Well I stuck my 12" auger on the first 12hole ever

[stevenf]

Well I stuck my 12\" auger on the first 12hole ever

Thanks everyone on TBN for all the valueable information that can be found on the site you saved me again. I was drilling into solid rock for my hunters new outhouse hole and I drilled 36" down with my hydraulic Beltec then stopped unpinned it raised the shank and went another 30" or so after we hit dirt under the first 36" it went quick and just as I was getting ready to pull out and dump the dirt off the bit it hung up almost 6' in the ground with a full load of rock and dirt on top of the bit. We dug out the rock and dirt to the bit with a tomatoe can (thats all that would fit next to the shank)and then got a 2" adjustable wrench on the shank and screwed it back out it took about 3 hours to get it out but I have learned another valueable lesson pull out and dump the dirt often as once the clutch kicks out you won't be able to turn it again until its loose. After we finished I drilled 27 more 36" deep holes into limestone for my new house that we've finally started on and not one snag. Thanks again the unscrewing the auger worked like a champ, shame its not the skidloader model as it has reverse which would simplify the retrieval a lot course then it would be mounted on front and the tractor couldn't bear down as well as on the Hyd auger frame when mounted in the rear on the 3pt.
Steve

 

[JoshJ]

Re: Well I stuck my 12\" auger on the first 12hole ever

Sorry to hear about your bad luck, but it sounds like you have it figured out now. Curious, though. If your auger runs off a tractor SCV, could you get away with just switching the hoses in the ports to run it in reverse and back it out?

 

[stevenf]

Re: Well I stuck my 12\" auger on the first 12hole ever

Josh, nope no reverse the way it works is the pto powers the auger head and the there are 2 sets of hydraulic lines one set for tilt and the other set for up and down but if the slip clutch in the auger slips and your jammed under any ledge rock your pretty well SOL without a wrench to back it out. The trick is to keep unloading the bit by entering and exiting the hole as you go down to keep the power to the auger and drilling instead of spinning a loaded auger and the cuttings that exit above it. What you do is drill down a bit maybe a foot or so then stop the pto raise the bit spin it clean and go back down using this method I never even got close to having to get off the tractor again. I actually didn't consider it bad luck but a learning experience before drilling my house pier holes and a chance to get familiar with it being 12" instead of the 2" tpost drill I had been using if I never have to wrench it out of the ground again it'll be to soon, I didn't mention that the hunters were here and helping get it out it took 3 good size men on the end of a 8' cheater bar and me working the hydraulic lift to break it free of the ledge that I hung on and they had to back it out 2 complete revolutions an inch or so at a time.
Steve

 

[JoshJ]

Re: Well I stuck my 12\" auger on the first 12hole ever

Oh ok, so much for that idea. you are lucky you had help around. glad to hear that the rest of your holes were dug w/o trouble.

 

[Charolais]

Re: Well I stuck my 12\" auger on the first 12hole ever

Does your tractor have a ground speed posistion lever for the PTO? If so you could jack the back wheels off the ground, use the ground speed PTO selection, put the transmission in reverse(let the wheels rotate slow in reverse) and turn the PTO shaft in the other direction.

I've used this several times to unclog a hay conditioner and an old pull type combine. Worked pretty slick. I didn't have to jack the tractor up but you would with the digger in the ground. Just an idea. /forums/images/graemlins/wink.gif

 

[stevenf]

Re: Well I stuck my 12\" auger on the first 12hole ever

Charolais, nope no ground speed lever far as I know only on and off besides with my filled tires the back end of this beast probably would weigh 8,000lbs at least and I don't think I have a hydraulic jack that could lift it but the idea has merit so now I have to call the Kubota folks to see what a ground speed lever is exactly and if I have it and don't know it because I could always buy a bigger jack if I could reverse the rotation it would be worth it.
Steve