Digging post holes

[wroughtn_harv]

Now this is the big dog you've been lusting for Don and you've never even met her.

This is that one I mentioned my bud had for the 1 5/8 hex shaft for a twelve inch hole.

Check out that pattern. This puppy will take you to the dance and make everyone else so jealous they'll be chewing up nails and spitting out screws.

I believe this one will cost in the neighbor hood of eight hundred to a thousand just for the business end. That's a guess from an experienced guesstimator for what ever that's worth.

 

[wroughtn_harv]

But now I've got good news for you. I dug into my little bucket of goodies. These are all adaptable to whatever for whomever whenever.

Yup, if you look close you will see I not only have the teeth but I have the weld on holders for the teeth. Check out those wide puppies with the blue holders. You will see those on auger trucks when they're kicking butt in clay and soft limestone.

Those little ones with the small rectangular holders are smaller versions of the teeth in head in the above post, we might call them big dog's toofies.

The reason I bought them is to supplement an existing head if I needed to. Say like when a corner is worn down instead of building it back or just tossing the head assembly I can weld on a couple teeth to catch that area. They're also neat where if you wanted to put some bite on a bucket or blade if you're into that kind of thing.

All the flat ones are Pengo or pengo clones. I picked up some holders for them too just in case I found a bit that needed a little extra something or two.

What works like a preacher on Sunday morning when the mortage is past due is that little Pengo with the three sharp points. Thats for limestone and killer clay.

If you look at the flat ones close you will notice one has the three pieces of carbide across the end and the other is neked.

Neked ain't good.

What I have found terrible is most retailers of augers and bits have never seen any of the stuff that's in these posts. What they carry is some rinky dink piece of crap with a touch of hardfacing and they charge you as much if not more than what the good stuff costs.

If you can find a Pengo tip for an auger all they carry is the standard fishtails and teeth which wear out way too soon.

The next post will be about that.

 

[wroughtn_harv]

Here are three Pengo fishtails or pilots if you're a vegetarian.

The one on the left is the one you get if you call in and order or if you walk in and just ask. It's neked and will wear out long before it's time.

The middle one is the one you get if you ask for carbide tipped. The problem with it is the carbides on each side is on the same plane across from each other. So you're cutting into the same grove. The metal between the carbides wears out and before long you've got a fishtail that looks like Twiggy after breast augmentation surgery.

Now the one on the right is the only one I know of. It's one I got when I mentioned an idea to the owner of the company in Dallas that carbides thousands of tips for all the distributors and manufacturers.

I asked him how it would work to use some of that fractured carbide matrix like they use on the hole saw appearing augers. He grinned like the only pup in the litter with a tail and dug this thing out. He said he made it on a whim and gave it to me to use and report back how it works.

I suspect it's gonna be like the hose on a firetruck.

 

[centex]

Harv, where do you get your pengo bits with the carbide on the surface? Are these only avialable for the drive in bits or can you get them for the bolt on Pengo bits? I still have some bad holes with solid rock to go through and I am getting awfully tired of having to pound away with a bar for hours at a time. I have not found anyone around here that rents rock augers although I have to admit that I have only looked at four places. My place is pretty far out of any town so at $75 an hour I would have at least $150 in transport time to pay for and that along with several hours of digging would make a sizable dent in the cost of a good rock auger. All of the rock augers I have seen as well as the dealers say I need lots of down pressure for a rock auger. One note in a Belltec brochure said that low pressure on a rock auger dulls the bits quickly. I have looked at the Belltec 3PT boring machine ($4000 + auger = too much for a retired person). It has a special PTO drive that limits torque but it also applies a lot of down pressure. I know the hydraulic drive units also limit torque but they cost a lot too. The rock here is limestone so it is not real hard although that varies rock to rock but I have dug through as much a 15" of it using bars. I am now considering buying a Belltec RAD (rock and dirt) auger that looks like a dirt auger but has the carbide finger bits. I expect that I can apply about $200# of down pressure along with the weight of the auger and boring head (~180# for a total of 350# or so). Do you think this might work?

