Posthole Digger SSQA post hole digger

[STx]

We're getting close to ready to build a post frame building on our land and plan to do pretty much all of it, except the slab, ourselves. I've got a New Holland TC40DA that I'd like to put a front mounted hydraulic post hole digger on so that I can watch my holes and control the angle, as well as have the option to reverse out if I hit something. My hydraulic pump is rated at 9.8GPM though and it looks like the PHD's that I'm seeing need 10GPM at a minimum, most are more like 15 - 30... We'll need to dig probably 12" diameter holes about 4' deep.

Is there a good choice that will work well with my machine for this? Or should I plan to rent a skid steer with PHD for this part?

 

[bdog]

A belltec NC-150 will work fine on your tractor. I have one and have used it on a tractor with 10-12gpm and a skid steer with 20gpm. Drilled about 300 holes with it on the tractor and it did fine.

I think they recommend 6-15gpm.

 

[RedNeckRacin]

Imo, unless you have a spotter, using the phd on the loader is tough to keep a straight hole. I think ea.Com has a low flow phd but I can't recall.

 

[jenkinsph]

We're getting close to ready to build a post frame building on our land and plan to do pretty much all of it, except the slab, ourselves. I've got a New Holland TC40DA that I'd like to put a front mounted hydraulic post hole digger on so that I can watch my holes and control the angle, as well as have the option to reverse out if I hit something. My hydraulic pump is rated at 9.8GPM though and it looks like the PHD's that I'm seeing need 10GPM at a minimum, most are more like 15 - 30... We'll need to dig probably 12" diameter holes about 4' deep.

Is there a good choice that will work well with my machine for this? Or should I plan to rent a skid steer with PHD for this part?

I have a hydraulic auger on my backhoe with 16 gals/min and it turns slow but still makes hole fast enough. I rented a ssqa unit but found it hard to see as the tractor blocks the view.

I suspect you would be better off renting a skid steer and phd to drill your holes when ready. Lot cheaper way to go.

 

[STx]

I have a hydraulic auger on my backhoe with 16 gals/min and it turns slow but still makes hole fast enough. I rented a ssqa unit but found it hard to see as the tractor blocks the view.

I suspect you would be better off renting a skid steer and phd to drill your holes when ready. Lot cheaper way to go.

I agree for one time use but we've got 36 acres and I'd like to put in some cross fencing when we move down there so I'll have use for it again. I have a one person, gas powered PHD but I don't really like running that. If it catches something, it will knock me on my butt and I'm really afraid that one day it's going to seriously hurt me.

You might be right though, for this application, I might be better off renting. I think all of us would rather own stuff though, even if we only use it once every 3 years...

 

[STx]

A belltec NC-150 will work fine on your tractor. I have one and have used it on a tractor with 10-12gpm and a skid steer with 20gpm. Drilled about 300 holes with it on the tractor and it did fine.

I think they recommend 6-15gpm.

How large of a diameter hole have you drilled with it? Would it handle a 12" auger?

 

[jenkinsph]

Drilling line posts with a low flow hydraulic system has other problems. At least what I have found is it doesn't turn fast enough to sling the dirt off the auger. The model I have is a Frontier PA30 planetary auger which will turn a large bit, has a 15 to 30 gpm design. You can get models with less torque and higher speeds but these are easier to stop in hard rocky ground. I decided to go with the heavy duty model and it works well but thought you should be aware of these issues.

If you have a 3ph auger and smaller augers along with the planetary auger rental you might be better served. I have both and can tell you they sit for the most part and that is about $5000 tied up. Just something to consider as their are lots of attachments that might be more useful to you.

 

[Rustyiron]

Even with a skid steer with over 20gpm, the dirt does not fling off the auger. Repeated digging until the auger flights are full, then backing away from the hole and spinning it off is necessary. Getting the auger back in the hole without pushing the surrounding dirt back in would be hard with a tractor because of the visibility. (and the radial lift that a tractor has) I would recomend a larger hole for alignment reasons and if you are adding any concrete or cross pins to prevent uplift. An 18" or bigger auger can get pricey and is overkill for fence work. I think renting might be wise, see how it works on a SS, then make your decision about a purchase for later fencing chores with a little bit of practical experience behind you.

