The guy who invented this deserves a Nobel prize

[wdfifteen]

Is this a new thing? I rented one from my local lumber yard - our tool rental place doesn't have one. I've been in a lot of rental shops over the years and this was the first one I've seen. Now I see HD rents them.

Anyway, this thing is the tits.

Last fall I put in a fence and rented two man earth auger to drill 24 8" x 24" holes. It took all day and nearly killed us. I rented this for about the same money and drilled 17 8" x 24" holes in less than an hour by myself. It even has its own built in trailer for transport. This has got to be the greatest invention since man started digging holes in dirt.

[Evans, Marv]

Yeah, I bought a rental one from H.D. ($900) about eleven years ago. Great machine - and powerful. At the time they gave me a three foot extension and two extra augers of different sizes. I used that thing for a couple of years and sold it for $1,600 (I think). One thing is you get great exercise pulling up on it to evacuate the dirt from the hole. Another nice feature is the handle can be reversed for tight places. I also used it for breaking up the soil for planting trees in 2 ft. square boxes. I'd auger out five or six holes, and it made digging the rest of the hole much easier.

[unclebilly]

I rented one of these from Home Depot about 12 years ago. It was great until the hydraulic line blew and soaked me in hydraulic oil...

[wdfifteen]

I must live in a backwards part of the country. Only one place within 30 miles of me has one. I had never seen one until last week.

[Steve Carlton]

When I was a kid, I dug 27 post holes by hand for a retaining wall during the summer. That's actually a true story, I'm sad to say.

[Evans, Marv]

I just looked online. A new one costs $4,100 and has 275 ft. lbs. of torque. If I remember right, they were $3K+ new when I got mine.

[tabs]

I'll bet that thing couldn't drill through a Progresives head.

[berettafan]

Man that is awesome. I too have suffered at the handles of a two man auger. Couldn’t get past about 18” in our dense clay soil with it. I’ll bet that would do a great job! When they built our pole barn the guy used a bobcat with an auger attachment. That puppy was instant giant holes.

[Bill Douglas]

Awesome. that thing is NOT going to start doing 360s with the operator dragged into it.

[ckelly78z]

That would sure make fence building a bit easier. The 2 man lift auger will make you old in a hurry (used it many times). This unit looks like a back saver.

We also used a 65 HP Bobcat with an 18" auger for putting our 36x36" deep barn posts (with wind stays attached) all in one day.

[KFC911]

I've dug a lot of 2' post holes in the past 15 years....and a 2-man auger just truly sucks (once )....the old fashioned way...good workouts....

I have lots of post holes to go....methinks.

Thank you, thank you, thank you!

I don't get out of Hooterville much either

[cabmandone]

Originally Posted by wdfifteen

I must live in a backwards part of the country. Only one place within 30 miles of me has one. I had never seen one until last week.

Nope! Just a backwards part of Ohio Most of the local rental yards have those. I can't find the two man type around here anywhere and I have no problem with that since several years ago my older brother thought it would be funny to let go of the handle while I was running the gas.

Originally Posted by Bill Douglas

Awesome. that thing is NOT going to start doing 360s with the operator dragged into it.

Mmmmhmmm... I think I only lasted about one revolution.

[john70t]

I was thinking about the same design, except pneumatic ratchet instead of the dirty and heavy (but stronger) hydraulic.

Originally Posted by Evans, Marv

One thing is you get great exercise pulling up on it to evacuate the dirt from the hole.

Add a wheel drive and an additional lift feature.
The fittings just need to be T-tapped.

[drkshdw]

I've seen these before but didn't know Home Depot rented them. Have one available just down the street. After my shed goes up, I may just rent one of these and build myself a new fence...

[GH85Carrera]

Originally Posted by Steve Carlton

When I was a kid, I dug 27 post holes by hand for a retaining wall during the summer. That's actually a true story, I'm sad to say.

I remember back in the olden days watching This Old House and Bob Vila and he was showing how to dig a post hole. Of course it was nice black loamy soil that was super easy to dig in. I always wanted them to come film that in my back yard in the height of a dry summer. I have pure clay. Great stuff to make bricks, clean out the organic material, bake into bricks. When dry from no rain for a while, it is almost the same.

In the summer digging into it required a pick-axe to break it up and than a shovel to remove the pieces. If it is wet, or just moist, it requires a lot more scrapers. Shove the post hole digger in, lift, than scrape off the gooey mess much like pottery clay, then use a scraper on the scraper to clean it off, and scraper on the scraper to scrape off that mess. Repeat.

The only logical way to dig is when fairly dry and with powered hydraulic equipment. It took me a lot of work to put in my sprinkler system. Dang near killed me.

[vash]

when i got my first home, i had to put in about 12 fence post.

i did it with a post-hole digger and the blessed hardware store guy introduced me to the DIGGING BAR!. i think the first 8 inches over every hole was a "WTF am i doing?" type thing, but under that, it dug tough but consistent. i had it down like a ballet. the bright side of clay soil is that the hole is super stable and neat.

it was very satisfying.

my neighbor asked me to help with his perimeter fence..about 40 holes. he showed up with a tiny bobcat with auger..that was super fantastic.

but i dont mind the digging bar. "post hole digger" is misnamed. "post hole soil remover that the digging bar dug" is a better name

[vash]

i'd argue the person that invented the "jogging boy shorts for women" deserves the Nobel Prize more.

vaguely on topic with "drilling holes" and "wood" post

[URY914]

Originally Posted by vash

i'd argue the person that invented the "jogging boy shorts for women" deserves the Nobel Prize more.

vaguely on topic with "drilling holes" and "wood" post

I think the string bikini inventor is my fav.

[PD41]

Used a 2 man gas model back in the 80's for drilling 10' deep holes for 2" x 9' chemical ground rods at Northrup. Real pain in the ass adding extension then using ladders. After a couple holes we got a idea to mount it to a forklift. It worked great, we strapped it to the forks. Up and down, easy peasy.

[herr_oberst]

Originally Posted by URY914

I think the string bikini inventor is my fav.

Lets talk about the inventor of the razor...