Hydraulic ssqa augers?

[countrybumpkin]

Looking into buying a ssqa style hydraulic post hole auger, local dealers have Danuser, land-pride, Mcmillen. Mainly looking at the planetary drive style over the ones with a standard gear box and hydraulic motor , such as the shaver style. This will be used as small farm - ranch, not commercially on a 55 hp 11gpm tractor. Just looking for thought, and likes or dislikes of these types of units and brands.

 

[bdog]

I have a beltec 150. Have drilled thousands of holes with it. Most 9” to 4’ but have drilled 18” to 8’. Ran it on a 95 hp tractor and now run it on a skid steer. No issues. Amazing piece of equipment. I bought it as a dealer demo unit from the local kubota dealer in 2011 or so.

 

[flyerdan]

Lowe is a big player in the skidsteer auger department, lots of fence companies use them. They seem to be pretty bulletproof, especially the planetary drive ones.

 

[Rustyiron]

I have a non planetary McMillan unit, (JD SS attachment re branded) and use it like you say you will. It's worked fine and has been service free. The planetary type would be a must if I were making a living with it but they are more expensive.

 

[countrybumpkin]

Not sure if anyone local carries the beltec but I have ran across them on the net, but will do some further looking into them, also a dealer not to far carries Premier brand that I may look at, he is advertising the unit with mount for 1850 minus auger. The only other price I have is the Danuser EP6 with mount and 9" standard auger for 2000. Also I know the Danuser has the lifetime warranty against the shaft pulling out, I'm sure I'll find others that offer that too as I do more research.

 

[Fallon]

I got the small planetary Danhuser for my L4060. At worst it's as fast as my old modified 3pth PHD. It was quick hitch compatible & had downforce for the first foot or 2 in the hole. Not to mention 200lbs strapped over the gearbox. The hydraulic has better downpressure, better control, better visibility & easier hookup. One thing it doesn't have is more power.

My old L3200 had 25hp PTO. I'm assuming most of that was getting to to the PHD. My L4060 has 9-10gpm of hydraulics and a 2,500psi relief. That translates into 14hp or so. I can definitely feel the missing 10hp on my new PHD compared to my old 3pt one despite having a bigger more powerfully machine running it. The extra control outweighs the lack of power. At worst my productivity in holes per hour is about the same . Hookup & setup time for small jobs is easier & faster.

 

[blackrams]

I got the small planetary Danhuser for my L4060. At worst it's as fast as my old modified 3pth PHD. It was quick hitch compatible & had downforce for the first foot or 2 in the hole. Not to mention 200lbs strapped over the gearbox. The hydraulic has better downpressure, better control, better visibility & easier hookup. One thing it doesn't have is more power.

My old L3200 had 25hp PTO. I'm assuming most of that was getting to to the PHD. My L4060 has 9-10gpm of hydraulics and a 2,500psi relief. That translates into 14hp or so. I can definitely feel the missing 10hp on my new PHD compared to my old 3pt one despite having a bigger more powerfully machine running it. The extra control outweighs the lack of power. At worst my productivity in holes per hour is about the same . Hookup & setup time for small jobs is easier & faster.

I assume post holes per hour is pretty important? If you're digging them as a money maker, I can see the advantage if it's just for yourself, not sure it would be worth it to me. That's just my opinion though. I've always had to make do with what I had..

Sounds like a nice machine though. :thumbsup:

 

[countrybumpkin]

I'm really leaning towards the ep6 like you have, as for holes per hour, with the 3 pt pto it was hours per hole, I kid you not. Just for the fact of no down pressure and worn out bits. I hate borrowing stuff , specially stuff that's not taken care of or in good shape, it's always a bigger pain to use them it seems like. As for the holes, it's all personal use around the property, between some new fishing docks, a deck or two for the house, a bunch of fencing and a few left for the fire pit project. And this is all just in he next few months , not to mention all he years to follow. The other unit I'm looking into is the Belltec n150 may still look at the landpride and the Mcmillen from the local case IH dealer too though.

 

[countrybumpkin]

Also what size bits do best for 4x4 , 6x6 , and 8-10" round posts? Like to stay with just two sizes for now, seeing how costly they are. Been looking at the better cast bit with hardened or carbide teeth. For clay and such, don't really need the full on rock bits.

 

[GreatWhitehunter]

I'm running a McMillen x1950 and its awesome, Paladin support is also top notch. No many companies have customer service that's worth a dam anymore.

Matt

 

[mopardude318]

I have the McMillen X1475 10-25 GPM for my M7060 with 16.2 GPM available to the 3rd function. I only have one auger bit, the heavy duty cast 12" bit. It has performed flawlessly, down pressure helps tremendously, being able to reverse is also real nice. I am happy with McMillen products. Available at Everything Attachments, it was cheaper by $400 with shipping (free), than getting it at my dealer...

