425 Post Hole Auger

[Carpenter]

I finally got to put my auger through it's paces today. Drilled 24 9" holes, for a fence around my wife's store. Charlie posted his amazing results awhile back; mine weren't quite that extraordinary, but it was a different kind of job.

The fence we're building is around an established lawn, with a small retaining wall and dozens of rose bushes. I had to dodge rose bushes, sprinkler system, sidewalks, and pedestrians. I was able to wiggle into some really tight places and accurately drill my holes. The auger worked flawlessly, through clay and river rock. The only time it was stopped, was when I encountered an old fireplace grate that someone had buried at about 18".

I just thought I'd let you guys know how it worked out. I couldn't be more pleased with it's performance. I was able to do the whole job without harming any lawn, roses, sprinklers or customers. That made my wife happy, and that's a good thing. /w3tcompact/icons/grin.gif

 

[Charlie_Iliff]

Eric:
Glad to hear the auger worked well. My amazing results were my first use of mine. The 68 holes in 70 minutes were along a straight line, in open pasture, soft soil, with each place marked with spray paint. I think I hit one rock and two roots. Since then, over the weekend, for instance, I have drilled a number of holes - often crooked and in the wrong place - at a quite slower pace. Not at all the machine's fault.
There have been a lot of posts recently about ways to get weight on 3 - point augers, etc. I thought about that as I nudged the joystick to increase the down pressure on Sunday during a bit of fence repair. As you noted, snaking into a tight area and putting the auger where you want it is what the machines were built for.
I ended a couple of days of fence work with a lot of stiff body parts, but my neck wasn't one of them. Have I mentioned that I like the front mounted implements?

 

[MossRoad]

Sounds like a grate job /w3tcompact/icons/laugh.gif

But seriously folks, isn't it amazing how you can snake your way in and out of tight places with these things? Do you think you could have gotten a conventional tractor into some of those spots without damaging more landscaping?

Thanks for the auger info. It is on my wish list for a couple years from now.

 

[wasabi]

<font color=blue>isn't it amazing how you can snake your way in and out of tight places with these things?</font color=blue>

It is amazing how manuverable PT's are! Although my seat time to date is unfortunately exceeded by mechanicin' time, I can happily report that our PT 2445 easily turns around within the width of our narrow mountain logging roads. I don't know of any other tractor that could do that!

 

[davesisk]

Yup, impressively maneuverable. My alternative would have been a Yanmar 1300D (which I believe is actually a little smaller than the PT1418), but I'm sure that I couldn't have gotten it some of the places I can get the PT!

I've gotten "stuck" beside the house or between trees before. I used a trick that I read on here: use the bucket and steering to crawl the front-end sideways! Works like a charm!

Dave

 

[Carpenter]

Charlie, Most attachments are definitely more handy mounted up front. I wish my drilling had been out in the open with soft soil; that sounds like fun! I was really surprised at how easily the auger worked with down pressure; definitely a vast improvement over my old 3 pt. setup.

I'm going to set posts tomorrow, for the vinyl fence we're installing(rained out today). I think with the auger and the cement mixer this is one great fencing machine; now if I can only figure out how to get it to level and align for me. /w3tcompact/icons/laugh.gif

 

[Charlie_Iliff]

<font color=red>" now if I can only figure out how to get it to level and align for me." </font color=red>
Sounds like a project for WroughtnHarv

 

[MossRoad]

Two hydraulic cylinders with foot pads.
Bolt one to each side of the unit perpendicular to the ground.
Two bubble levels.
Lots of welding, bolting and plumbing hoses.
/w3tcompact/icons/smile.gif

 

[Charlie_Iliff]

<font color=blue>"Two hydraulic cylinders with foot pads.
Bolt one to each side of the unit perpendicular to the ground.
Two bubble levels.
Lots of welding, bolting and plumbing hoses."</font color=blue>

That's just getting started. Then you need the laptop driven solenoid valves on all functions with the GPS interface and Autocad landscaping and fencing module.

 

[Carpenter]

MR, You and Charlie should get together and design some stuff for the Federal Government. Just make sure to charge at least 100 times what it's worth; they don't like spending our money on "cheap" stuff! /w3tcompact/icons/laugh.gif