Stuck Auger

[tractormarkb]

Diggign 1' holes for my new pole barn lean-to and the very first hole the auger went down and stayed there. My tractor does not have reverse on the PTO. I tried a little more and burried the u-joints.
Any Advice to get this out would be apriciated. Thanks

 

[RobMD]

Fat Pipe wrench and a cheater bar... back 'er out with engine OFF and 3 point hitch in float.

 

[thurlow]

Been there, done that. We had one stuck so bad one time that a pipe wrench wouldn't do it; had to unhook from the tractor; 'lock' the pto shaft and 'walk' the thing (in circles) out of the ground. Finally bought a hydraulic drive 3-point hitch digger; would NEVER go back to a pto digger.

 

[James Howell]

Probably not what you want to hear: manual post hole digger with wooden handles.

Got it stuck in red clay; at least it was in the shade.

Got it stuck another time in a root; don't remember how I got it out but the auger was bent.

 

[Doug in IL]

With proper digging technique, you will almost never stick one. Run the PTO slow. About every foot or so of digging, pull the running auger up out of the hole and then drop it back in. Before I learned that, I stuck one bad once. I ended up unhooking the auger itself from the powerhead and screwed it back out of the ground with a big pipe wrench and a long cheater pipe. Works best with two people.

 

[ebbsspeed]

You're going to have to back it out by hand, not fun if it's buried to the u-joints. Last PTO auger I owned I loaned to a neighbor, he brought it back without the auger, had it sunk in the ground so far he had to shovel a hole about a foot deep to get the auger disconnected from the gearhead. You can probably make it "unscrew" a little easier if you run about 50 gallons of water down the hole to lubricate the auger a bit. Of course this depends on the soil you have it stuck in. Some soil types will just turn into a big ball of glue and make it worse......

FYI, I switched to a hydraulic 3-point auger and would never go back to a PTO, lot's easier on the machine, too.

 

[johns48jdb]

i have seen the time that a neighbor had to hook a long pole to one and pull it around and around with a tractor. ease way to bend something up. trick is as stated. drill slow and remove every 8 to 12 inches. i was having a heck of a time making the augar stay in the right place for setting poles for a head catch and holding pins in a barn where the guy had hauled in chert (red mud and rocks, size up to your fist)so i went to the shop and found an 18 inch high piece of 10 inch pipe and welded four pieces of 3 inch chal=nnel to it spaced 90 degrees apart around the outside. i burned two holes in opposite legs and bent some re bar up to use as stakes. i set the pipe down over place the pole had to be and held it in place with the stakes drove through the ends of the 3 inch channel. lined up perfect every time.

 

[paul]

Ah, one of life's lessons. You'll remember next time, only go a foot or so deep, clear, go a foot... If it sticks, don't screw deeper.

--->Paul

 

[SmallFarm-Hand]

This might free it: Put a few buckets of water round the auger and wait a hour.
Line up a loader over digger frame up at the housing. Loop chain through digger frame and onto the loader. Put some lift pressure on it by way of the chain (want chain straight vertiacally).
Start tractor with stuck auger engage PTO at low RPM (won't go deeper as it's held up by the chain). Have someone on the loader apply more lift with the chain until the auger is turning freely in the hole. Match and hold that postion with the lift arms.
Shut off the PTO, separate chain and hoist it out with the lift arms.
If you're on a flat surface, try to keep the tractor in neutral as it may want to shift a bit if the auger went out of plumb on the way down causing the stick.

 

[RodinNS]

Back it out.... and then get a hydraulic auger. Never, ever again will I use a PTO auger. Hydraulic only, and skid steer mounted at that.

Rod

 

[tractormarkb]

Thanks. got it out wih a neighbors backhoe

 

[johns48jdb]

i just had a second thought. is there any chance you have it wrapped around a root? if you do your in for a lot of fun. i had a root in the way of where a hole had to go for a pole barn once too. i stuck a chain saw down in there and cut it out. the guy who sharpens my chains looked at it and i told him to not ask me any questions and i wouldn't tell him any lies. you may have to get a back hoe to dig it out and then use one of those cardboard tubes to hold the concrete aroud your pole.