 

[Fallon]

I only have a 12" auger so far. It's way beefy, much more than the high end 9" Pengo auger I had for my 3pt. That 9" was double the beef of the standard 12" farm store type auger. Hydraulic augers use 2" hex or 2.5" or so round interface. Stronger and maybe bigger than the 2" round interface for 3pt PHDs. Cheap farm store 2x round drive augers are $100-200 for a 9-12". 2" hex or the big round start at $400. A lot more cost, but better design & a lot more metal to back up the expected abuse. Better teeth options on the nicer augers with various hardfacing options for more abrasive ground. The base teeth are equal in cost to the farm store auger teeth. The farm store teeth are usually somewhat propitary & may behard to find. McMillan Danhuser, Pengo & other nicer augers have more comodity type teeth.

I find 12" a pretty good size. My personal project fencing has a top rail that sockets into a 2" hole in each pole. I upgraded from a 9" auger so I'd have more wiggle room to get things connected & lined up.

 

[Rustyiron]

Also what size bits do best for 4x4 , 6x6 , and 8-10" round posts? Like to stay with just two sizes for now, seeing how costly they are. Been looking at the better cast bit with hardened or carbide teeth. For clay and such, don't really need the full on rock bits.

Ya got a post driver or an excavator handy?
I would drill a 4" pilot hole and pound (either method above) a post in the hole for a super tight, strong post.

 

[flyerdan]

One thing I would recommend is to run a bead of hard surface rod up the flights, it keeps them from thinning out at the edge and being susceptible to damage from rocks and big roots.

 

[DieselBound]

Auger sizes really depend on how you're setting posts. I, because I'm crazy, hand tamped mine (about 100 of them); I can assure you that these are set as good, if not better, than driven in- I alternated materials (some excellent stuff that packed liked cement)- and at 3 1/2' deep for 4 1/2' out of the ground they're insanely solid (some were put in places where water existed a mere 2' down!

I rented a skid steer with auger. Wanting to say that it was a 12' auger (a good 2x post size- if one is going to tamp; also keep in mind that your string line, or whatever you use, isn't going to be perfect, so having a little bigger hole allows you to correct for that). All said, what I found doing all this was just how incredibly heavy all the material collecting on the bit can become. I've got some pretty heavy clay. The skid steer is one hole-making machine, and I had several holes that the skid steer struggled getting the bit out of the hole (I was burying past the head). I could ask my rental guy who makes that attachment. I know that he only buys the best. Oh yeah, I dug about 100 3 1/2' deep holes in two days (using different spotters, so had allowances for "training").

 

[blackrams]

Auger sizes really depend on how you're setting posts. I, because I'm crazy, hand tamped mine (about 100 of them); I can assure you that these are set as good, if not better, than driven in- I alternated materials (some excellent stuff that packed liked cement)- and at 3 1/2' deep for 4 1/2' out of the ground they're insanely solid (some were put in places where water existed a mere 2' down!

I rented a skid steer with auger. Wanting to say that it was a 12' auger (a good 2x post size- if one is going to tamp; also keep in mind that your string line, or whatever you use, isn't going to be perfect, so having a little bigger hole allows you to correct for that). All said, what I found doing all this was just how incredibly heavy all the material collecting on the bit can become. I've got some pretty heavy clay. The skid steer is one hole-making machine, and I had several holes that the skid steer struggled getting the bit out of the hole (I was burying past the head). I could ask my rental guy who makes that attachment. I know that he only buys the best. Oh yeah, I dug about 100 3 1/2' deep holes in two days (using different spotters, so had allowances for "training").

You have no idea how much I would like to have been there to participate.

Supervising is still considered participation isn't it. :drink:

Rams

 

[DieselBound]

The tamping work was something that I totally underestimated. And temps were well into the 80s. Don't expect to be doing that again! (which is probably why driving posts is attractive) But, as far as digging holes, it's hard to beat a front-mounted auger (a long time ago I'd pondered getting a 3pt one, but never did). Being able to alter the mode of attack, and, of course, apply down-pressure, means that you can pretty much dig every hole as needed: had a couple that ended up being very big- LOTS of work packing those!; had only one hole that I couldn't punch (and consider the down-force that you can apply with a skid steer), it was some buried chunk of cedar bit couldn't split through it, just rode on it)- no such tree around (last place I'd expected; had only a few holes left at that point; picked up and set down a couple feet over).

 

[rd_macgregor]

I have the same Beltec 150 as bdog, with 9" and 15" bits. It is a nice, reliable unit. My only complaint is that, on my Kioti DK45S, I can't see the exact point where the auger tip hits the ground (the hood is in the way)...I have a video system ready to install to correct this, but haven't gotten around to putting it in yet.

 

[countrybumpkin]

I priced a land pride sa20 with a 9" and 15" bit today for 3250.00. I also looked at the Danuser ep6 again, with the 9" fabricated auger for 2000.00 then purchasing a Pengo 15" heavy duty auger with rock head For 1250.00

I too also do a lot of tamping when installing posts, even built a custom tamping bar with two different size ends and loaded with steel shot.

 

[goeduck]

Danuser here with a 15 inch auger. Love it.