Powered diggers are excluded.

Which is the better choice for various soil condition in your
experience?

1. The manual auger that you twist until you get a full load of soil
to dump:

http://www.hooverfence.com/tools/adjust-augers.htm

(Needs room for handle, but can go very deep by using pipe to extend
it)

or

2. The clamshell-type post hole digger, like this dandy by Fiskars:

http://tinyurl.com/cna8js

(reportedly reaches over 4 feet)

On Jan 29, 2:29�pm, mike wrote:
Powered diggers are excluded.

Which is the better choice for various soil condition in your
experience?

1. �The manual auger that you twist until you get a full load of soil
to dump:

http://www.hooverfence.com/tools/adjust-augers.htm

(Needs room for handle, but can go very deep by using pipe to extend
it)

or

2. �The clamshell-type post hole digger, like this dandy by Fiskars:

http://tinyurl.com/cna8js

(reportedly reaches over 4 feet)

the power drive rotary one the auger lifts the displaced soil. can be
rented.

if you only have a few holes to make it really doesnt matter


incidently a diamond core bit on a heavy duty elerctric drill works
well too, espically for rocky areas

On Jan 29, 11:57*am, wrote:
On Thu, 29 Jan 2009 11:29:44 -0800 (PST), mike





wrote:
Powered diggers are excluded.

Which is the better choice for various soil condition in your
experience?

1. *The manual auger that you twist until you get a full load of soil
to dump:

http://www.hooverfence.com/tools/adjust-augers.htm

(Needs room for handle, but can go very deep by using pipe to extend
it)

or

2. *The clamshell-type post hole digger, like this dandy by Fiskars:

http://tinyurl.com/cna8js

(reportedly reaches over 4 feet)

Being a farmer, I've dug lots of post holes. *The augers only work in
soft soil or sand. *If you're digging in clay, or worse yet prone to
hitting rocksm the clamshells are all you can use. *You cant go as
deep, but they will go thru most soils as long as you pound the soil
enough. *You can get smaller rocks out too, becuase you can work at
the side of the hole by holding it at an angle.

LM- Hide quoted text -

- Show quoted text -

Ah yes, I am anticipating hitting more than my fair share of rocks,
sadly. I'll be sure to get a spud bar or digger bar to break some of
them up.

"mike" wrote in message
...
Powered diggers are excluded.

Which is the better choice for various soil condition in your
experience?

1. The manual auger that you twist until you get a full load of soil
to dump:

http://www.hooverfence.com/tools/adjust-augers.htm

(Needs room for handle, but can go very deep by using pipe to extend
it)

or

2. The clamshell-type post hole digger, like this dandy by Fiskars:

http://tinyurl.com/cna8js

(reportedly reaches over 4 feet)


*I have never used the manual auger. I have used a regular clamshell
posthole digger and like the Fiskar ad says I have had to widen the hole to
go down to 4' or more. I expect that the Fiskar steel model is a little
more expensive, but could be a labor saver due to a narrower hole
circumference. One thing I have found useful is a heavy steel bar to loosen
up the soil as I go down deep.

wrote:
....
Being a farmer, I've dug lots of post holes. The augers only work in
soft soil or sand. If you're digging in clay, or worse yet prone to
hitting rocksm the clamshells are all you can use. ...

What he said from same reference point...

Even in sand when it gets really dry you'll do no good w/ either unless
soak it up some. Fortunately, rocks are unheard of here until far below
posthole depth, anyway...

--

John Grabowski wrote:
....
... I expect that the Fiskar steel model is a
little more expensive, but could be a labor saver due to a narrower hole
circumference. ...

You'll soon rue the day you chose the steel handles as you continue to
have to lift the suckers out of the hole every stroke...(ga,amhikt ).

What little you might save in shaving the side of the hole an inch less
is more than made up for w/ the weight. The extra heft is of some help
in hard ground, but keeping them sharp is better.

I take the wood handles hands down of the pairs here unless think might
be abusing them (prying out rotted-off end of old tie or something such)...

--

On Thu, 29 Jan 2009 11:29:44 -0800 (PST), mike
wrote:


-snip-

2. The clamshell-type post hole digger, like this dandy by Fiskars:

http://tinyurl.com/cna8js

(reportedly reaches over 4 feet)

Never used that style but I saw a pair like it in a HD a while back.
The Fiskar's might be different, but by gawd the ones I saw weighed 40
pounds. [just guessing from memory- don't hold me to that] They were
3-4 times as heavy as the wood handled clamshells in the next row.

I've dug my share with a clamshell, and if you've got rocky soil
that's definitely the way to go. When we were setting telephone
poles we often only used the power auger to handle the pole- 2 of us
could dig the hole with a clamshell and a bar nearly as fast as the
auger- and we made a much cleaner hole.

Sandy soil is ok for an auger power or hand operated.

BTW- I've never had any trouble making a 4' deep hole [for a 4x4] with
regular clamshells and a spud bar.

Jim

On Jan 29, 3:00*pm, " wrote:
the power drive rotary one the auger lifts the displaced soil. can be
rented.

Get the one that has an attached trailer. I used on of those one-man
augers to drill 8 holes for a privacy fence... NEVER AGAIN.

It works quick in sandy soils like mine, but it's 15 seconds of sheer
terror...

There's no other way to work the thing except to ram it to full
throttle and hang on for dear life... Lucky I had sandy soil, but I
did find where the old farmer dumped his rocks in a wet hole... That
is, when the auger tried to rip my arms off!