 

[bdog]

My auger is a 9". The manufacturer rates this model for up to a 18" auger. It does perform better and is easier to see on the skid steer but digging was easy on the tractor. We literally drilled at least 300 fence post holes with it probably closer to 500. We had a helper line up the bit and tell the operator if it was straight. It was no big deal because they were there anyway with a hoe pulling the spoils away from the hole.

 

[EverythingAttachments]

Here is what I recommend for your tractor: Danuser Model EP6 Hydraulic Auger Drive Unit for Skid Steers Universal Skid Steer Quick Attach Free shipping within 1,000 miles
I would order it with an offset mount to avoid visibility issues from your seat(same price): Offset Skid-Steer Quick Attach Mount- EP Series | Danuser
Travis

 

[RyanTX]

I am drilling a lot of holes right now with the Danuser EP6 and offset carrier on my Deere with 11.6 gpm. The offset carries provides great visibility and can see the bit perfectly by leaning slightly to the right. I am drilling with a 15" belltec rock bit to 36"+. I have done about 80 holes with it and about 75% of those are solid/fractured limestone, rest in clay/dirt. I have no issues with getting the bit up and reversing the spin of the bit back and forth to get the dirt off and typically only do this 1 to 2 times per hole. Wet clay can be annoying a bit with the recent Texas rains as it sticks to the bit, not too bad though and I usually just ignore it. The only part that really frustrates me is the fact I have varied and sloping terrain which makes you spend a bit more time positioning the tractor to get plumb and on mark. Also its hard to get the large rock bit to track plumb as its drilling. If it hits an angled rock it will follow the angle forcing you to re-position the tractor and angle perpendicular to the slope of the rock to go through it. Once you are down 12" or so the bit should track straight regardless of what it hits. It is worth the time to position the tractor correctly as fixing off mark holes are a total pain... The holes that are not rock are a cakewalk to drill and laughable in comparison, maybe taking a entire 60-90 seconds to get to the bottom. Ground composition plays a big part in the right solution.

 

[STx]

Thanks for the feedback. My soil is mostly loam to loamy sand on top with caliche underneath. Sometimes is 12" to the caliche, sometimes it's 6', just depends on where you are. In the area that I'm planning to put the building, the top soil is about 4' - 5' so these should be easy holes with the right equipment. I've dug 30" holes in this soil with manual post hole diggers and as long as there's some moisture in the soil, it is only about a 5 minute job to do it manually. Of course, those holes are only about 6" in diameter...

I am drilling a lot of holes right now with the Danuser EP6 and offset carrier on my Deere with 11.6 gpm. The offset carries provides great visibility and can see the bit perfectly by leaning slightly to the right. I am drilling with a 15" belltec rock bit to 36"+. I have done about 80 holes with it and about 75% of those are solid/fractured limestone, rest in clay/dirt. I have no issues with getting the bit up and reversing the spin of the bit back and forth to get the dirt off and typically only do this 1 to 2 times per hole. Wet clay can be frustrating a bit with the recent Texas rains as it sticks to the bit, not too bad though and I usually just ignore it. The only part that frustrates me is the fact I have varied and sloping terrain which makes you spend a bit more time positioning the tractor to get plumb and on mark. Also its hard to get the large rock bit to track plumb as its drilling. If it hits an angled rock it will follow the angle forcing you to re-position the tractor and angle perpendicular to the slope of the rock to go through it. Once you are down 12" or so the bit should track straight regardless of what it hits. It is worth the time to position the tractor correctly as fixing off mark holes are a total pain... The holes that are not rock are a cakewalk to drill and laughable in comparison, maybe taking a entire 60-90 seconds to get to the bottom. Ground composition plays a big part in the right solution.

 

[RyanTX]

So realistically if you want to drill 4' holes in dirt a PTO auger would work fine too, the only reason you truly need the down pressure of the loader is if you are hitting really hard dirt or rock. I used a PTO auger prior to me getting the Danuser and it worked perfectly unless there was rock.

