Well today I learned 5 things about post hole augers

[Raul-02]

First; if you don't know what you are doing (read: there's gotta be an optimal order of operations) then hooking one up to the 3-point is a real beast of a job.
Second; Hanging it by a rope from a tree on sloped ground is not the best storage option.
Third; Go slow stupid. Speed is not your friend when working with powerful hydraulics and heavy equipment.
Fourth; there is a reason they put that little valve under the front of the seat.
Fifth; get yourself an old school manual post hole digger to get the loose dirt out of the last foot of the hole

I did get one post in.

I got a question for the initiated.
Do you bother making sure your angle of entry is as vertical as you can by moving the tractor as you lower the auger? I did but I sort of wonder about the wisdom of it.

 

[BoylermanCT]

You have learned all the lessons in one day. Congratulations! Tomorrow you should get plenty of posts in.

When I dig holes, I like to have a spotter so they can help line things up and we do move the tractor as we dig to keep the hole as straight as possible.

 

[Cougsfan]

Yes, my wife watches the auger as it goes down and motions me to move the tractor forward as it goes deeper. One trick to minimize how much dirt you have to dig out with the manual post hole digger: Turn your auger off before you lift the auger out. Much of the dirt will stay on the auger blade.

I assume you are putting in wooden posts. I pre-mark the ground level required on the posts before hand with a felt pen so I can get the hole to the right depth easy. I also over drill the auger holes and keep sand in the tractor bucket to fill the hole back to the right depth. I also make a tripod out of 2 x 2 sticks (attached to the pole with construction screws) to hold the pole straight and level while backfilling.

Backfilling is the hardest and most time consuming part of putting a post in. I went from a 9 inch to 13 inch diameter auger to allow for more error in hole location and straightness, and to allow more room for a tamping stick. Contrary to one's intuition, it is actually quicker and easier to backfill and tamp an oversized hole.

 

[rScotty]

First; if you don't know what you are doing (read: there's gotta be an optimal order of operations) then hooking one up to the 3-point is a real beast of a job.
Second; Hanging it by a rope from a tree on sloped ground is not the best storage option.
Third; Go slow stupid. Speed is not your friend when working with powerful hydraulics and heavy equipment.
Fourth; there is a reason they put that little valve under the front of the seat.
Fifth; get yourself an old school manual post hole digger to get the loose dirt out of the last foot of the hole

I did get one post in.

I got a question for the initiated.
Do you bother making sure your angle of entry is as vertical as you can by moving the tractor as you lower the auger? I did but I sort of wonder about the wisdom of it.

You'll get better at it. Let me know when you come up with a good way to store the post hole digger. Strapping it to a tree isn't much better than hanging it from a rope.
Yes, I move the tractor back and forth when digging and also sometimes when pulling the auger up if it is deep.
Go slowly.

Oversized holes are much easier to dig and to fill than perfectly sized holes.. A bucket full of good compactable sandy clay, a shovel, a level, and a tamping rod makes it easy to backfill.
Go slowly.

Oh, and about those fancy augers with the replaceable offset digging teeth and tips - if you have rocky soil they are not only more expensive, they are worth it.

Finally, I won't have to say "go slowly" ever again after the first time you get an auger stuck.

good luck,
rScotty

 

[jaxs]

First; if you don't know what you are doing (read: there's gotta be an optimal order of operations) then hooking one up to the 3-point is a real beast of a job.
Second; Hanging it by a rope from a tree on sloped ground is not the best storage option.
Third; Go slow stupid. Speed is not your friend when working with powerful hydraulics and heavy equipment.
Fourth; there is a reason they put that little valve under the front of the seat.
Fifth; get yourself an old school manual post hole digger to get the loose dirt out of the last foot of the hole

You have learned all the lessons in one day.

Not all the lessons,there's another.
Sixth; get yourself an old fashion pipe wrench and cheater pipe to "unscrewuch"the auger when it catch's a root and screw's itself into the ground.

 

[ROUSTABOUT]

Post holes have become so scientifically complicated. I usually just buy mine. A guy comes from town and drops them off.

 

[5030]

Why mine (3 point digger) hangs in the tree and I use a post pounder (Shaver). Much easier to drive them in. In fact, my Shaver will drive in railroad ties. Should sell it (the one hanging in the tree). Nice thing about a post pounder is, one person operation, always drives straight and vertical and you set the drive depth the way you want it.

Downside is.. They are expensive and you need a pretty good sized tractor to operate on so little tractors (CUT and smaller) are out. I can set 100 posts in a day, no issue, no holes, no backfill no helper.

