Countyline vs ranchEx auger bits..TSC

[Fallon]

My Countryline 12 inch auger is the third brand that I've bought. It is by far the best. In fact, for the money, it's just amazing at how well it digs. Soil that I struggled to get through, is now easy with the Countryline. Before buying it, we would use a SDS Max rotary hammer in jackhammer mode and a spade bit to get through the top layer of super hard packed red clay. Once I was down a foot, the other augers would work to some degree, but even then, sometimes I had to fill the hole with water and come back the next day. With the Coutnryline, I just drill right through the top soil. Biggest problem with it is that it drills too good and it will bury itself in seconds. You have to be super careful when using it on a 3 point hitch. With an excavator and reverse hydraulics, you will never have this problem.

The biggest thing about augers is the teeth. I had (still have actually, but no 2" round PHD) a beefy 9" Pengo auger. Beefy carbide frost teeth & it couldnt do squat on our clay. Switched to some thin dirt teeth & it cut fine. Those thick teeth didnt do squat compared to cheap farm store augers with thin teeth. Those teeth wore fast, but cut well because they were always thin & sharp.

 

[Wyobuckaroo]

A number of years ago I bought a very used Speeco PHD that was worn to the max in every joint. I cut, drilled, welded, ground, to replace pins and bushing until it was little less than new shape. With a very poor paint job on my part, it worked well for me for a long time.

The augers that came with it were well beat up from rocky ground. Again I straitened, repaired as needed. The center cutters were OK. The replaceable cutting teeth were shot. I never was able to find the correct replacement teeth for the 2 augers that came with the digger. I did find some replacement teeth I could re drill and make fit. I also made replaceable teeth out of just plain hot rolled steel flat stock. Sharpened occasionally with a side grinder, in our ground they lasted well, and were cheap and easy to replace.

I eventually sold that digger for about half again what I had in it. With that and very little more I was able to upgraded to a new in the box Speeco.

My 5 cents of experience.

 

[nyone]

The biggest thing about augers is the teeth. I had (still have actually, but no 2" round PHD) a beefy 9" Pengo auger. Beefy carbide frost teeth & it couldnt do squat on our clay. Switched to some thin dirt teeth & it cut fine. Those thick teeth didnt do squat compared to cheap farm store augers with thin teeth. Those teeth wore fast, but cut well because they were always thin & sharp.

My machine came with 2 very very worn out Pengo augers. A 12in and 8in. They are leaps and bounds heavier than the countyline auger.

Im back to spending $550 for a new heavy auger or repairing the one i have for roughly $$350 in parts.

 

[Atlanta Panther]

Speaking of Cutting teeth, does anyone know where to get better cutting teeth (it takes 4) for the 12" auger from Tractor Supply? I'm about 100 holes into a 200 hole project and I'm on my 3rd set of teeth. I'm also on my third corkscrew. What I would like to find is some better cutters even if they cost a little more. I find that sometimes the auger will just sit on top of the soil and not bite in. When I raise the auger and drop it to get it to bite, it often will go right into the ground and stall out the engine. Other times, we have to pry at the hard clay. Fortunately we haven't hit many rocks...just hard clay.

Since this is my first job with the PHD, I know I was running it too fast - at the 540 PTO speed in the first 25 holes or so. I have slowed down based on comments and I'm running it at about 1500 rpm now and kicking it to 2000 for final cleanout.

I did just manage to break my first shear pin so I guess I'm not doing too bad.

Thanks for any suggestions

 

[Fallon]

Speaking of Cutting teeth, does anyone know where to get better cutting teeth (it takes 4) for the 12" auger from Tractor Supply? I'm about 100 holes into a 200 hole project and I'm on my 3rd set of teeth. I'm also on my third corkscrew. What I would like to find is some better cutters even if they cost a little more. I find that sometimes the auger will just sit on top of the soil and not bite in. When I raise the auger and drop it to get it to bite, it often will go right into the ground and stall out the engine. Other times, we have to pry at the hard clay. Fortunately we haven't hit many rocks...just hard clay.

Since this is my first job with the PHD, I know I was running it too fast - at the 540 PTO speed in the first 25 holes or so. I have slowed down based on comments and I'm running it at about 1500 rpm now and kicking it to 2000 for final cleanout.

I did just manage to break my first shear pin so I guess I'm not doing too bad.

Thanks for any suggestions

I'll guess TSC has them... TSC just does badge engineering on most of their Countyline impliments, so somebody else made the auger. There is a decent chance most farm stores might have compatible teeth.

Countyline & farm store augers are rather cheap light weight augers, so heavy duty teeth for them arent likely. They are fine for several hundred holes at least unless you hit rocks or roots & half the price of a beefy auger. Thin teeth actually cut better. I had thick carbide frost teeth on a beefy Pengo auger. It wouldnt dig for beans. Replaced them thin dirt teeth & it was a world of difference.

Just get a few sets of teeth & replace them as needed, or upgrade to a beefier auger. Hard faced teeth for my Pengo or new auger on my SSQA PHD are avalible. They last longer but double the price. I havent figured if they last twice as long yet. They typically arent avalible for cheap augers unless you hard face them with your own welder.

Only move your 3pt down an inch or 2 at a time. Let the auger spin for a bit, then drop it another inch or 2. That the only decent chance to avoid corkscrewing.

 

[Alan W.]

Speaking of Cutting teeth, does anyone know where to get better cutting teeth (it takes 4) for the 12" auger from Tractor Supply? I'm about 100 holes into a 200 hole project and I'm on my 3rd set of teeth. I'm also on my third corkscrew. What I would like to find is some better cutters even if they cost a little more. I find that sometimes the auger will just sit on top of the soil and not bite in. When I raise the auger and drop it to get it to bite, it often will go right into the ground and stall out the engine. Other times, we have to pry at the hard clay. Fortunately we haven't hit many rocks...just hard clay.

Since this is my first job with the PHD, I know I was running it too fast - at the 540 PTO speed in the first 25 holes or so. I have slowed down based on comments and I'm running it at about 1500 rpm now and kicking it to 2000 for final cleanout.

I did just manage to break my first shear pin so I guess I'm not doing too bad.

Thanks for any suggestions

Hardface your cutters, flighting edges and point. It will last way longer. I did this on mine after I had the same experience you did.
Also slow down that auger. Idle or slightly above will work fine.