On Jan 29, 3:54*pm, wrote:
On Jan 29, 3:00*pm, " wrote:

the power drive rotary one the auger lifts the displaced soil. can be
rented.

Get the one that has an attached trailer. I used on of those one-man
augers to drill 8 holes for a privacy fence... NEVER AGAIN.

It works quick in sandy soils like mine, but it's 15 seconds of sheer
terror...

There's no other way to work the thing except to ram it to full
throttle and hang on for dear life... Lucky I had sandy soil, but I
did find where the old farmer dumped his rocks in a wet hole... That
is, when the auger tried to rip my arms off!

....And I thought you were going to give him a bad time for not reading
the first line of the first post. I'll leave that so someone else.

edit: *I'll leave that TO someone else. *

On Jan 29, 1:29*pm, mike wrote:
Powered diggers are excluded.

Which is the better choice for various soil condition in your
experience?

1. *The manual auger that you twist until you get a full load of soil
to dump:

http://www.hooverfence.com/tools/adjust-augers.htm

(Needs room for handle, but can go very deep by using pipe to extend
it)

or

2. *The clamshell-type post hole digger, like this dandy by Fiskars:

http://tinyurl.com/cna8js

(reportedly reaches over 4 feet)

Augers are extremely hard work. The tool is heavy, the soil is heavy
and your back will suffer accordingly. Clamshells do the job, but are
slow, slow, slow.
Many years ago, the phone company trucks were supplied with a matched
pair of special shovels for post holes, referred to as 'spoons' by the
technicians. The handles were some 6' long IIRC. When I was using my
trusty clamshell digger for setting the posts on a business sign some
years ago, a friend stopped by and sympathized about the difficulties
of going below the three foot depth. A short time later he came back
with his 'spoons' and in a half hour or less had both post holes well
below 4 1/2 feet. I have no idea whether such tools are available
today, but that one demo was quite impressive.

Joe

A short time later he came back
with his 'spoons' and in a half hour or less had both post holes well
below 4 1/2 feet. I have no idea whether such tools are available
today, but that one demo was quite impressive.

Joe

these?

http://www.cable-lashers.com/id77n.html

also Joe

Joe wrote:

-snip-
Many years ago, the phone company trucks were supplied with a matched
pair of special shovels for post holes, referred to as 'spoons' by the
technicians.

A *pair*? Maybe that's why we never used ours.g There was one
on our line truck and 3 of us tried to use it and never cared for it.

Our territory had an area that was pure sand where we used the truck
auger- the rest of the area was more rock than soil & we dug them with
clamshells. I never saw anyone use the spoon(s).

Jim

On Fri, 30 Jan 2009 18:36:11 GMT, "Joe" wrote:

A short time later he came back
with his 'spoons' and in a half hour or less had both post holes well
below 4 1/2 feet. I have no idea whether such tools are available
today, but that one demo was quite impressive.

Joe

these?

http://www.cable-lashers.com/id77n.html

The round one looks like the one we carried on our truck. I think
it was an 8' handle. [Just noticed the 10' clamshells- There's some
real quality-- but $200!!]

Jim

On Jan 29, 1:29*pm, mike wrote:
Powered diggers are excluded.

Which is the better choice for various soil condition in your
experience?

1. *The manual auger that you twist until you get a full load of soil
to dump:

http://www.hooverfence.com/tools/adjust-augers.htm

(Needs room for handle, but can go very deep by using pipe to extend
it)

or

2. *The clamshell-type post hole digger, like this dandy by Fiskars:

http://tinyurl.com/cna8js

(reportedly reaches over 4 feet)

A couple years ago I fenced the backyard which involved digging a
couple dozen or so postholes to about 40 inches deep. My soil is
mainly clay (with maybe 6 inches or so of black dirt on top) but here
and there were rocks or gravel, mostly from earlier construction or
debris. Oh, and roots. I started out with the clamshell and then a
neighbor lent me an auger type digger. I came to greatly prefer the
auger, and used it whenever possible. Less effort and less jarring.
However, it did not deal well with obstacles. When I hit roots or
sizable rocks I had to get out the clamshell, and sometimes a digging
bar too. So for me, it was good to have all three. (That's what you
wanted, right? A rationale for buying three tools?) You're working
that hard, don't stint on tools. -- H

On Jan 30, 12:36*pm, "Joe" wrote:
*A short time later he came back
with his 'spoons' and in a half hour or less had both post holes well
below 4 1/2 feet. I have no idea whether such tools are available
today, but that one demo was quite impressive.

Joe

these?

http://www.cable-lashers.com/id77n.html

also Joe

I think you nailed it!

Joe

Joe wrote:

On Jan 30, 12:36Â*pm, "Joe" wrote:
A short time later he came back
with his 'spoons' and in a half hour or less had both post holes well
below 4 1/2 feet. I have no idea whether such tools are available
today, but that one demo was quite impressive.

Joe

these?

http://www.cable-lashers.com/id77n.html

also Joe

I think you nailed it!

Joe
Boy does that bring back old memories. Digging a Pole Hole by hand, use to
put my most annoying employee on it. He learned fast not to be a pain in
the ass after digging a few of those. After a few years bought a Digger
Truck that dug them in 5 minutes, except easements. OshKosh was still the
only option. Matter of fact use to buy from Dave, owner of Aerial Service
Company.
--
"You can lead them to LINUX
but you can't make them THINK"
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