Need tips on drilling upright post holes

[stuckmotor]

The Crooked post=crooked fence thread made me wonder why I hadn't asked this before. I pull a line, mark where I want the holes, ease into position, lower the auger, get off, check for perpendicular, make adjustments then bore. On more holes than I want to admit, I still have to straighten the angled hole with a clamshell digger. If there's a better way, someone please tell me what it is.

 

[Gunny]

The angle of the PHD changes as it pulls itself down into the hole

 

[LD1]

Drill the hole large enough that even if a little crooked, you can still set the post straight. Just backfill / tamp real good

 

[oosik]

What LD1 says....... I think just about everybody who posts about PHD has that problem on occasion. Helped a friend with his two man, gas driven PHD. What a PITA - he had an awful lot of softball sized rocks - it required a lot of work with the 'ol clam shovel.

T-133 steel posts with my home-made 50# pounder is bad enough.

 

[Oldoak]

What I do is to drive the tractor ever so slightly forward for about every foot or so that the auger drills down to keep the auger perpendicular. It really helps to have a second person observing from the side to direct you.

 

[CobyRupert]

What I do is to drive the tractor ever so slightly forward for about every foot or so that the auger drills down to keep the auger perpendicular.

That's a good ratio to keep in mind: "Slightly forward for every foot."

Our Canadian neighbors may want a metric conversion for that. "A pinch forward for every meter"?

(sorry)

 

[leonz]

Hello CobyRupert,

No need to apologize, hiring a bunch of sasquatches with clamshell diggers and buying pizza and beer for the crew would be easier,
I agree a pinch forward for every meter is correct in the scheme of things but a small tree transplanting auger will make post hole digging even easier as it acts like a plumb bob.

 

[stuckmotor]

I've tried the large hole method and may go back to that if I can't get the hang of creeping forward. Thanks for the ideas and keep 'um comming. I'm hoping someone's found a magic bullet.

 

[bigtiller]

Someone once said it takes 6 centimeters to to make a pinch. Does that sound right?

 

[Redlands Okie]

Hydraulics to tilt it sideways helps quite a bit on uneven terrain.

 

[hslogger]

I never drill holes alone. Always have a helper on the ground, help with initial placement, and then gives me the ok to move a bit forward as well. They eyeball it and make sure it goes in straight. ALWAYS for me, the best way to get it done.

 

[Dadnatron]

As has been said, the PHD radius pushes OUT/AWAY from the tractor and you go down into the hole. This will cause your hole to angle towards the tractor at the bottom.

If you are constantly working to square out the 'away' part of the hole, a little forward movement of the tractor as you drill will fix you up.

But, I second having someone else available to guide you... takes out the guess work.

 

[Oldoak]

I never drill holes alone. Always have a helper on the ground, help with initial placement, and then gives me the ok to move a bit forward as well. They eyeball it and make sure it goes in straight. ALWAYS for me, the best way to get it done.

:thumbsup:

Just what I was referring to in my earlier comment.
stuckmotor, there isn't any "magic bullet".

 

[3Lfarms]

A larger PHD helps. Mine has a 75 hp gearbox for cat2 tractors. The boom is long enough that it reduces the arc swing as it goes down and on level ground I get a nice post hole, albeit a little egg shaped, but only by an inch or so. With a geared tractor, it makes it nice to not have to constantly move the tractor forward.

 

[prof fate]

set the point a bit 'back' and it will staighten as it augers.

I do 15" holes and backfill/tamp. a bit more work - but straight posts.

 

[stuckmotor]

Some good suggestions have come in since my last thanks. Thanks again.
Stuck

 

[dragoneggs]

What LD1 says....... I think just about everybody who posts about PHD has that problem on occasion. Helped a friend with his two man, gas driven PHD. What a PITA - he had an awful lot of softball sized rocks - it required a lot of work with the 'ol clam shovel.

Wanna talk PITA? Try evergreen tree roots! You will wish back to having only rocks.

 

[zzvyb6]

OK, so here is the 'other' problem. I dig a 10" hole, insert a 5" post, and there is not enough fill dirt. You have to take a bucket full of filler with you. Even worse if you pull the old stump, redrill the hole and put in a new post.

 

[Oldoak]

OK, so here is the 'other' problem. I dig a 10" hole, insert a 5" post, and there is not enough fill dirt. You have to take a bucket full of filler with you..........................

Volume wise, physically impossible unless you are leaving something out like rocks when backfilling. If anything, there is fill left over because of the space the post takes up and the original dirt is not compacted like it was before drilling. :confused3:

Then again, perhaps the auger is uplifting some of the soil surrounding the hole forming a mound higher than the original surface of the ground which would require more fill in the hole if not tamped down?

 

[dragoneggs]

Volume wise, physically impossible unless you are leaving something out like rocks when backfilling. If anything, there is fill left over because of the space the post takes up and the original dirt is not compacted like it was before drilling. :confused3:

Then again, perhaps the auger is uplifting some of the soil surrounding the hole forming a mound higher than the original surface of the ground which would require more fill in the hole if not tamped down?

Thanks for splainin' this... I was waiting for his punch line! :laughing: