Hydraulic post hole auger questions and Landpride SA-10 owner query

[retiree-urgency abandoned]

3 weeks ago we had a good snowstorm and a box truck slid off the road, hit my high-tensile fence and snapped 10 4" round x 6.5' fence posts. The nice thing about a HT fence is that even with the posts snapped, the fence still stands.

In the past, if I had a few posts to replace, I'd just use my trusty 2 handled PHD. However, after a shoulder dislocation from a misadventure, there's no way I'm digging 10 post holes by hand. Have been looking at options for a tractor-mounted PHD and decided that a hydraulic auger setup might be easier for me to manage. Looked at the Landpride SA-10, but cost with one auger is about 10x my annual diesel & beer budget.

I found a towable PHD with 4 augers at an auction - Honda motor wouldn't start and bought it - the hydraulic motor operates at 6gpm, which is about what I've got on my FEL 3rd function. I'm going to cannibalize it to make a poor-person's SA-10. I'm starting out on this forum, because I'd like to get some input from PHD owners about a few things. Then I'll start a thread in the products forum as I move forward with it. Whatever's left I'll list on craigslist for the next guys project.

For owners of SA-10's, the product info says you can mount the unit on a Landpride fork frame and slide it to the left, right or center. for those of you doing that, how do you like it and how do you rate the PITA factor for removing your forks from the frame, mounting the PHD unit and then doing the reverse when you're going back to your fork configuration? Got any photos of the fork frame mounting and moving it side to side? Also, the hydraulic motor swings front to back, but there's a back-stop, so you can curl the FEL and get the auger off the ground for moving to the next hole - does that work well and does it help you line up to the drilling point?

Since this is a poor-person's SA-10, I plan to re-use the existing hydraulic motor mount - just have to figure out the best way to attach it to my tractor. I've come up with 3 options: attach it to an SSQA blank plate, attach it to the fork frame or attach it to a small structure and have it slide-on to the forks. I'm leaning towards the slide-on - lower cost, I won't be setting posts in tight quarters or using an auger bigger than 12" and it would be easier for me (not getting any younger or stronger) to mount/dismount. My vision is to use 2 pieces of rectangular tubing (forks slide into these) with one or 2 pieces of the rectangular tubing (as cross pieces) and then attach the existing mounting bracket (with handle cut off) to the cross pieces. I'd chain the slide on to the fork frame and secure with a clovis hitch so it would stay snug to the frame.

Here's my questions to any PHD owner - are there situations when the tractor isn't square to the ground where it would be helpful to be able to tilt the auger to the left or right so that the hole is vertical and not angled like the tractor? The PHD I bought is on an extendable and rotatable pipe - I could either cut all of that off, or keep some (maybe a foot) to be able to do side-to-side adjustments where the tractor isn't level.

I've attached some photos - original unit, hydraulic motor after removal, mounting bracket, etc.

 

[North Idaho Wolfman]

Don't over complicate the mount:

Lowe 1650 Classic Hex Auger Drive Post Hole Digger Attachment Fits Skid Steer Quick Attach – Skid Steer Attachment Depot

www.skidsteerattachmentdepot.com

 

[mcmxi]

For owners of SA-10's, the product info says you can mount the unit on a Landpride fork frame and slide it to the left, right or center. for those of you doing that, how do you like it and how do you rate the PITA factor for removing your forks from the frame, mounting the PHD unit and then doing the reverse when you're going back to your fork configuration? Got any photos of the fork frame mounting and moving it side to side? Also, the hydraulic motor swings front to back, but there's a back-stop, so you can curl the FEL and get the auger off the ground for moving to the next hole - does that work well and does it help you line up to the drilling point?

Since this is a poor-person's SA-10, I plan to re-use the existing hydraulic motor mount - just have to figure out the best way to attach it to my tractor. I've come up with 3 options: attach it to an SSQA blank plate, attach it to the fork frame or attach it to a small structure and have it slide-on to the forks. I'm leaning towards the slide-on - lower cost, I won't be setting posts in tight quarters or using an auger bigger than 12" and it would be easier for me (not getting any younger or stronger) to mount/dismount. My vision is to use 2 pieces of rectangular tubing (forks slide into these) with one or 2 pieces of the rectangular tubing (as cross pieces) and then attach the existing mounting bracket (with handle cut off) to the cross pieces. I'd chain the slide on to the fork frame and secure with a clovis hitch so it would stay snug to the frame.

Here's my questions to any PHD owner - are there situations when the tractor isn't square to the ground where it would be helpful to be able to tilt the auger to the left or right so that the hole is vertical and not angled like the tractor? The PHD I bought is on an extendable and rotatable pipe - I could either cut all of that off, or keep some (maybe a foot) to be able to do side-to-side adjustments where the tractor isn't level.

I've attached some photos - original unit, hydraulic motor after removal, mounting bracket, etc.

You can download manuals from Land Pride's website that show various mounting options.

I bought a used Land Pride HD25 Skid/Loader Mount in 2022 that came with 9" and 12" augers. I haven't used it much but plan on making some holes this spring for a pole barn build. I installed it on the MX and had the motor hanging off the offset mounting bracket on the right side since I was close to a building when I was trying it out and that position made the most sense. If access isn't an issue I'd run it on the center mounting bracket to better distribute the forces on the loader.

The motor is rated for 5-12gpm so it's a good match for either the MX or the M6060, but this spring it'll be on the bigger tractor which has a heavier loader and more oil flow that can be dedicated to the PHD.

You asked about installation and removal, and some form of stand would be a good idea, or a hole in the ground. I need to make something for sure.

 

[mcmxi]

You can see the fore & aft and left & right pins for the HD25 in the schematic below. So without that adjustment you'd have to get your front wheels on level ground in order to keep the hole vertical. The spring is there to offset the weight of the hydraulic motor hanging off the side. In theory the auger should hang vertically (bubble vertical) if the gear box, hydraulic motor and auger are balanced.