The ground is hard

[stuckmotor]

We haven't had much rain lately and I've got my post hole auger stuck up to the gear box. I expect to find some roots when I try to dig it out. Boy that ground is hard!

 

[TomSeller]

Yikes! The top of the auger is underground level? When I used to have a 3 pt auger I had a long bar attachment that I would reverse turn it with. It would take some digging to do that if the auger head was below grade. Maybe I am not understanding.

 

[TMGT]

Dry here too, been leveling an area for my new shop and had to remove a decent size white oak, had to rip and dig with the track loader and skid steer down over 4ft before it would budge.
Clay ground is like concrete right now.

 

[bcp]

Could you use a bar through the rear PTO U-joint? Accessible and gear reduction.

Bruce

 

[stuckmotor]

Tom,
You understand perfectly. Last time this happened, I made one of those long bar attachments and couldn't screw the auger out. I managed to dig down a few inches on one side of it and poured a couple of gallons in the hole. If I can dig down far enough to attach the bar at an angle and twist it, I might try that again.

 

[stuckmotor]

Could you use a bar through the rear PTO U-joint? Accessible and gear reduction.

Bruce

That might work. Right now the whole unit is together and off the tractor. I guess I could chain the frame to another post and try turning it with a bar through the u joint or if I can lock the drive shaft to the frame, I might be able to use the frame for a lever. If that doesn't work, I'll probably be two tired to do much digging. This is going to require some thought.

 

[stuckmotor]

Dry here too, been leveling an area for my new shop and had to remove a decent size white oak, had to rip and dig with the track loader and skid steer down over 4ft before it would budge.
Clay ground is like concrete right now.

I'm just thankful my hay man got rain earlier in the season.

 

[Egon]

If you are close to a water supply hydro jetting may be worth a look at.

 

[Snobdds]

We haven't had much rain lately and I've got my post hole auger stuck up to the gear box. I expect to find some roots when I try to dig it out. Boy that ground is hard!

You should change your name to Juststuck...

kidding, of course.

 

[DieselBound]

If you are close to a water supply hydro jetting may be worth a look at.

^^^ THIS!

Just saturate the heck out of that hole (and its contents). Lift up and turn and material should slough off the bit.

I just completed a fencing job and out of fear of getting a PTO auger stuck I ended up renting a skid steer and auger. Having a reverse flow capability was essential, as I was burying the head and managed to get the auger stuck numerous times, at which point I merely reversed a bit and then pulled up and out.

 

[stuckmotor]

You should change your name to Juststuck...

kidding, of course.

That might be a good idea. I took my name for the present condition of the motor in my AC WD. It's been stuck for many years and will probably be stuck for many more.

 

[stuckmotor]

I got the auger out by using a combination of nearly all of the methods you guys described. On the next hole, I lifted it some and let it spin every few inches and didn't get it stuck again. Thanks for all the help!

 

[sawash]

We always kept a pipe wrench handy to "unscrew " it if necessary.

 

[stuckmotor]

We always kept a pipe wrench handy to "unscrew " it if necessary.

For future reference, did you use the pipe wrench on the auger shaft or the drive shaft that goes into the gear box? My auger was buried up to the gear box and even if I could have accessed it I would have been on my knees and couldn't have gotten much leverage.

 

[TomSeller]

You could always disconnect the gearbox, cover the auger bit up with dirt and go buy a new one

Seriously, You't figure it out.

 

[stuckmotor]

Tom,
I did something like that with my chainsaw. I can't stand the thought of paying a dealer to fix my expensive chainsaw so I bought a cheap one to get a job done until I figure it out the problem. So far, I've had less trouble with the cheap one than I had with the expensive one with the same number of hours. It's ligher too.

 

[sawash]

We always used it on the auger itself. As deep as you were that wouldn't work so well.

 

[stuckmotor]

Many thanks, Sawash. I might try it on the drive shaft.

 

[TomSeller]

Also next time if you have anything to extend the auger shaft with to the point where you could rotate it with a cheater bar, that might work.