Post hole digger

[BIGNASTY]

Wife came up with the idea she wants a deer fence around her 2 acre garden she handed me a post hole digger :-laf:-laf and then some more :-laf:-laf I went to the tractor shop in town and they want like 2K for a post hole digger for my Ford tractor. I can get the gear box $250 auger $200 I have the PTO shaft and the little bit of steel cant be THAT MUCH!!!



Question is the gear box is rated for 75HP my tractor only has 27HP at best. I didn't know if the PTO take off of the tractor multiplies the power for attachments and the 75HP gear box would be enough? any thoughts ? thanks for info.



here is what they had for 2K I hope that came with a kiss and reach around.

 

[BSeyler]

I'd just look around and see if I could find a good used Danuser digger. I found one with three augers and two extensions a couple of years ago for less than a thousand bucks. Danusers are tough and will still be around when those little cheapies like the one in the picture are in the scrap pile.

If that's all the fence you need, you might be farther ahead to hire someone with a bobcat mounted digger to come dig your holes. Unless your tractor has down pressure on the three point, it can get a little frustrating. Danuser makes a down pressure kit, but it is expensive. You can also upgrade your auger to make it dig better (it's called a hole digger head), but that's expensive, too.

 

[jgillott]

We purchased a similar post hole digger to the one you have pictured to install the deer fence and trellis posts for our vinyard a few years ago. I can't recall what the gear box rating is on the unit, but it was the cheap set up sold by Tractor Supply. We've dug literally thousands of holes with that thing and thankfully the gear box has held up fine. It has been used on both our 5303 Deere and our IH 574 which are ~50-55 HP at the PTO. It should be fine with your 27 HP rated tractor. Be prepared to break quite a few shear pins along the way and they usually let go while the bit is the entire way in the ground.

As far as your fencing is concerned, we have a 7' nylon deer fence and it has done a great job of keeping the deer out of the grapes. However, rabbits, possums, etc. tend to chew holes through the bottom on a regular basis. We ended up lining the bottom 3' with standard chicken wire to keep those little pests out.

My brother-in-law has a blog somewhere that shows pictures of how we did the install. I'll post the link here if I can find the address.

 

[jgillott]

OK, here is the link to my brother-in-law's blog. There's lot's of other stuff on there about the vinyard and the building of their new house, but if you look at the first few entries of 2008, there are quite a few pictures and details of the initial fence build.

http://rockledge.wordpress.com/2008/03/

 

[BIGNASTY]

I was wanting to fence my back property, we have people walking thru to the front of our property not knowing that they were on private land when the go hiking in the area its not that big a deal but still wouldn't like them in there and fencing it gives the animals more room to roam . I also need to dig quite a few holes around some soon to be tree stumps (fire wood) and clear the stumps for more pasture with a little fuel oil and fertilizer I DONT DIG WELL. :-laf Thanks for the heads up on the used digger I have no idea about what kind to get your right the one on the pic did look a bit cheap.

For the fencing we were going to use the stuff that looks like concrete reinforcing wire but comes in long rolls and like you put up some small (I call it chicken wire) around that to keep out the bunnies and such. We were going to use treated peeler logs that the lumber yard in town sells for posts,

Thanks for the help BIG

 

[Bill Stockard]

I'd just look around and see if I could find a good used Danuser digger. I found one with three augers and two extensions a couple of years ago for less than a thousand bucks. Danusers are tough and will still be around when those little cheapies like the one in the picture are in the scrap pile.



If that's all the fence you need, you might be farther ahead to hire someone with a bobcat mounted digger to come dig your holes. Unless your tractor has down pressure on the three point, it can get a little frustrating. Danuser makes a down pressure kit, but it is expensive. You can also upgrade your auger to make it dig better (it's called a hole digger head), but that's expensive, too.

I agree. A Danuser post hole digger is the best you can buy. We had one at our farm in Denton County and used it for 30+ years on a 65 hp tractor digging hundreds, maybe thousands of post holes in rocky soil. We used a 9" auger and a 24" auger on it. It's the only one that will stand up to that kind of use/abuse year after year.



Bill

 

[BIGNASTY]

MR jgillott



Thanks for the post I was going to go closer on the field posts but like your spacing better (fewer posts) also the wife said THANKS for the heads up on the deer fencing its a bunch cheaper than what we were going to use and for another place for her to get supplies Benners Garden.