 

[5030]

Not all the lessons,there's another.
Sixth; get yourself an old fashion pipe wrench and cheater pipe to "unscrewuch"the auger when it catch's a root and screw's itself into the ground.

If it gets real stuck, leave it there and use it for a post...lol Back when I used mine, I'd break the shear bolt when it got hung up. Of course with 100 pto horses, that was easy.

 

[RjCorazza]

With my previous 3 point auger I set the auger exactly straight, then pulled the tractor forward ever so slightly. By the time the auger was down 36" the hole was straight down. For 6" posts like standard split rail, I use a 9" diameter auger.
I always stored the post hole digger in all separate parts, and installed in the order of yoke, boom, gear box, auger.

I redid my fence this past summer and splurged on a ssqa loader mounted hydraulic auger. That thing is awesome.

 

[5030]

All well and good provided you have enough flow. Little tractors = little flow. Little flow = poor hydraulic motor performance.

 

[square1]

Sixth; get yourself an old fashion pipe wrench and cheater pipe to "unscrewuch"the auger when it catch's a root and screw's itself into the ground.

7. Disengage PTO and use said pipe wrench to turn the PTO shaft, not on the auger, to take advantage of gearing in PHD

 

[ROUSTABOUT]

Just control your lift going down. Saves on threading the roots. We use cut up livestock panel for shear pins. Or whatever rod we find to cut into pieces. Never had to back an auger out with a pipe wrench. That's why I go down slow.

 

[Rebeldad1]

I store my PHD in the ground. Dig down a foot or two and cut the tractor loose. Easy to reconnect when needed

 

[hslogger]

I never drill holes with out a spotter. Neverrrrrrr.
If I have a number of posts to set, I get a helper and trade off tamping and leveling. Building fence and serious repairing fence alone is a drag.

I have had to replace wood posts in line. To protect my woven wire fence, I have a half sheet of quarter inch plywood, ie 4by4 feet. I have an inch and a half by inch and a half piece screwed onto the back side of the sheet, six inches from the top, for my helper to use. It allows him to help postion the sheet against the fence so that the auger doesn't foul the fence. Works like a charm.

 

[etpm]

7. Disengage PTO and use said pipe wrench to turn the PTO shaft, not on the auger, to take advantage of gearing in PHD

I got my auger stuck last July. I shut off the tractor and used the pipe wrench with a pipe extension. That worked well but I suppose if I had access to the PTO input that would have been easier, but my PTO shaft and couplings are all covered or safety guarded. In any case if the auger gets stuck the engine MUST be shut off before getting near to any rotating parts. Just disengaging the PTO drive is not good enough. Just thinking of getting caught in rotating machinery gives me shivers.There are way too many examples of folks getting caught in rotating tractor implements.
Eric

 

[SmallChange]

Post holes have become so scientifically complicated. I usually just buy mine. A guy comes from town and drops them off.

If that's working out for you, you're lucky. I tried it once. Big mistake. The guy brought mine on a truck and started dropping them off one by one. Every dang time, the thing would leave this huge dent in the ground, like a giant tree branch spearing the dirt. No thanks!

Oh, to answer one of the questions -- sometimes I move the tractor back and forth to get a neater and more vertical hole, but sometimes I don't. You kind of have to gage how much fiddling around to spend on drilling, and how much to spend on filling. If I have plenty of concrete mixed up and am setting an important post (such as to hang a big gate off of), I just let the hole be oversized and lopsided and whatever else, and just figure the bigger and less round the hole is, the stronger the installed post is going to be.

I've also used mine to dig a trench by drilling a row of holes. You know, like you used to do with a drill to create a slot in metal, before you had access to a milling machine. In this case, if you orient the tractor along the direction of the trench, you can get this hole pretty neat and deep without hitting its neighbor, and then deliberately move forward and backward to turn this hole into an extension of the trench.

 

[JethroB]

Post holes have become so scientifically complicated. I usually just buy mine. A guy comes from town and drops them off.

That would be my preference. How many holes come in a bundle or on a pallet?

 

[ROUSTABOUT]

That would be my preference. How many holes come in a bundle or on a pallet?

42 to the pallet. He stacks them high.

 

[rScotty]

42 to the pallet. He stacks them high.

Piled higher and deeper.....

 

[69 SS]

Best thing for storing PHD at my house is a kids metal swing set with all the swings/other Attachments removed,also doubles as a handy place to hang chains, stuff hanging off to spray paint, practical and useful for alot of things. It was free if I hauled it off. 15 minutes and Ryobi driver and it was in the bed of the truck, had a bunch of leftover 18 in square concrete papers that makes for a secure footing underneath and keeps the ends of the swingset legs from rusting. Have had this 25 + yrs and moved it twice. Good luck on all your projects