommend?

 

[MrWhippy]

I use a Shaver PD8. It'll take up to a 6" round post and runs off 8-9gpm pump. I saved some money and went with manual adjustments, but hydraulic adjustment is available.

We've put in a few thousand feet of 3 board fencing with it (just my wife and I). Totally happy with it.

The next size up, PD10 takes significantly bigger posts, but also needs a higher flow rate.

 

[newbury]

If your hydraulics can handle it, AND you don't mind if a post isn't perfectly straight,

A post driver is much faster <snip>

Yea, but when your transplanting trees it sure makes them short

 

[MtnViewRanch]

Yea, but when your transplanting trees it sure makes them short

I was thinking sort of the same thing. Post pounder isn't much good for planting trees or setting 12"-18" dia poles either. What they are good for is putting in fence posts.

A post pounder is another specialized implement which works great for what it was made to do and not much else.

 

[dustinfox]

"I just bought the Tractor Supply Countyline digger with a 9" auger and have it hooked on my Bobcat CT235. I drilled my first hole in dry, hard clay to find a challenge. The only challenge is keeping the auger out of the ground. That thing will bite and screw itself into the ground so fast you can't hardly believe it. I let it dig a little bit then pull it up to clear the hole then repeat. It made that dry clay into something the consistency of finely ground coffee. We made a hole that ended up being a little over 10" across and 50" deep. The auger is really easy to assemble, easy to check and fill the gearbox oil level, uses a basic 80W90 gear oil (which is nice because it's what I consider one of the "staples" of the garage). It has a cast iron gear case and comes with a nice little plastic tube to hold things like the owners manual and extra shear bolts. The unit runs a standard sold everywhere grade 5 bolt for a sheer bolt on the drive shaft. I find that hooking and unhooking is easy by sitting the tip of the auger on the ground, then slowly backing up as the implement goes down which nicely folds the auger underneath the frame and it's right down on the ground to unhook. Easy stuff.

And on pricing. I was out the door with the implement and one auger for right at $600. I priced a bobcat with a 9" auger and it priced out at $3000. Koyker (I think that's what he said the brand was anyway) was exactly the same money after some rebate or another. A skid loader mount auger is also $3000 so for the time being I bought the cheap 3 point unit with hopes of someday upgrading to a skid loader auger. (Of course I need a skid loader first)

BTW, I think that these are nice augers with replaceable teeth and the screw guide on the bottom for the price. With the augers priced at about $100 you can afford to have 3 different sizes sitting in the shed for when you need them. That would be harder to do with the better, name brand augers that run $1000 each size. I'm a contractor and drill maybe 12-20 holes for deck footings at a few different sites each summer and if I can not rent a skid loader with an auger for one job I just paid for this 3 point auger so it works for me."

I've got a different name brand PHD but Rudevette's comments are right on the money and exactly like my feelings about my PHD and its use. I couldn't have said it any better!! It works just fine on my TYM273 with pto at idle speed.
Greg

Hey Greg... I'm going with the same unit from Tractor Supply. Is there a reason why you chose the 9" auger over the 12"? (The 12" is only $10 more)

I hate to tell you this but they went on sale today...

Been thinking about this some more... It makes sense to drill the smallest hole possible that will serve the purpose. I'm also thinking a 9" auger would work for most applications.

 

[Gregster613]

Dustinfox, I'm sorry, but that was "Rudevette" statement. I tried to do exactly what you did...copied & pasted hoping it'd come out as a quote. Didn't work. So I added quotation marks to his statments and only the last paragraph was mine own words. I do have a 6", 9", & 12" augers for my PHD. Have used the 9" & 12" thus far. I bought all 3 augers so I could dig a wide variety of holes as needed. Greg

 

[bcp]

Any common 3pt PHD that will point straight down if the tractor is crossways on a grade? Most of my holes on a fence through a forest could only be approached by backing through trees, crossways to the fence running up the hill, not along the fence line.

I haven't seen any that would swing to the side, only forward and back, but I haven't looked too hard, yet.

Most are like this:

Bruce

 

[MtnViewRanch]

Bruce, that is what the adjustment on the 3pt side link is for. Get a hydraulic side link and your adjustments are only a finger movement away.

 

[bcp]

The BX doesn't have much side link adjustment range(short link, short arms), so I thought there might be a digger style with side swing.

Bruce

 

[MtnViewRanch]

The BX doesn't have much side link adjustment range(short link, short arms), so I thought there might be a digger style with side swing.

Bruce

Have you tried to see how much it actually moves when it is adjusted. It should adjust enough to compensate for any side slope that you might be on. Probably shouldn't be on any ground steeper than that anyway.

Good luck

 

[bcp]

My only flat ground is under the house. That's why I have a BX instead of a B.

I'm still looking for a digger but most used ones are beaters at too close to new price, so I can't try adjusting one yet. I'll probably have the fence built by hand before I find one.

Bruce

 

[SSdoxie]

A PTO auger can not use the double hinge/pivot like a hydraulic auger has. The rotation torque of the PTO would force it to swing to the side and you would still have a crooked hole.

If you are on side hill consistently when drill, move the pin location of the side link on one of the 3 pt arms so you get more lift on one side or drop on the other and fine tune it with the adjustable link.

 

[FrankNOhio]

I just got a Heavy Duty SpeeCo post hole digger from Tractor Supply. Was on sale and I needed one (putting in fencing and vineyard posts).

I put it all together according to the manual/assembly instructions. Before digging the first hole, I noticed the boom had a lot of play in it. I mean about a 2 foot swing side to side. I re-read the manual looking for connections or tighter tolerances I may have missed, but everything was in place and connected up right.

I took it out in the middle of a field to do some practice holes and the play, plus the torque, continuously throws the boom to the left (left as viewed wrenching your back/neck around to the back) and makes for a tilted angled hole.

I tried this several times, slowly lowering for it to grab (clay soil), then lowering slowly and it always tilts over. I have yet to get a straight up and down hole.

I was tempted to jump out and push the boom straight while it was running, but I know a bad idea when it seems like a good one.

Anyway, so I shut everything down and took a closer look and the play is actually coming from the two 3pt lift arms. I've got both pegged in, but they're slopping around by inches, which translates to feet out at the boom.

Yes, I'm a newbie so I'm sure I've got something set wrong. Just wondering if anyone else has experienced this.

It's like it just needs some kind of top of the boom stabilizer or something, just to keep it from tilting.

 

[bcp]

Most hitches have a way to adjust side swing with a turnbuckle or other arrangement. To remove the swing, you can adjust it so it is too tight to unhitch the implement.

If not, you can do something like the chain in this photo from:
JD 3 Point Hitch

 

[FrankNOhio]

BCP, thanks for the link. The sun went down on me while I was messing around with this in the field, so in the morning I'll see what a night's rest and a cup of coffee can do for the situation. I'll look harder at the hitch pegs. See if I can get them adjusted as you mentioned. Then see what a chain can do.