Power Trac Posthole Auger

[Charlie_Iliff]

Over the years, I drilled a few postholes with a 3-point auger. It worked OK, provided the bit was good, and provided I hit the positioning without too many passes.
Today, I played hooky to help a couple of fence builders run a line to contain an batch of Welsh ponies. They marked the spots with about 2" diameter spray paint. I drove the line with the Power Trac, and drilled two 12" diameter gatepost holes and seventy-six 9" diameter fencepost holes, all three feet six inches deep, in a total of one hour and twenty minutes, counting the auger change.
Of course, everything worked, nothing broke, not even a shear bolt, and except for the occasional root, the augur didn't hit anything bad. Positioning was simple. With the auger about an inch above the ground, I could see the tip and the paint spot, directly in front of me. Side to side adjustment could be done without the wheels rolling; because of the articulation, all I had to do was turn the steering wheel. Creeping forward or backward was almost equally easy, although reverse tends to be a little sudden on mine.
78 postholes and no stiff neck. Clearly a new record.

 

[kcook]

I could see the big advantages of having the auger in front of you, power must not of been a problem!

KCook

 

[pajoube]

Charlie, thanks for the update and success. I plan on using the post hole auger for planting in the arboretum. This hand shoveling stuff is for the young pups.
Paul

 

[MossRoad]

You're killing me! 78 post holes in 80 minutes rivals the 15 second implement change!! /w3tcompact/icons/laugh.gif

 

[Charlie_Iliff]

<font color=red>power must not of been a problem!</font color=red>
With the hydraulic PTO, power on the digger was no problem at all. I played with a 422 with the auger at the factory, and it was the same. The 1845 will turn it a bit faster, but I kept it at about 1/2 throttle for easier control.

 

[Charlie_Iliff]

<font color=red>78 post holes in 80 minutes </font color=red>
Impressed a couple of big ag tractor types. They had a lot more questions after they saw it work..

 

[MossRoad]

Hee Hee Hee! I'm just sitting here laughing at how happy I am with YOUR tractor /w3tcompact/icons/laugh.gif (and mine as well /w3tcompact/icons/smile.gif )

 

[PTRich]

Sounds like you kicked some Big Ag Tractor Butt!! The posthole digger is on my wish list, it seems very reasonably priced.

PTRich

 

[MChalkley]

Very impressive, Charlie! That's a lot faster than I could've done it with my EarthForce machine, too, though I could add an adapter plate to my FEL to mount my auger up front like yours is, if I needed to. Still, I'd have to work at positioning it a little more that you do, because 4-wheel-steering doesn't move the FEL from side to side nearly as much when you're sitting still.

I've found that it's quite quick to back up to a spot, spin around and dig the holes, though. And, in my work, I usually have holes close enough together that I can dig 3-6 of them without even repositioning the tractor, which really speeds things up. Plus, the backhoe mount is better adapted to my needs because I can reach a lot farther over into existing beds without driving up on them.

My experience so far is in total agreement with yours though: Once you use a hydraulic auger, you'll never want any other kind. My Danuser 3-point hitch digger was the best made, as far as I've seen, complete with the downforce kit, too, but it wouldn't begin to compete with the hydraulic McMillen auger I've got now. For sheer turning force, I'd say it was superior, but the only thing that accomplished was breaking shear pins. With the hydraulic auger and the serious downforce of the backhoe or FEL, you can really do some heavy duty hole boring. When I think of all the time I spent with my neck twisted around backwards watching that 3-point-hitch auger spinning, grinding away at hard clay at a rate of an inch or two a minute with an additional 500 pounds of downforce, it makes me want to kick myself. /w3tcompact/icons/smile.gif I dug some tree holes in hard clay and limestone a couple weeks ago and it was so much easier, it's hard to describe - and I don't even have enough flow to the auger head to make it work properly yet. When I get the flow jacked up, it'll really be a "Force" to be reckoned with. /w3tcompact/icons/wink.gif

 

[Charlie_Iliff]

Mark:
We also have a 3-point auger, which has become an antique because we were never going to wear it out. It either sits on top and polishes the earth or screws itself in and shears the pin. There is a middle ground somewhere, but we never found it.
The hydraulic auger actually stopped once without shearing the pin because it doesn't have the jerky action of the pto model. Raising and lowering gently got it through that root very easily.
With the hoe mount, you certainly can reach places I can't, and have a more flexible setup for varying conditions. Going down a long straight fence line, however, I can go faster. Of course, it then took the pros the better part of a day to set the posts and tamp them. At some point, I may be looking at a post pounder, which would relegate the auger to gateposts. Unfortunately for the future exchequer, Power Trac has one sitting on a shelf, probably with my initials on it.