earth auger

[Gus in Tennessee]

I am new to real farming and tractor work. I have a '52 8N that I bought to build a farm on our 10 acres in SW Tennessee. I also got a 3 pt earth auger to set posts for a new pole barn. Today we dug a test hole, but had trouble digging a plumb hole. Any good advice? Thanks.

 

[Bruce (VA)]

Most folks refer to them as PHD's.

I fenced my 3 acre pasture as well as my neighbors 2 acres w/ a phd on my N's. How easy or hard it is to use depends on soil type & trees.

I've got very sandy soil, no rocks & no trees. But, once the ground got rock hard w/ no rain in 6 weeks, no more digging. Remember, 23 hp, hydraulics up, gravity down. And, no reverse on the phd, so when you auger it in, you will learn all the tricks to get it out!

To set fence posts, I made a jig w/ an 8 foot pole & two plywood squares w/ 3.5" x 3.5" square holes cut in them on either end. I ran my string line w/ the jig under it & sprayed over the holes. That got me a perfectly straight line w/ marks exactly 8 feet on center. Then, I came back w/ a hand phd & dug out 4-6 inches as a pilot hole. I then could straddle the hole w/ the N, drag the auger up to the pilot hole until the tip dropped in, back up to get the auger at 90*, then start digging. I spray painted a red band on the auger at the desired depths. It helps to have an assistant to tell you when you get it at a 90* angle; that's how you get it plumb. After a few dozen holes, you will get the hang of it.

Close counts on a plumb hole for a pole barn. You're going to have to plumb the posts & brace them anyway until you set the roof & get some weight on it. Don't forget to put the end of the posts in plastic garbage bags. Set the posts on 6x6 blocks & no concrete.

50 Tips

 

[Gus in Tennessee]

Thanks, Bruce. Sounds like good advice to me. I won't be so critical of the plumbness (a word??) while digging the post holes. Gus

 

[old]

You sort of sound like a frined of mine. He has to have all his poles 100% lever and true but I keep telling him its a barn and I have yet to see any barn 1 year old or 100 years old 100% true and level. Its a barn for gods sake it only needs to be close but not 100% true and level. And for that matter 100% square

 

[JMOR]

Don't matter if perfect square & vertical now......won't be 10 years from now. Hard to do anyway...poles taper toward one end. :roll:
......and the hole doesn't need to be vertical in order to make the post vertical.