Using 3 point auger on a TO20

[ROGER A. BROWN]

I am using a TO20 with a Leinbach auger for punching
some post holes. Since the Fergy doesn't have
positive down pressure, any suggestions for either
putting weight on the auger or what have you. I see
a hole in the gear box head that I think used to
have a solid steel bar in it that was used to put
manual down pressure on the bit. If this is correct
or you have any suggestions, I would greatly
appreciate them!

 

[Jerry/MT]

Don"t try to auger in hard, dry soil, and make sure that your auger teeth are sharp.

 

[Anonymous-0]

Make sure you have the proper shear pin in that augur, not some grade 8 bolt that someone might have put in there.

 

[Mike (WA)]

You shouldn't need down pressure- hardly any 3 point has it. Bore when soil is not dried out, and it should work without any down pressure.

 

[Puddles]

I bought a bunch of bar bell weights, the kind that the bar has the Acme thread. Cut the bar to the length I needed, drilled a hole all the way through the pipe. Welded it, stack as many plates as I need. Works for 99% of my post hole digging, once in a great while the hard pan is just to much, then I install the backhoe. :wink:

 

[Anonymous-0]

Make sure the end bits on the auger are in good shape. The hole in the gearbox is for a leveling bar you can use from the seat to level the auger on uneven ground to start the hole. Dave

 

[36 Coupe]

Dont add weight and dont climb on to the frame like one idiot did.A woman was killed using a rented post hole digger here.a post hole digger will give you an education fast.

 

[charles R Wilson]

I'm in the fence business as well as farming. Down pressure is the key to digging a fence hole. There are places like here where no amount of rain will soften the soil because of compaction. We use a Dandy Digger. Google it! It is four wheel drive with two engines with one mounted on a rack tied to the auger that side shifts three feet and moves up and down seven feet. With the front end loader on the ground, you can transfer 4500 lbs to the auger and drill through anything. The auger is tied to the engine through a Kevlar adjustable sieve pully system that will allow the speed of the bit to vary from crawl to 350 RPM so when you speed it up it will pump the dirt out of the hole and clear it with the wiper at the top of the bit. We have roller head tugsten carbide teeth on one bit that will eat through concrete or rock at a rate of three or four inches per minute with water tanks aboard for cooling. It will dig over 120 holes per hour in hard packed dirt or shale. The auger is connected to a huge universal joint that allows you to dig at a 45 degree angle. There are companies that make down pressure kits for three point tractors that will transfer tractor weight to the auger. Down pressure is the key along with tough sharp bits and points.

 

[Puddles]

Charles I agree 100%, down pressure is the key!

We used a little down pressure with these, and a little horse power to turn them. :lol:

 

[paul]

No true 3pt has down pressure, it is not needed for a 3pt post hole digger.

Sharp good bit (typically little plates on the cutting edge that are replaceable) angled properly will dig a good hole in most conditions.

Make sure they are angled right, not bent from rocks.

Think of a wood brace bit - good, sharp, right angle, and it cuts through wood like a charm.

Old, rusty, dull, one cutter chipped, and it won't bore through soft wood at all.

Good bit, and just use the hole maker with gravity.

If you are in real dry hard clay, making a small depression and fill with water, wait a few minutes, and you will get through the hardpan better.

Once you start hanging weight on, or wose yet have a person trying to jump on back there, you set yourself up for lots of broken parts or broken people. Those 3pt setups are _dangerous_ for a second person to be around.

God luck.

The hole bracket you see is for a pipe handle going towards the driver, so you can properly angle or adjust the tilt of the auger a little to go where you want. It is not desgined to add weight. At all.

Good sharp cutters is what you need.

--->Paul

 

[Anonymous-0]

Popular post hole diggers do not need down pressure. The bit must be sharp and right.
A few odd tractors have down pressure, like the farmall 350. Do not use high speed nor persons on digger. You may water the holes the night before. I have drilled 20,000 holes by myself with a ferguson.

