Posthole Digger Removing a buried auger... or not.

[daddykirbs]

Nice video. Make sure you take it easy rocking the auger as there is some risk of bending it. When conditions favor the auger screwing in I like to bump the 3ph down just an inch or 2 at a time and let the auger catch up before digging further. (in addition to most of the methods already discussed)

I appreciate the advise. Last night while making that video I thought there would be no chance screwing it in since the dirt was moist. However it tried to bury itself 3 times... no roots, no rocks. I'm leaning toward the TSC auger being a bad design (at least I want to believe that since I don't like the idea of me doing things wrong).

 

[jenkinsph]

How fast was the engine running?
I would recommend low idle speed and make all of your movements much slower. I have a hydraulic PA30 auger on my 110 which only turns about 50 rpm at fast idle, there isn't much need to turn a large auger over 35 to 60 rpm. Again slow is better in this case and it is easier to control all the machine movements too.

 

[daddykirbs]

Well, I thought it was going slow... perhaps I need to go slower. I can't tell you have many RPMs it was, I didn't look.

 

[dieselscout80]

I found that when running a post hole digger using the foot throttle allows the best control of the auger speed. That way you can go back to lowest speed as fast as possible and you can flick throttle the to clear it digger from the auger. When it starts digging you can add a bit of speed then drop it back quickly before it burys itself.

 

[Redneck in training]

The problem, as I see it, is that on cheap augers the cutting edge has the same pitch as the screw. if it has greater pitch it less likely to crew itself in.

 

[Jeepnford]

Once I had an auger wrap itself around a tree root. I fought that thing for over 4 hours trying to get it out. What finally worked: I removed the PTO shaft,started the tractor,let it idle and put a little lift on the three point lever. I then took a pipe wrench with a cheater bar and started turning the auger in reverse. After about 1/2 turn it came right up.