Used 3pt auger

[Badasssapper67]

Need advice on brands of augers. Willing to pay for what Im getting just dont want to pay for a fancy label. Going to be digging a lot of fence post holes around the acerage.
Is reverse a helpful feature? In my thinking Id love to have it but how ofter I use it depends on my soil.
Advice on brands and features is needed

 

[Fallon]

How many holes you looking at? If you are fencing under 20 acres or so just get the cheapest one you can & it will do you fine. Just make sure you keep good cutting edges on the auger so they are the only bits that wear out. If you find a PHD & auger on Craigslist for under $400 & it's not falling apart, probably go for it. Just keep the PTO shaft, bearings & gearbox lubed. If the seals on the gearbox are shot, put grease in it & run er until she drops, it will still outlast your next several projects.

Reverse is really nice, but isnt required & doesn't exist on a PTO auger. You need hydraulics for that & if you get hydraulics a PHD doesn't belong on the 3pt. It's more adjustable & has downpressure when mounted on the loader. A cheap 3pt unit goes for $400 new and another $150-200 for a 9-12" auger. A hydraulic unit is going to be $2k+ new & $350+ for an auger (much heavier duty as the connection types, along with the whole auger, on hydraulic units are bigger & beefier than PTO units)

My PTO unit did several 1-5 acre fences fine & was the right impliment at the right price at the time. It ran off with my old machine. I replaced it with a hydraulic unit on my new machine as I do tractor work, including post holes as my side gig now.

 

[countrybumpkin]

I have to second Fallon's info, I did a few holes with a borrowed PTO digger and two bits that were in very POOR shape It was a very frustrating experience. I have several projects to do in the next few months that will need a bunch of holes drilled plus all the ones over years to follow, so I broke down and bought a hydraulic SSQA unit with two augers to start with, while not cheap, with a little proper care it should last me a very long time and make digging a much easier job. Down pressure is a HUGH help in a lot of harder soils, I looked at new and used PTO augers with down pressure kits and good bits , Price wasn't that much more for the hydraulic unit.

 

[cphilip]

Too bad your about as far away from me as one can get. I have a bush hog brand one for sale. My post hole days are over! But Bush Hog brand augers are good and this one has been a good one.

 

[Badasssapper67]

Thanks cphilip, I will look at Bush Hog units.
Fallon, what brand was your old unit and your new unit if you dont mind me asking.
So it sounds like to me that getting high quality auger bits is important. I'll have to keep my eye out for them

 

[EddieWalker]

For a three point auger, the only thing that is important is the cutting teeth. Gear boxes and other components are all the same, or close enough to not really matter. If you want to spend big money, then it's all different with hydraulic, but that's another topic. After going through three different brands, and struggling for years drilling in hard packed red clay, I finally gave Country Line a try. I'm not a fan of Tractor Supply, and I regret that now because that is the best digging auger I've ever seen by a huge margin. It doesn't matter how hard the clay is, it just digs right through it. The teeth and tip are replaceable, but so far, there hasn't been any noticeable wear.

Now for the negative. It digs "TOO GOOD" You will have to buy a very large pipe wrench and a length of pipe to slide over it because sooner or later, you will bury it into the ground and not be able to get it out. The trick is not letting it dig too fast, because once that happens, it will bury itself into the ground and you're stuck until you unscrew it with the big pipe wrench. I had a cheap 36 inch pipe wrench that I busted when this first happened, then I found out my dad had a very old 36 inch pipe wrench that is indestructible. My guess is they used better steal back then, or it's just a higher quality brand, but either way, it takes a lot to unscrew a buried auger.

 

[Fallon]

I had a Leinbach (now out of business), it was used when I got it.

Heed the warning about digging to well. If you just drop the 3pt the auger will corkscrew into the ground. As there is no reverse you need a 4' or bigger pipe wrench & cheater bar to unscrew it. Or spend a day digging with a shovel. Just inch the 3pt down 1/2" or 1" at a time. Let chew the dirt loose before feeding another inch. I haven't ever corkscrewed an auger, but got close a few times.

 

[countrybumpkin]

Yes a good bit makes a Hugh difference in performance, that was a big part of the issues I was having with the one I used. I bought one like Fallon has , Danuser EP6 with a 9" and a 15" auger.