 

[ROGER A. BROWN]

Thanks for all the suggestions. I was checking the auger tip, it looks pretty rounded off from much use. Do y'all think a new tip will greatly improve the digging? I viewed a new tip and it looks to be pretty square at the ends.

Also, I think the auger is frozen up on the tube coming out of the gearbox. Any suggestions on getting that off are appreciated. I have already soaked it with PB Blaster, so any next steps are appreciated!!

 

[Puddles]

(quoted from post at 17:08:21 11/22/10) Any suggestions on getting that off are appreciated. I have already soaked it with PB Blaster, so any next steps are appreciated!!

Heat, but be careful not to get the gear box to hot. An asbestos heat shield may help.

 

[Anonymous-0]

You might be able to get carbide tips for harder ground for your auger. They can make a big difference over rounded off tips. If your PTO shaft doesn't slide freely, could be causing all of your problems. If you can't get it loose and/or it's twisted, you may have to get a new one. Dave

 

[rick165]

take a large wrench along in case it hits a rock or a root it will suck it right in the ground then you will have to turn thr pto shaft backwards and itll come right out .
RICK

 

[Puddles]

Dave I worked for about 5-years doing tie backs, (Google it) I couldn't begin to tell you how many teeth I've welded on. Everybody has an opinion on how to angle them, even seen guys go to blows over it. :lol:

Those augers I posted pictures of, we used them to drill 200-feet into rock in the Columbia River, just down river from the Bonneville Dam.

 

[Anonymous-0]

Whatever you do, don't take a moving driveline that long for granted. Charlie Daniels almost lost his arm in one. I can remember as a 20 year old, starting the digger, getting off the tractor, and walking/climbing the frame, to stand on the diff pot, to put more weight on it. Craaaazy! Now, I use a hydraulic driven auger, on the loader of my ASV RC30, down pressure AND instant reverse, and I can drink a barley pop, without shakin it up! Be safe, rent good equipment, or hire a pro!

 

[bc]

Dave, what are the specs on your hydraulic drive motor for rpm, psi, and gpm? I assume it is direct drive.

 

[Anonymous-0]

A lot of the smaller ones for skid steers are chain drive. Google Lowe, they make lots of Hyd. augers. They don't need to turn very fast but can get stuck in the ground pretty good. Takes some experience depending on the soil. Dave

 

[fixerupper]

I put a plain old orbit motor on an old Danuser auger that I bolted to the loader bucket. Plugged it into the grapple claw hyd outlets on the front of the loader and away I went. The tractor is a 630 Deere that puts out something like 6 GPM@1250PSI, or thereabouts so the speed wasn't much but it worked and it sure did beat digging by hand. Jim

 

[Anonymous-0]

I think mine is a gear reduced model, turning about maybe 60 rpm at the bit end. I know the ASV's hydraulics are low flow, 10 GPM and 3000 psi. You might want to Google ASV attachments for anything more specific, spec wise, as this is one of the few attachments I bought from the factory dealer.

 

[bc]

Hello fixerupper. Just so I can look at a comparison over at baileynet.com or surpluscenter.com, what is the cu. in. displacement, rpm, psi, port size, and shaft size of you hyd. motor you use for digging? I assume you have it direct drive. I don't have a pto. Thanks.

I have a homemade pto driven auger with an pickup rear end for a gear box but no pto. Also have a 2 man General digger with a 3.5 hp B&S engine and gear reduction which really needs about 4 men to hold and run.

I'm thinking about cutting about 15' out of the middle of a bale elevator and reconnect the ends. Then add some brackets to hold a rolling head to make a pile driver. The bale grabbers on the chain will pick up the pile driver head until the chan rolls over the top. I haven't engineered how much weight would be needed to drive a 6" or 8" wood post with pointed end in clay but I could have a shaft sticking up to add weights onto it as needed. I still use the elevator to move hay to the loft.

 

[rbel]

Start the digger, then apply down pressure to the top of the digger using the front end loader from another tractor DAMHIKT