3pt post hole digger vs one man auger vs Groundhog Digger

[Ken45101]

Maybe around 8 holes for a pole barn and a bunch for new plants/trees.

How deep are you going? I think they went 4' deep and at least a foot in diameter on my pole barn. More than you could do by hand and probably more than you could do with a gas powered one man unit, especially if you hit any rock.

 

[ruffdog]

How deep are you going? I think they went 4' deep and at least a foot in diameter on my pole barn. More than you could do by hand and probably more than you could do with a gas powered one man unit, especially if you hit any rock.

Even a two man auger can get exciting when you hit a rock!

 

[groundcover]

Find a friend with one of these !

 

[dear.chap]

Wow that ditch witch seems really nice.

 

[ning]

For the pole barn posts I'd definitely rent a skid/ctl with an auger; you'll likely need an extension and that's a real hassle with anything else.

I have a phd for my CUT but I needed to drill some 12" x 60" deep holes when I set up a ground mount for a solar array and in our summer hard clay it would've been a total no-go with the CUT -- the skid was brilliant as it has serious down-pressure (though on a couple holes I hit a huge rock that was thankfully only 4-6" thick but that was still a digging bar + sledge hammer. We expected the day to be max 2h of drilling holes but we were there till midnight lol)

I doubt you'd be turning a sufficiently wide auger with anything else for planting trees to be honest.

For only occasional post hole use, I'd go manual; if you think you'll be doing 10 a year or you have terrible soil, maybe get the phd.

Knowing what I know now, I could've rented a skid + auger for my fence posthole jobs and a couple other jobs where I had more than a few holes to put in; I'd've had straighter holes put in much more quickly and I'd still have money left over, seven years later, though not that much. Close to a toss-up whether it's been worth having (unlike pallet forks, for instance, which are used a ton).

 

[Richard001]

Find a friend with one of these !
View attachment 853073

A friend with an out-house ?

 

[USMC43]

If you have rock a one person auger and 3 point PTO augers suck as the can’t be reversed except with a long pipe wrench walking around the auger to back it out not to mention how it beats the operator of the one man auger.

I would rather use a manual phd than a one man auger. My dad would only let me use the manual ones to build character as a teen. Did more than a mile that way.

The tow behind augers are actually not bad as most of them are hydraulic and can be reversed.

A skid steer QA auger either on a skid steer or decent size tractor is the best.

Note, here the REMC co-op will auger polebuilding post for a very reasonable fee if they are not extremely busy.

Another interesting method I learned living out in California when I was in the men’s department of the navy was to use a pressure washer.

The disintegrated granite soil there was like concrete in the summer. The neighbor watched me destroy a new pair of phd one after noon and brought over a piece of 5’ pvc pipe and a gas pressure washer with a long wand.

Put the wand inside the pipe and set it where you want the hole. Pull the trigger and swirl the wand around. The pipe will lower itself in the ground and when to the proper depth you pull it out.

You will be absolutely filthy and wet as it ejects much of it back up the pipe but it works fast and easy if you have a water supply

 

[CliffordK]

;How many holes are you digging? I have a HF gas powered 1 man auger and have done probably 30 holes with it over the years. I have the 18" extension for it, and both 6" and 8" auger. It has done well for me.

Perhaps one needs to consider different styles. I've always considered an auger with 2 handles and the motor on top to be a 2-man auger. At least the big ones from rental companies. Perhaps the HF auger is a lot smaller (they say it can be operated by one person). The big rental 2 man augers are a beast to work with to make a lot of holes.

What I've heard called one-man augers were like a little lawn mower with the motor sitting on it and a torque bar to the power head and auger. They are much more pleasant to work with.

However, those commercial duty one-man augers are a little bit on the expensive side.

 

[fatjay]

Perhaps one needs to consider different styles. I've always considered an auger with 2 handles and the motor on top to be a 2-man auger. At least the big ones from rental companies. Perhaps the HF auger is a lot smaller (they say it can be operated by one person). The big rental 2 man augers are a beast to work with to make a lot of holes.

What I've heard called one-man augers were like a little lawn mower with the motor sitting on it and a torque bar to the power head and auger. They are much more pleasant to work with.

However, those commercial duty one-man augers are a little bit on the expensive side.

I'll admit, it's not easy, and not everyone can do it. But I'm really cheap. It's fun when it bites on a root or rock.

 

[CliffordK]

When I was looking at augers, I also saw that there were a couple of styles of torque transfer bars.

It may be something that you could design and build your own.