 

[centex]

Harv, where is Little Beaver located? I would like to check them out. Like you, I prefer to build my own stuff but in this case I am desparate to get my fences in good order so I can stock some cattle so I don't have the time to buy a kit although I will probably do it later. I don't seem to ever be able to have just one of anything - character flaw I guess.

 

[centex]

Harv, another question:

What works like a preacher on Sunday morning when the mortage is past
due is that little Pengo with the three sharp points. Thats for limestone
and killer clay.

Did you grind the points or does someone make them? I thought about grinding points on some of my bits but I was not sure if it work. I assume it would but I want to get your opinion. I think I understood from your post that these bits have soldered onto them.

 

[wroughtn_harv]

<font color=blue>Harv, where is Little Beaver located?</font color=blue>


<A target="_blank" HREF=http://www.littlebeaver.com/> here I do believe</A>

I've got to take a shower. Heck even the cat is staying away! But I'll be back for your other questions.........

 

[wroughtn_harv]

Don, here's the <A target="_blank" HREF=http://www.drillingworld.com/>web page</A> for that company in California with the build it yourselves. (they prefer to sell them complete and ready to use btw)

Voss Parts and Supply, INC in Euless Tx is another place where I was like a kid in a candy store (817 545 8677) They're one of the places the foundation repair guys go to get their stuff done.

I can't find the name and address of the place in Dallas where I got the real good stuff (they sell to Voss and to California).

 

[wroughtn_harv]

Don, try this. They're in Dallas off of Harry Hines but I won't be able to get their name and number until Monday.

The first option I'd look at if I was you would be to talk to belltec about their weld on auger head. Second I'd call Diggerworld in California who claims to make the low down pressure custom rock auger for Belltec at half the price.

I don't believe a couple of hundred pounds of down pressure is going to make much difference.

I assume you have a FEL and you're doing your digger with the three point. I believe water weighs about seven or eight pounds a gallon.

So let's venture out into harv's imagination land. It gets extremely scarey out there let me tell you.

Let's suppose you took two fifty five gallon barrels, the kind with the removable lids and the security strap. You tie those together in your FEL.

You build a rack to hold two more of the same kinds of barrels above and aft of your three point auger attachment.

You fill the ones on the front with water and you take a five gallon bucket with you for grins. The first hole that you hit rock and the bit is just sitting there smoking stop. Using the five gallon bucket transfer say a third of the water in each front barrel to the two barrels on the back. Then try again. If you don't bust a shear pin add more water. Keep doing this until you're breaking shear pins. Then transfer the water back to the front until you're at the point where you've got the maximum down pressure your equipment can take without using the shear pin escape.

Keep in mind that when you move the water barrels aft of the auger motor on your three point the auger is now the fulcrum and your tractor is on one end and say eight hundred pounds is on the other.

If you attach the barrel holding contraption where it's between the auger and the tractor. The tractor now picks up a percentage of the weight you're wanting for down pressure.

I mount a hundred gallon poly container on the roof of my tractor. This gives me about eight hundred pounds more weight but I also use the water for aiding the in the digging process.

The idea of the water transfer is not something I just thought up for you in this instance. Some time ago I knew that there would be time when I'd want to have added weight for down pressure. So I'd come up with the idea of having a twelve volt pump that'd move water from a container on the tractor like I've got the poly tank to another tank that would add to the down pressure. My tractor will only lift about fifteen hundred pounds. If I didn't have the ability to transfer the weight off and on the auger I'd have situations where the weight of the water and the material plus the auger itself would mean I'd have the auger buried and the only way to pull it would be to abandon the ballast.

It's time for my walk down to the shop to feed the chickens and put them in for the night. The goats also want their nightly ration of sweet feed. And our crazy schnauzer is wanting her walk. A man has to do what a man has to do or he's done for.

 

[centex]

Harv, thanks for all the info. This gives me a lot to think about. I am going to look at mounting some water barrels like you suggested and I think I am going to grind some points on a set of pengo teeth just to see how they work.