JD have enough HP for a Belltec TM48

[arcteryx]

I am at a crossroads here. I have a JD 3032E, which has 31.5hp and a Belltec TM-48 hydraulic post hole digger. According to Belltec, the ideal hp is 50hp, with 28hp minimum, so I have just barely enough. I don’t have rear remotes but would get a BLV10461 kit which would add 4 spools that the TM48 needs.

Has anyone used a Belltec TM48 (or a similar hydraulic PHD) with similar HP? If so, how did it perform?

I don’t want to add the kit if the 3032E is not powerful enough. If the 3032E cannot handle it, I would need to upgrade or get an older, larger second tractor specifically for the TM48, both which are more complicated than adding the kit.

Any input is appreciated.

 

[zzvyb6]

You don't need such power to drill holes. Try it first without using loader outlets if you have them. BTW: A front loader mounter PHD is the best way to go. I use my loader curl circuit to run it.

 

[arcteryx]

My ground is very rocky, so the hydraulic PHD is necessary. I tried with a Danuser PHD and it did not make a dent.

 

[oosik]

Around here I'm lucky to have four feet of dirt over solid bedrock. And I DO MEAN solid bedrock. I have 80 acres. It's a pure rectangle - 1320 x 2640. It took 765 T-145 steel posts to put a barbed wire fence around the 80 acres. Over 1/3 of the posts are set in holes bored in with a commercial jack hammer.

I also have a long driveway. One mile gravel driveway. The power company set all the power poles on the side of my driveway easement.

They used a commercial jack hammer to bore four inch diameter holes to the proper depth. Then four or six sticks of 70% dynamite. Fill the hole to within one foot of the top with high nitrogen fertilizer. Cap it off with dirt and compact.

Then everybody crawls under one of the utility trucks and they touch it off. Opens up a nice hole - approx one foot in diameter and to the proper depth. Two holes per day. They had to do twelve in this manner.

Anyhow - my neighbor has the commercial jack hammer we used to bore the holes for my fence post. It rather a tricky operation. The hammer itself is very heavy. You must keep it boring but not let the fines build up. Fines build up - the bit gets stuck. Getting the bit out of the bored hole is a PITA.

I installed the mile and a half of fence in 1982. Sure glad - all that is required now is annual maintenance.

BTW - the entire fence is straight, true and tight as the year it was installed.

 

[jfsawatzky]

i have a similar sized kubota that I use with a work saver hydraulic phd that I found at an online auction during covid. I’m not certain the exact model and they only provide recommended flow rate not hp… if it is the larger model I am slightly below the min flow rate , but if it’s the smaller one then I’m within their recommendation. I have not encountered any issues with it in my rocky / glacial till soil or roots that i have. For me the ability to reverse the auger is the most important feature so I don’t have to manually back it out.