Penny/BIG

 

[BSeyler]

Have a look at their web site:

http://www.danuser.com/attachments/auger-systems/pto

As Bill can attest, Danuser is the best. I'll guarantee you that you can find a good used one for around a thousand dollars, drill hundreds of hole with it, and get every dime you spent on it back out of it if and when you sell it. Especially in rocks, it will outperform anything else. My guess is there are several hanging in barns close to you, unused and waiting for you to give them a new home.

Bud

 

[jgillott]

MR jgillott

Thanks for the post I was going to go closer on the field posts but like your spacing better (fewer posts) also the wife said THANKS for the heads up on the deer fencing its a bunch cheaper than what we were going to use and for another place for her to get supplies Benners Garden.

Penny/BIG

You are certainly welcome.

 

[SRay]

BigNasty: We have a post hole digger that my father built 25 years ago. It's got 3 6. 5 ft long augers with 6. 5", 10. 5", 16. 5" diameters.



I've been doing custom post hole jobs for 14 years with my 2130 John Deere tractor with 80hp diesel.



These diggers are not designed for fast speeds as they can get expensive to fix after so many shear pins breaking from hitting rocks, concrete etc. My friend has a professional model digger that he rented out to someone and brought back broken. He had been running tractor nearly wide open and hit a rock, busting $500 in gears and shear pin still in place.



I just idle my tractor at 1,000 rpms with my hand on the pto lever to control clutch pressure which allows the digger to dig but stop when in contact with an object. Slow and steady works the best and lasts for years without breakage. I have twisted the shaft off the gear box already and the current one already has a twist in it.



Also, make sure the bit is sharp, it'll dig with just gravity alone, but take forever when dull. I don't have carbides on mine.



sray

 

[BSeyler]

BigNasty: We have a post hole digger that my father built 25 years ago. It's got 3 6. 5 ft long augers with 6. 5", 10. 5", 16. 5" diameters.

I've been doing custom post hole jobs for 14 years with my 2130 John Deere tractor with 80hp diesel.

These diggers are not designed for fast speeds as they can get expensive to fix after so many shear pins breaking from hitting rocks, concrete etc. My friend has a professional model digger that he rented out to someone and brought back broken. He had been running tractor nearly wide open and hit a rock, busting $500 in gears and shear pin still in place.

I just idle my tractor at 1,000 rpms with my hand on the pto lever to control clutch pressure which allows the digger to dig but stop when in contact with an object. Slow and steady works the best and lasts for years without breakage. I have twisted the shaft off the gear box already and the current one already has a twist in it.

Also, make sure the bit is sharp, it'll dig with just gravity alone, but take forever when dull. I don't have carbides on mine.

sray

Good advice on speed. I also run mine at idle or just above, depending on soil conditions. Another thing I do is come out of the hole often and let things clean out. Learned that one the hard way when I was a kid - put the auger in the ground, gave it some throttle and watched it dig. It was spring and the ground had moisture and no big rocks. Auger pulled through it like a warm knife through butter. When I tried to lift it out, I found the tractor didn't have enough lift capacity and I was stuck in the hole. My dad just laughed at me and tossed a 36" pipe wrench on the ground and said, "Get to work backing that thing out, that's a good lesson for you. "

 

[BIGNASTY]

SRay



The PTO speed on my old tractor is 727rpm at 2000rpm on the motor so going fast, I dont think is going to be a problem.



BSeyler/BILL

Just called FIL/BIL and both said to buy one they will go in on it they took a look at it on the NET. They and my Son have a bunch of holes to dig also so at that price WE cant go wrong.





Thanks everyone for the help and heads up on this post.



FIL/BIL/Son/Penny and BIG

 

[BIGNASTY]

BigNasty: We have a post hole digger that my father built 25 years ago. It's got 3 6. 5 ft long augers with 6. 5", 10. 5", 16. 5" diameters.



I've been doing custom post hole jobs for 14 years with my 2130 John Deere tractor with 80hp diesel.



These diggers are not designed for fast speeds as they can get expensive to fix after so many shear pins breaking from hitting rocks, concrete etc. My friend has a professional model digger that he rented out to someone and brought back broken. He had been running tractor nearly wide open and hit a rock, busting $500 in gears and shear pin still in place.