 

[powerscol]

The TSC ones are good - made by speedco. I have no issues with mine running a 12" auger. I just go slow. TSC also has regular sales on them up to 20% off.

 

[EddieWalker]

The TSC ones are good - made by speedco. I have no issues with mine running a 12" auger. I just go slow. TSC also has regular sales on them up to 20% off.

I had a Speeco before getting the Country Line. It was OK, but would struggle on really hard compacted soil to the point that the cutting teeth would just wear away to nothing instead of digging. The Country line is a lot better!!!! Here, Speeco is sold at Atwoods and Country Line is sold at Tractor Supply. Both look very similar, but the performance difference is night and day.

 

[powerscol]

I had a Speeco before getting the Country Line. It was OK, but would struggle on really hard compacted soil to the point that the cutting teeth would just wear away to nothing instead of digging. The Country line is a lot better!!!! Here, Speeco is sold at Atwoods and Country Line is sold at Tractor Supply. Both look very similar, but the performance difference is night and day.

Speeco makes the County Line one I have

 

[Fallon]

Speeco makes the County Line one I have

Various companies OEM County Line depending on item, location & time. I know King Kutter & Tarter Gate both have made box blades for that brand. Not sure if it depends on what side of the country you are on or when they were made. Not that it matters.

Speeco makes some of the cheapest PHDs & augers I've seen. Not that it's a bad thing. My Speeco auger(s) we pretty light weight, but still sufficient for multiple 5ish acre projects. They were worn when they left with the tractor but had lots of life left in them. Went through a few sets of teeth on them, but that is a wear item & designed to be replacable on any auger.

I'll stand by my recommendation of the cheapest possible 3pt PHD for home or small ranch use.

Depending on your soil, you may need a hydraulic downpressure kit, which starts at $400 or so. Pretty sure Speeco makes em for theirs. I welded a mount to mine & had a 200lbs chunk of steel over mine for extra downpressure. Make sure you have good sharp teeth & are running into issues before going that route.

Most importantly never let anybody within 6' of that auger or PTO shaft when it might possibly move. It's the most dangerous part of the tractor.

 

[KenB2920]

All good points, just my two cents
Are you planning on digging lots of holes and be done? Or are you planning on having this piece for life so you can drill whenever needed. If it’s once and done, maybe rent one for $50 or whatever.

I’m typically not a renter and found a used Danuser 3pt with9”&12” for cheap. I want to say like $300. The yoke was a little sloppy. I intended to buy the complete updated kit which is like $600 and have a like new unit. Well, seeing how beefy it is and as many holes it’s dug, I’m leaving it.

That said, learn to uses the machine. Dig a foot or so, pull up, down a foot or so pull up and so on. If you let it cork screw in, you could be in a world of hurt. These guys with their 3’ and 4’ bars should probably emphasize how much that sucks. ( putting it as politically correct as possible).

Then I’ve also broke shear pins.
Let me explain that good time. At a point you may feel just putting a mound of dirt over the auger and call it a loss. (Jk).

But take your time, I’ve not had a hole take more than 30 seconds to a minute when I drill and my clay is hard. ( not like some of these guys that live in crazy hard soiled areas) (or a rock field).

Now, I’ve never used one but if I intended to drill lots and lots of holes all the time, 100% I’d have a hydraulic unit. Reverse !!! Wow! And if its ssqa even better! I don’t know how easy hooking to the bucket is but hooking my 3pt up to the PHD is an art. It’s the toughest attachment I have connecting. (Granted my pto shaft doesn’t exactly slide nicely) but neverthe less it’s a pain.

 

[countrybumpkin]

But take your time, I’ve not had a hole take more than 30 seconds to a minute when I drill.

Oh my, I would have been so happy to have been able to dig one that fast, granted I was working with wore out bits.

 

[Fallon]

Oh my, I would have been so happy to have been able to dig one that fast, granted I was working with wore out bits.

I'd take a minute, maybe 2 on some of my holes. Hard clay around here though.

Always keep good teeth on your auger. It not only makes it dig faster it keeps the rest of the auger from wearing out.