Posthole Digger Musical post hole diggers

[Alan L.]

We are trying to build a small dog pen which consists of about 25 posts and 150' of welded wire fencing. Got up early and went 28 miles to rent a one-man hole digger. In our damp heavy clay that came out of the bottom our our newly dug tank, it would dig only 6" and bog down. Did the 56 mile round trip again to trade for a two-man rig. This rig would just screw itself into the heavy clay and it didn't take long to figure out the two-men would be in the hospital by the time we got 25 of these dug.

I finally went to Tractor Supply and forked over $500 for their post hole digger - $369 for the gear box and $89 for the 6" auger, plug gear oil, etc and tax. By the time we got it assembled and on the tractor it was dark-thirty. We did however dig a hole with it on my 2710 and it worked great - no trouble pulling it out of the hole. A whole day wasted trying to say the money on a digger I will probably need anyway. Let it be a lesson.......

 

[Bird]

I've had days like that, Alan. Sometimes going the cheap way works and sometimes it don't./w3tcompact/icons/laugh.gif/w3tcompact/icons/laugh.gif/w3tcompact/icons/laugh.gif

Bird

 

[Thomas]

Alan,
Those two man post hole digger can be a handful if you should happen to hit a edge of a good size stone or root. /w3tcompact/icons/frown.gif

Yep had those days..and whats really bad when the continue into the following day. /w3tcompact/icons/crazy.gif

Stay safe and have fun with your new attachment.





Thomas..NH /w3tcompact/icons/wink.gif

 

[dullpain]

Alan L - Thanks for bringing back BAD memories, guess we have all been there before.

 

[MChalkley]

A bunch of years ago, I was digging holes with a two-man auger when it hit a big root and stuck. Being much lighter then, it threw me. My buddy, being a lot heavier, got two broken ribs out of the deal.

MarkC

 

[Anonymous Poster]

Bunchacrybabies... don't even know what a posthole-digger is!
You grab it by the 2 handles...jam it into the ground...squeeze the handles together... lift out the dirt.
Hole gets deeper...you bend over more.
Hit a rock...grab the chisel.
Get blisters...never mind- more holes to go.
Try it,... you'll like it. Your back will like it. your hands will like it. Really!

Trust me!

Larry ;-)

 

[Bird]

Re: <font color=blue>Try it,... you'll like it.? Trust me!?</font color=blue>

Never again will I trust you./w3tcompact/icons/wink.gif I still have one of those post hole diggers, and I've had too many years experience with one.

Bird

 

[MChalkley]

Bird - You can say that again. There are no child labor laws on farms - I dug many a fence post hole with one of those abominations. Ouch!

MarkC

 

[JonE]

I couldn't straighten my fingers for hours after digging 5 holes for a deck. Of course they need to be 4'deep in my area for frost protection. I think I only made it to about 3.5' and gave up./w3tcompact/icons/crazy.gif

 

[Bird]

No child labor laws, no power tools, and no "store bought" anything that could be made at home when I was a kid. I don't know which was worse about the fence building; digging the post holes or cutting the posts with nothing but an ax.

Bird

 

[scruffy]

Dang! Y'all coulda yakked all day and never brought up BAAAAD memories! Wouldn't it be nice to have a $10 dollar bill for every hole we ever dug with one of those imported torture chamber items! Shoot, I'd retire and buy a new tractor!

 

[ERNIEB]

I've got a fairly messed up back thanks to those things, and hay hauling, and a few other things.

ErnieB
"Who will follow old Ben Milam into San Antonio?"
Ben Milam 1835

 

[Alan L.]

Report on the new digger

Well we managed to set 22 posts today (thats all we needed). It was a breeze. As for the King Kutter digger I got at Tractor Supply, there are mixed reviews. It digs just fine, but some of the design features I don't understand.

It comes with a "control handle" which consists of a steal pipe that extends from a hole through the top-side of the gearbox to toward the tractor. The idea is to be able to position the angle from the tractor seat. The only problem is that there is NO way to dig a hole without the handle getting in the way. It was bent after the first hole, and I bent it purposely to get it out of my way after that. Then the set screw stripped and it wouldn't stay mounted.

Secondly, the plastic flange of the driveshaft cover binds with the guard on the gearbox. It finally popped completely off the driveshaft, leaving the greasy extension of the driveshaft exposed the rest of the day. I couldn't figure out how to get it back on.

I also noticed that the driveshaft itself seems mighty light. The U-joints are much smaller than what I am used to on the mowers that I use.

All in all, it made quick work of the hole digging. I stuck it once when I didn't have the RPMs I needed and it screwed itself into the ground and killed the tractor. I got it out by put a post under the gearbox to keep it from digging any further and then engaging the PTO. Until that hole I had found that my 2710 dug easily at idle, but after that I started using about 1700 RPMs once the hole was started.

 

[Jag]

DEAR LARRY...... I see it has been some time since you have used a good old pair of posthole diggers...but I guess the pain was the only thing that stayed..... "Squeeze the handles together" you mean you had a reverse pair that you do not pull the handles apart to get the the dirt out.

 

[Thomas]

How about getting a call during the night say your cows are out,/w3tcompact/icons/frown.gif
and come to find out a big tree fell broke 3or4 fence post and both wire runs...of coarse its raining to boot./w3tcompact/icons/crazy.gif

Thomas..NH /w3tcompact/icons/wink.gif

 

[scruffy]

Thomas, how about working 18 hours straight, just getting to bed for 4 hours sleep (before having to get up and go back at it) and getting a call saying your Dad's cows are out? You know he's not home, so you get up and go take care of it, only to find it is in the lower pasture where there is 2 feet of standing water from seasonal overflow (Oregon sunshine), 2 posts are down. Fix the posts,wire, and go to dry ground, cut the wire, drive cows back into pasture, splice the wire, and go home for 1 hours sleep.
Makes a person mumble things about their Dad and their Dad's cows, not to mention staying home and taking care of their OWN Cows!

 

[gvw]

I would suggest that anyone faced with "several" holes to drill - consider renting a skid loader with hydraulic post hold digger. We have been renting one for about $175/day. The drilling capacity and output of the machine is incredible. Depending on distance/travel time between posts -one can drill a 12"-18" hole in seconds. 150 holes a day is not an unreasonable job for this type of machine. Try it you'l like it!--- unless of course you'd rather play spin the body with one of those 1 or 2 man personal body propellers.

 

[RobS]

How does the hydraulic/skid loader version compare to the three point/PTO style?

Rob

 

[Anonymous Poster]

I have never run one, but the crew who built my pole barn used a New Holland LX665 skid steer loader for just about everything. One of the implements they brought was a hydraulically driven post hole auger. I think it was 15 inches in diameter. One of the best things about this was that they could reverse it if they got it stuck, and shake the dirt off when they pulled it out of the hole. You know, like a dog shakes off water . Try those tricks with a PTO-driven auger. Since all of the bucket positioning hydraulics were available for positioning the auger it was a lot more controllable than a 3 PT auger, too.

They also used bucket forks a lot, and had a long boom pole for setting the trusses. I thought for sure that they were going to dump the machine when they raised and carried the first truss, but it worked.

 

[ERNIEB]

Heck Thomas, that happens to me now. But my life just got easier today. I hauled off a cow that was my worst fence crawler./w3tcompact/icons/wink.gif/w3tcompact/icons/smile.gifShe brought 61 /w3tcompact/icons/laugh.gif

ErnieB
"Who will go with old Ben Milam into San Antonio?"
Ben Milam 1835