Never Happy...

[skyhightree1]

I complained about all the rain snow ice etc and today I needed to auger a hole its so dry the auger was spinning on the ground and went down an inch I sure would be happy with about 2 inches of soaking rain right about now

 

[JW IN VA]

Dad used to tell about the summer of 1930 when his Dad built a new fence along the road along with his brother on their farms.They would dig a few inches,pour the holes full of water and dig a few more inches the next day.Built about a half mile of fence on two sides of the road

 

[skyhightree1]

Dad used to tell about the summer of 1930 when his Dad built a new fence along the road along with his brother on their farms.They would dig a few inches,pour the holes full of water and dig a few more inches the next day.Built about a half mile of fence on two sides of the road

I am gonna do that too probably and use my digger bar. I just need to go down 24 inches to put a 4x4 post in hopefully by june I can get it squared away :lol2:

 

[hurleyjd]

Put some new blades on the digger and it will dig.

 

[fenceman]

Put some new blades on the digger and it will dig.

That can make a that at difference. So can adding some down pressure. Used to have a old ford 8n that was dedicated to drilling postholes had hydralic cylinders added to provide down pressure. You could pick the back tires off the ground. Looked like shyt but was a hole digging son of a gun. Also have used a second tractor,with fel to apply down pressure. :hide: for pete sakes be CAREFUL.

 

[Commercialfarmer]

Felt your pain last year. There were places that were rock hard and it took a handful of shear bolts to get the job done. Did something to a ligament in my hand trying to pound steel posts in the ground. Using a bucket would just bend them.

This year, I don't remember an early summer this wet for some time. The tops of my rubber boots are getting shorter with each rain.

I'd give you some if I could.

 

[JSCATTLE]

It's so wet here you could push a cross tie 3 ft in the ground .

 

[skyhightree1]

This area I can't take a tractor but am using my one man auger to attempt to drill it. I drilled other holes fine a few weeks ago but now nothing.. Here is some pics of the augers tip .. Do you all think it needs a new blade or to be sharpened? It was working great last month when it was wetter :lol2:

 

[highgrit]

My advice is to use your head, it's hard. If it was me I would wait a couple of days. It looks like lots of rain heading your way. But the water trick will definitely work, I've had to use it many times.

 

[Rafter S]

I'm not familiar with that brand, since mine has two cutting blades instead of one, but I'd say that's way past the time where it needs a new blade. It's started wearing on the spiral part on the outside where the cutting blade is worn completely away.

 

[D2Cat]

You're only going 24", just add water and keep on digging!

 

[greybeard]

Put some new blades on the digger and it will dig.

Or not. I had the same experience setting H braces in the middle of a long fence in 2010 with a brand new auger. It just would not go down without pouring in 5 gal of water, moving on to another hole, drill a few inches, then return to the water soaked hole and drilling a few more inches. Some kind of odd light colored fine silt particle clay, and my roadway is built of the same material pushed up to form the road--hard as cement, no matter how much rain we get. Gets just a little slick on top, but try digging down an inch after a long heavy rain, and it's bone dry right under surface. Only thing that will grow in it is briar.
The trouble isn't just the digging blades--the centerpoint won't go down either. Not rock--just hard hard clay of some kind.

 

[1982vett]

This area I can't take a tractor but am using my one man auger to attempt to drill it. I drilled other holes fine a few weeks ago but now nothing.. Here is some pics of the augers tip .. Do you all think it needs a new blade or to be sharpened? It was working great last month when it was wetter :lol2:

Looks to me like the blade is bolted to the wrong side of the bit.......maybe it's just the picture....but it doesn't look like the blade gets a bite.

 

[greybeard]

My thoughts too, but they may do those one man bits different to reduce torque on the operator. I just looked at my PTO driven auger--the replaceable blade is bolted on top of the helix like Sky's but the bevel is on the opposite side, which presents the sharp edge to the dirt. Looks like Sky's will just float along on the backside of the angle.
This one is a different type, but looking closely at the gray or silver part, you can see the bevel is on top and the sharp edge under and "out front". That is how all of mine are.

On Sky's pic, I would have also thought the sharp side would have been out on the outside of the helix--not close in near the center of the shaft. IOW, looks like it is upside down and backwards.

 

[gus2121]

I don't think the blade is on backwards. That is how mine look after a lot of holes are dug. The sand and dirt grind it off that way. The sharp slope starts off being in the opposite direction as in his picture. Sand just grinds it off. Here is a new bit for it I think sky
http://www.lowes.com/pd_122460-1339-EB6 ... 10143&pl=1

 

[fenceman]

Blade is on right but worn out. Blades should cut slightly wider than auger or you will wear down the lands on the auger . Your drilling a tapered hole. Smaller on bottom the auger will just wedge itself in. In hard ground a new fishtail point would be good to.

 

[skyhightree1]

Thanks everyone. I thought maybe after reading the posts my guys put the blade on backwards to mess with me as they have probably bored 20,000+ holes with it and I have done maybe 100 and am not familiar with it as I usually use the tractor auger. I will check into replacing the blade or maybe try flipping blade for this one hole and see what happens. I appreciate everyone.

 

[melking]

In my humble yet highly prized opinion, you hit a ROCK.

 

[skyhightree1]

In my humble yet highly prized opinion, you hit a ROCK.

:lol: No rocks in these parts

 

[boondocks]

In my humble yet highly prized opinion, you hit a ROCK.

:lol: No rocks in these parts

We have bedrock just an inch down in spots. Fun, let me tell ya.