Thread: Ford post hole digger

Hi Shane,

The screw tip on a wood auger grips on the wood fibres and the structure of the wood to pull the cutting blades on the flukes into the material, as well as keeping the whole thing centred for a straight hole.

A wood spade bit has what is comparable to your chisel tips simply to act as a pilot and keep the hole straight.

A screw tip on an earth auger probably provides no 'grip' because the soil has no structure to grip onto.

The most important thing that affects the effectiveness of an earth auger is the sharpness of the very outside of the cutting blades.

If they are the slightest bit blunt or rounded the thing won't work properly IME.

A 316 stainless bolt welded onto the outside of each cutting edge and sharpened to be like a 'tooth' works for me. Lasts quite a while before requiring resharpening. Only protrudes about 30mm down from the cutting edge.

cheers, DL

Thanks for the prompt feedback. This auger looks brand new and un-used. There is still paint on the cutting edges. I wonder if it just can't cut through that green grass. I'll try scraping the top off the surface with mattock and see if it then digs. I could be just a poorly made chinese auger too ( how would I know ).

excellent idea with the cutting tips. I'll try that if the big one doesn't cut either.

seeya
Shane L

If you PM me an email address I can send you some pics in a day or so.

DL

Originally Posted by 350RRC

If you PM me an email address I can send you some pics in a day or so.

DL

To save you getting dozens of emails over the next few years ... Can post them here This thread will show up in google searches now for anyone that looks up "post hole digger" So you may get constant emails from people all over the planet my email address is probably all over the internet already so it won't hurt to post it here. deesse1 AT bigpond.com

seeya,
Shane L.

Yeah the un-used blue auger ... is a POS ... that is why it's un-used. It just sits and polishes the surface of the ground. I'm betting if you have really soft ground it will dig very quickly and aggresively due to the angle on the cutters. But on hard ground it just can't scratch the surface.

The biggest auger .. has an edge broken off one of the teeth. It still digs strongly and quickly... Other than trying to stop the damn tractor rolling down the hill while I"m using it. It works well. I guess the next job should be to fix the brakes on the tractor ... it's a simple job but about $140 bucks in parts.

seeya,
Shane L.

The pointy tip in the centre of the auger is indeed called the pilot. As for the tips, if they've been used on very hard ground, they may be ground flat on the bottom surface. See if you can turn them upside down. Failing that, weld the piece of bar on each side of the boom as has already been suggested, and perch a couple of hefty bystanders upon them for extra downforce. Foot pegs could be good too, oh and be sure to send us a picture or two
Don.

Originally Posted by Don 130

The pointy tip in the centre of the auger is indeed called the pilot. As for the tips, if they've been used on very hard ground, they may be ground flat on the bottom surface. See if you can turn them upside down. Failing that, weld the piece of bar on each side of the boom as has already been suggested, and perch a couple of hefty bystanders upon them for extra downforce. Foot pegs could be good too, oh and be sure to send us a picture or two
Don.

Yep, the ground sure is hard here. No-one is going near that post hole digger ... No way. If I wanted weight I'd strap and engine block or similar to it

After 1/2dozen holes I think I've made them all blunt now. I'm going to have to figure out how to build up and sharpen the augers cutting areas. They do have removable teeth from memory.... but where is the fun in that. We want to weld and sharpen!

seeya,
Shane L.

A trick we used when digging the footings for our kitchen floor inside our 1860s house with a petrol hand held post driver was to dig a couple of inches and then tip a bucket of water in the hole and move to the next etc.







If its any consolation a similar experience with a borrowed Chinese 3pl post hole digger is what made me search for a "Digga" unit like the one pictured above

Regards,
Tote