That fancy post hole digger from Big Red Tool was a total waste of $280

Bought it for a job putting in a split rail fence near Cedar Rapids last month. The auger head bent on the third hole when it hit a rock the size of a softball. Ended up having to rent a proper gas powered unit anyway and lost half a day. Anyone have a brand that can actually handle some midwest soil?

3 comments

3 Comments

the_ben2d ago

That Danuser your neighbor mentioned is a good call, but even those have their limits. The real trick is the shear pin setup. A lot of people replace the soft factory pin with a grade five bolt, thinking it's an upgrade. That's how you really break things, because then the force goes into the gearbox instead. You want it to snap that cheap pin, not your whole drive shaft.

shane8383d ago

Softball sized rock? That's nothing. I've seen those augers fold on tree roots. The problem is they make them for perfect dirt that doesn't exist. You need something with a solid steel flighting, not that thin stamped junk. My neighbor swears by his old Danuser model, says he's hit bigger rocks and just sheared a pin.

the_anthony2d ago

You're right about the stamped flighting being weak, but even a solid Danuser flighting can get wrecked. The gearbox is the real weak link once you harden the driveline. Like the_ben said, a grade five bolt in the shear pin hole just moves the breaking point somewhere way more expensive. I watched a guy snap his main casting because his "upgraded" pin wouldn't give. The factory soft pin is a cheap fuse.