Thread: Ford post hole digger

Funny you should post this now Shane.........

Dug a new long drop chez moi last week with the hand held post hole digger using the 200mm auger with sharpened 316 teeth and tips. 600 x 600, 2000 deep.

Whizzed through the first 500mm of loam then into the clay for about 100mm. Bucket of water in the bottom, next day effortlessly down another 600mm with the digger. Clay out, water in, repeat the next day. Like Tote says, water is all that is needed.

I've got pics of the tractor PH digger on the old 165 I had when I first used water in the clay overnight and I couldn't pull the auger out without rocking it......... and bending it.

An engineering mate didn't want to know about straightening it so I devised a way...... which took a couple of hours and saved about $500 for a new one.

When I get time to master pic posting I'll show how it was fixed and now stronger than new.

All the holes for my shed were 600 wide and up to 1500 deep, are you using a 600mm auger?

DL

Hi all

Interesting thread. I just got myself a PHD a bit over a month ago. I got a Daken Series 503 (50hp) with a 200 mm dia auger.
Daken Post Hole Diggers

What was amazing was I didn't need to get it delivered from Hornsby to my farm - it fitted in the D4 !
Clarke Farm Equipment is at Hornsby which is just a suburb away from where I live in Sydney. It comes disassembled on a pallet. So at their office/factory we pulled it off the pallet and bit by bit it all fitted into the back of the Disco with just the back seat down.

Getting it unloaded involved bringing the tractor with a pallet on hay forks level with the tailgate and sliding it out onto the pallet. There is just no way I can lift the gearbox manually.

Mike

Originally Posted by 350RRC

Funny you should post this now Shane.........

Dug a new long drop chez moi last week with the hand held post hole digger using the 200mm auger with sharpened 316 teeth and tips. 600 x 600, 2000 deep.

Whizzed through the first 500mm of loam then into the clay for about 100mm. Bucket of water in the bottom, next day effortlessly down another 600mm with the digger. Clay out, water in, repeat the next day. Like Tote says, water is all that is needed.

I've got pics of the tractor PH digger on the old 165 I had when I first used water in the clay overnight and I couldn't pull the auger out without rocking it......... and bending it.

An engineering mate didn't want to know about straightening it so I devised a way...... which took a couple of hours and saved about $500 for a new one.

When I get time to master pic posting I'll show how it was fixed and now stronger than new.

All the holes for my shed were 600 wide and up to 1500 deep, are you using a 600mm auger?

DL

600wide .... wow thats big. They are probably about 1.5deep. Its a 400mm auger I'd say (they aren't that easy to measure.... so probably 40cm at the bottom of the hole and 60cm at the top..... on a slight angle given my expertise with the digger ). Its only a 3meter upright spacing so the footing would be twice the sized needed

I'm just throwing it up cheaply (well its still bloody expensive... but you get the idea). Its all C200 purlins with 3m spacing and 6meter span. I'll end up with a 12 x 12 meter leanto with a row of poles down the middle at the 6meter mark. It'll lean up against the existing shed at about 5meters height, dropping down to about 4meters. The expensive bit is the aussie made colourbond from metrol.

I'm aiming for height .... so someday I can put a decent floor in it ... and fit the tractor, caravan ... and a 4post hoist in there (when I win lotto ).

Given how quickly I get around to stuff.... I'm guesstimating it'll be up by christmas .... 2027 .................... .........

seeya,
shane L.

Originally Posted by DoubleChevron

A couple of minutes spinning and I have this .... er.... it's bloody useless. Maybe that's why it's un-used.

Which way does your PTO turn? The auger directions appear different between augers. Have you reversed/flipped a photo?

Originally Posted by windsock

Which way does your PTO turn? The auger directions appear different between augers. Have you reversed/flipped a photo?

Oh that useless blue thing. I haven't looked at it in years. The cutting teeth are right for the direction of rotation. I should look at it again someday. I don't use the post hole digger much. Its a lot of effort to hook to the back of the tractor unless its really needed.

Originally Posted by DoubleChevron

.......... I don't use the post hole digger much. Its a lot of effort to hook to the back of the tractor unless its really needed.

I've got mine hanging from a beam so the tip of the auger just touches the ground, but it's still a pita to hook up to the tractor because the arms are heavy and the alignment and distance has to be perfect. I don't use it much either because of this.

The stuff I do use a lot, pto rotary hoe and 6" wood chipper, are on casters.

The hoe is about 350kg and sits on a wooden frame on casters that can be easily pushed around on the concrete floor of the shed.

The chipper, also about 350kg, has the casters welded to the base. Makes hook up a breeze and they can be easily moved to save space.

cheers, DL