Posthole Digger Who makes the best PTO 3 pt Post hole digger?

[MtnViewRanch]

Bent the he** out of mine. Maybe I had a some sort of factory defect that was undetected..it only dug 30 or so holes before it bent. Had to heat it up and use the tractor to straighten it back out... After 3 hours of heating and torquing, and welding some 3/8" reinforcements, it worked OK again. I have a couple of Landpride implements...average at best.

If you don't mind me asking, what were you digging that gave you your problems? I would like to know so that I can be careful of that situation and not have any of those type of problems myself. Do you or did you have the PD35 or a smaller unit?

Land Pride most certainly does make some average implements, but at the same time I believe that on the higher end that their implements are among the best out there.

Just my opinion, yours may vary.

 

[Glowplug]

Ask Timber about his Landpride PHD. He says it is probably his most used implement. He uses it successfully for things you'd never think of using a PHD for. He seems to practically "worship" it! Nothing's going to be perfect unless it's a specialty machine built solely for that purpose.

 

[FLHayman]

I used to have a 'home made' looking post hole digger that worked fine with my 70hp tractor. I bought it in Georgia, and it was made from an automobile rear differential. The PTO shaft took the place of the driveshaft, and one 'axle' attach point was welded closed, which made the remaining, downward pointing 'axle' the place where the auger would attach. The gear reduction was perfect for a 540 rpm tractor. I

t was easy to stop it if it started to corkscrew in too fast. Never came close to lifting the front of the tractor if it caught a root, and I mostly did ease it down with the 3pt rather than let it float down at it's own speed. My impression is that going slower put a little more wear on the bit teeth, but strained the shear bolt less.

I broke a few shear bolts, but never a sign of distress from the gearbox. It also had a long pipe welded to it to manually angle it to the front or back as you're starting the hole.

The ones I see on the market now don't seem to have a handle, and I've never used a modern one. Are they easy to get started plumb, or do you have to move the tractor fore and aft to adjust it once it starts to go in?

 

[DanMcC]

FLHayman, got a picture of it?

 

[Glowplug]

The ones I see on the market now don't seem to have a handle, and I've never used a modern one. Are they easy to get started plumb, or do you have to move the tractor fore and aft to adjust it once it starts to go in?

Most have an optional alignment handle. I know Landpride does.

 

[Farmwithjunk]

Danuser F-8
Welcome to Danuser Machine Company

They get my vote too. I share ownership of one with my brother. If he can't break it, it's a tough cookie. The boy can break an anvil with a feather. Danuser has had a great rep for as long as I can recall in terms of PHD'ers. There MIGHT be better ones, but I don't see any reason to buy a more expensive one.

 

[Kubotasrking]

If you don't mind me asking, what were you digging that gave you your problems? I would like to know so that I can be careful of that situation and not have any of those type of problems myself. Do you or did you have the PD35 or a smaller unit?

It is the PD35, and the story behind the bend is....My neighbor needed some help digging post holes for a fence he was installing. He came up, got the tractor w/ PHD, and came back a couple hours later with the auger hanging @ a 80-85 degree angle to the ground (as opposed to perpendicular..). He had hit a rock the auger ended up working up before he could lift out the auger. Ordinarily, I would've been really suspicious of the operator except Marvin (neighbor) has run just about every kind of equipment a person can run on a professional level. So, instead of worrying about fault, we just cracked open the beer, lit the torch, and fixed the PHD. Made for a pretty fun project. I guess the moral to the story is if you dig post holes, don't hit big rocks, and if you do know how to bend steel and weld.

 

[MtnViewRanch]

Thanks for the reply Kubotasrking. Lucky for me that I don't seem to have to worry about rocks in my area. Just topsoil and decomposed granite, hopefully I won't have any of your type of problem.

 

[FLHayman]

FLHayman, got a picture of it?

No, sorry, I sold a lot of stuff like that when I tried moving to California. I wish I could have it back now. Anyway, it was painted green, and they were making enough of them to fill an implement yard at the time, (1978-1980).

 

[Tom_H]

Pengo is an excellent brand for augers and tips.