Dig this. Dig I must.

[Downinmyback]

I have a better story than that. I was digging postholes to put up a fence to keep the cows from my garden and hit a phone line and it wadded up on the auger. It took the phone company three men all day to repair the damage. My insurance company paid over 6 thousand to the phone company for my little accident lol.

[dcarch]

Originally Posted by Downinmyback

I have a better story than that. I was digging postholes to put up a fence to keep the cows from my garden and hit a phone line and it wadded up on the auger. It took the phone company three men all day to repair the damage. My insurance company paid over 6 thousand to the phone company for my little accident lol.

In my area, all power and phone lines are above ground.

dcarch

[Bryan24]

Might want to take off the other tines, so you can have someone help you hold it safely, while it bores.....

laurel-tx

[dcarch]

Originally Posted by Bryan24

Might want to take off the other tines, so you can have someone help you hold it safely, while it bores.....

laurel-tx

Absolutely. It takes two seconds to remove them.

dcarch

[TomatoDon]

I knew one guy that rented a gas powered auger to dig some post holes in his back yard. He and a helper got it cranked and going, started boring, hit something and the auger jolted loose from their hands. The thing hit something solid and the auger stuck, thus the top part, including the motor and handles, started spinning. They sat there and watched the dern thing spin till it finally ran out of gas. Hard way to dig a hole.

Don

[dcarch]

This would not happen because the clutch dis-engages the moment the gas throttle is released.

dcarch

[dice]

"This would not happen because the clutch
dis-engages the moment the gas throttle is released."

I still think you should pound a post in beside
it and secure it to the post (with something that
will slide down the post as the auger descends
into the ground). The machine's reaction time
is faster than a human's, and it has enough
torque to overpower most people's hands,
wrists, and arms if the bit gets stuck.

You could step up from perhaps a steel pole
for the first hole to a 4x4 post for the rest,
putting the post in the hole you just dug before
digging the next one.

(I still like the alfalfa method better for breaking
up compacted subsoil, but I grant that a power
tool can get that done sooner. Most of us
would probably be more enthusiastic about it
if you were using a backhoe or excavator
instead of a homemade power auger, though.)

Good luck anyway.

[dcarch]

This thread speaks of the value of this forum. There are many smart people with all kinds of ideas to exchange.
Thank you for all your suggestions and concerns.

Regarding "I still like the alfalfa method better for breaking up compacted subsoil", I cannot afford to do that because I don't have the space. I am growing vegies under the tomatoes to maximize land use, which is another reason why I need to dig deep. All my plants are competing for root space.

dcarch

[dcarch]

So I tried out the roto-digger today.

Everything worked exactly as anticipated: (Pleasee see video)

1. Drills fine, and digs good.
2. Easy to handle, no torque at all to spin you around.
3. Little rocks and roots were no problem.

Couple of things I did not plan on:

1. The day before we had a huge downpour so the ground was very wet and the soil was very gluey and heavy, it gummed up the auger.
2. Halfway down the soil was still frozen.

I am looking forward to really improving my patch using this digger when it gets a little warmer.

dcarch

http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=1i9LSzb-U0g

[ddsack]

Well, at least you could have stuck your face into camera view at the end and said "I told you so!"

Congratulations, looks like you've made a good tool.

[dcarch]

Originally Posted by ddsack

Well, at least you could have stuck your face into camera view at the end and said "I told you so!"

Congratulations, looks like you've made a good tool.

Thanks.
I will say "I told you so!" when I get my cherry tomatoes the size of Big Zacs, and my Big Zacs the size of watermelons.

dcarch

[Bryan24]

I guess it's not as heavy as I thought it would be, or else, you've been working out. But I think you're going to have to get yourself some crocks, or similar shoes, that you can hose off after that thing is done slinging the dirt.

laurel-tx

[Worth1]

Well I'll be dipped!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!

Worth

[Rena]

nice pants

[dice]

Ok, I saw the video, it works.
Congratulations.

I also noticed that the bed that you
were "deep tilling" was only about 3
feet wide. Why was simply shoveling
it out 18" deep and tilling the subsoil
below there with the normal tiller blades
not an option? This may be faster, but
I bet shovel-out-and-till would have mixed
organic matter into the subsoil better.

(Cool-looking gargoyle heat sink or
whatever that it is behind it there,
by the way.)