 

[STx]

Sure a PTO would work but, so would a manual post hole digger and shovel...

Why are you guys trying to talk me out of an attachment? I thought this was an equipment ***** forum. :laughing:

 

[bdog]

So realistically if you want to drill 4' holes in dirt a PTO auger would work fine too, the only reason you truly need the down pressure of the loader is if you are hitting really hard dirt or rock. I used a PTO auger prior to me getting the Danuser and it worked perfectly unless there was rock.

Work is a relative term. I have owned both. We don't have any rocks here but the ground can be hard. Just yesterday I dug 4 holes about 4 feet deep with my skid steer. It dug like butter. It was fast and just worked. I have drilled in this same area with a PTO and the auger would just spin and spin and never bite. I literally sometimes spent 30 minutes a hole where with the down force it takes a minute or less. If you only need to drill a couple holes who cares but if you have hundreds of thousands it make a huge difference.

I also own a drilling rig that drills 3.5" holes using and auger to depths of 10-20' for dynamite. Down force on it is everything too. It is mounted on a 9000lb machine and I often find myself lifting the machine while digging.

The bottom line is an auger with no down force or a lot of weights hung off it is just one step above manual post hole diggers.

 

[RyanTX]

Sure a PTO would work but, so would a manual post hole digger and shovel...

Why are you guys trying to talk me out of an attachment? I thought this was an equipment ***** forum. :laughing:

Haha! I am the last person to talk you out of buying expensive equipment, I just don't have the qualifications. LOL.

The down-pressure is nice from the loader and it does help for rock or rock hard soil. You know your ground better than anyone as I know mine. No question that once I got my hydraulic setup the PTO hasn't been back on the tractor. But the price difference obviously was significant. I think I paid like $450 for the PTO auger and another $130 for a junk 12" bit. I never had a problem with it in difficult ground other than the damned rock. The 15" rock bit that I picked up direct from belltec was about $1500. I really wanted the belltec frame digger but that was like $4,500 which was a bit pricey for an auger hobbyist like myself.

 

[STx]

The area where the building will be is good soil but when it's dry, it is like concrete because of the caliche.

Some of the areas that I want to cross fence have caliche less than a foot below the surface, right to the surface in some areas. I figure I need to drill 30ish holes for the building and will probably drill another 50 or so for fence stuff so a hydraulic auger is probably worth the expense. I do tractor work for hire also, I'm sure that I'll be able to find a way to make the auger pay for itself if I try to.

I bought an $1800 heavy duty Armstrong disc to plow 4 acres for bird food plots so I have a history of buying more than I need because it makes the job easier but I've also never regretted buying a tool, so...

The Danuser that Ted suggested is only $2k, renting a skid steer for a weekend will run me at least $600, probably another $200 for the auger so for only a $1200 difference, I'd rather have something I can use on my own timeline.

 

[RyanTX]

Ya I was basically in the same boat with about 150 holes to drill up front in a single project and many many more over the years. I could never dedicate 10+ hours of work on any day of the week because of my schedule. So I had to work in 4-6 hour blocks which made renting something rather silly and expensive. Not to mention I hate picking up and dropping off crap. Such a waste of time. That Danuser EP6 works great and considering your GPM it should work fine in 95%+ circumstances. For sure get the offset carrier, I know they have a bucket mount as well but in my case it would have placed the auger in front my tire because of the large bucket and MFWD tires I have.

 

[bdog]

The other thing to think about is people are always looking for hydraulic augers. Anytime I have seen one on Craiglist around here it sells the same day. Not only for post holes but people use them with the large bits to plant trees and stuff. When I bought mine my thoughts were to use it for my large fencing project and then sell it when done. I never ended up selling it because I find it so useful and use it from time to time. If cost is a concern I am sure you could buy one and use it for your project and then sell it for not much less than you paid when finished. I am pretty sure you will end up like me and keeping it though because you will like it so much.

 

[STx]

I never even thought about using it to plant trees. We'll have a bunch of that to do as well. We have lots of mesquite but need some live oak and fruit trees, probably at least 20.