Posthole Digger SSQA post hole digger

[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.