Auger 3rd function hydraulic or PTO

[2manyrocks]

The owners manual for my pto driven PHD from TSC recommends at least a 35hp tractor to run it. The 12" auger was hard on my 35hp Mahindra in our rocky/clay soil. Before you buy a PHD, suggest you download the owners manual to check to see what they recommend as needed to power it.

 

[kTran]

What hydraulic auger are you running? Are you using one meant for tractors or those meant for skidsteers with much higher flow and pressures? The later won't work very well and will stall easily when ran on a tractor.

As far as the PTO auger, it will have a lot more power since it's using most of the engine HP, however, it has a very big con in my opinion. Which is that you can't reverse the auger if it gets stuck. This is where the hydraulic one shines.

For comparison, you have about 5 GPM at 2200 psi at the 3rd function, which equates more or less to 7 hp. The PTO will delivery about 17 or 18 HP at max engine RPM.

ptsg,

I believe I have a skid steer hydraulic auger. I thought the quick mount adapter is all there is with 3rd function implements. There’s so much to learn.

I’ll look into a tractor specific hydraulic auger. Thanks so much for sharing your knowledge/experience.

 

[ning]

My (3pt) auger never grabs much of my PTO's power, but that may be partially because a, I either use a 6" or 9" bit; and b, without downforce it's practically useless in almost every condition I've tried using it. It's pathetic. I really need to set up a downforce kit on it. Despite putting in almost 1/2 mile of fencing I feel that my backhoe has been a better purchase, because on most holes I'd dug with the auger I've had to do at least half if not more - something all - of the digging by hand.

So, if you're going to swap out the hydraulic auger for a 3ph/PTO auger, consider getting a downforce kit with it.