I just idle my tractor at 1,000 rpms with my hand on the pto lever to control clutch pressure which allows the digger to dig but stop when in contact with an object. Slow and steady works the best and lasts for years without breakage. I have twisted the shaft off the gear box already and the current one already has a twist in it.



Also, make sure the bit is sharp, it'll dig with just gravity alone, but take forever when dull. I don't have carbides on mine.



sray

Good advice on speed. I also run mine at idle or just above, depending on soil conditions. Another thing I do is come out of the hole often and let things clean out. Learned that one the hard way when I was a kid - put the auger in the ground, gave it some throttle and watched it dig. It was spring and the ground had moisture and no big rocks. Auger pulled through it like a warm knife through butter. When I tried to lift it out, I found the tractor didn't have enough lift capacity and I was stuck in the hole. My dad just laughed at me and tossed a 36" pipe wrench on the ground and said, "Get to work backing that thing out, that's a good lesson for you. "

This is GREAT INFO thanks we dont need to spend this kind of money and then break something and BLAME IT ON MY SON he's the youngest so HE MUST HAVE DONE IT :-laf

 

[SRay]

Bseyler: I keep a 36" pipe with me also for when the auger gets stuck in the ground too. Tree roots do well at threading the auger in :-laf



BigNasty: For just a couple holes, it's better off to either rent or hire someone with a digger. Then the wife is happy and no kids get blamed:-laf:-laf

 

[BIGNASTY]

Ya I know but we have to blame someone I use to get blamed for just about everything around here even if I weren't around so its someone else's turn and our Son is the new-be to MT so HE DID IT :-laf



I had thought about it for a couple of months now about just hiring it done. But with the FIL/BIL and Son needing it for the same thing. 2 acres of garden doesn't seem like allot to some farmers but to us IT'S A BUNCH and then we have another piece of land that needs about 1000ft of fence on it. FIL/BIL have A WHOLE BUNCH and the sons new place is 250 acres with absolutely NO FENCE and would like to break it up into different pastures so FIL can graze his beef on it. When the barn and fence around it were built the family could have used one for post holes and son-no-tube footings. We want to clear some trees for more pasture on our property. I like that idea because I get to play with EXPLOSIVES I've always liked REALLY BIG FIRECRACKERS. Like it was said if we find a time we dont use it we could sell it and re coupe some of the cost I just cant see that happening with the size of our family. SON LOOKS LIKE HE'S GOING TO USE IT THE MOST :-laf:-laf And as a kid he ALWAYS FOUND A REASON WHY HE DIDNT HAVE TIME TO MOW MY YARD :-laf



BIG

 

[JFought]

the bobcat hole digger works pretty well.
it will also have reverse so if it hangs up you just flip the switch.

i have drilled many 36 inch holes even 6 feet deep for light poles.
this is in hard black gumbo (hard clay like concrete)
you can give the bit down pressure probably over 2K pounds (not that thats good)

 

[ALSAN]

Big, I had some extra holes laying in my shed thought I would send them out to you but when I went looking for them I could not find them so I guess thats out Now to the work at hand see if you can find a rental place that will rent you a skidsteer with the post hole attachment, I used to have a Danuser unit sold it when I bought my skidsteer and bought a hydrlic drive auger no more looking over my shoulder while drilling and can go deep with the holes 6-7 feet and reverse the bit if it sticks ( no more shear pins ) it use to take me an hour or more to dig one hole on the farm here 4 feet deep now 5 min same size hole

 

[Alan Reagan]

Beautiful place. Lot's of fencing opportunities there. Lot's.



In answer to your initial question, the power is not multiplied through the PTO.



I agree with all the posts on idling or just above idle on the drill down. If you are doing it around roots and stuff, be careful. It will thread in there and sometimes you have to dig the auger out by hand. Wouldn't a reverse cycle be nice on the PTO?

 

[Blu-meanie]

My diggers

I have these you can borrow. Not mule powered, or gas, or diesel, just dummy powered.

 

[fox]

When I was in high school, dad rented another farm that needed a lot of clean up. After the brush was all piled up and burnt, he had us hook onto an old well and pull it out of the ground. We needed the tractor with duals. Broke the first air hook.

Later he told us he sold all of it for post holes after cutting it all up in smaller pieces.

He never told us how much he got for it all.