1960s-ish post hole auger & B2601

[Danaidh]

Folks, Lurker here for about a year. Love the forum.
I have and am very happy with a ~65 HP 2006 John deere 4wd w/loader and a ~65 HP 1988 Ford 5900 so I am reasonably Tractor familiar.

December 2024, for yard work and Wife 's large gardens, I purchased a B2601 Kubota with loader & w/3rd function and no belly mower new from a dealer to get the warranty and low payment with 0% interest. I have a 1960's-ish Ford post hole auger that still functions great. I normally use it on the Ford tractor. Soon, I hope to take the B2601 to my farm and test if auger will fit and function on the B2601. It appears that the Ford auger was meant for an under 25hp tractor. I go easy when using it on my Ford 5900.

Do any of you have any experience or knowledge as to whether the 1960's era ford auger "should" fit and function on the B2601? Other than no safety shields, etc., is there anything I should be aware of?

Thanks,
Dan

 

[North Idaho Wolfman]

As long as it's not to long of a auger and frame it should work fine.
I've run my big auger, sized better for my L, on my B7100.
Just make sure the PTO shaft is not too long when the auger is all the way down.

 

[Danaidh]

As long as it's not to long of a auger and frame it should work fine.
I've run my big auger, sized better for my L, on my B7100.
Just make sure the PTO shaft is not too long when the auger is all the way down.

Thanks Wolfman. I will watch the PTO shaft length as it goes through the motions.

Thanks again,
Dan

 

[chim]

Welcome aboard! And let me begin by saying that the only PHD I ever used was of an unknown make on an unknown tractor almost 60 years ago.

I did think of something while reading your original post. It may or may not be meaningful. While checking the PTO length, would it be good to remove the auger and NOT run the PTO? In taking the PHD through its full range of motion the gearbox would be free to swing out of the way if the PTO shaft is too long. Running the PTO and drilling a hole for a test seems risky.

 

[Danaidh]

Good advice! Thanks @chim

 

[Tim Horton]

My first post hole digger was a hard used old Speeco.. With some TLC it tightened up very good, looked and worked well.. It came with a 9" and 12" augers.. I couldn't find new hardened cutting teeth, but I made and resharpened several sets of homemade mild steel cutting teeth.. In my ground this worked well enough..

 

[Henro]

As long as it's not to long of a auger and frame it should work fine.
I've run my big auger, sized better for my L, on my B7100.
Just make sure the PTO shaft is not too long when the auger is all the way down.

This may just be semantics, and my mind may work differently than most a lot of the time, but I would have guessed it was best to make sure the PTO shaft is not too long when the auger is all the way UP, and not too short when the auger is all the way down...

My logic being that if too short the PTO shaft could seperate when all the way down, and if too long it could stress the tractor PTO shaft when all the way up...

 

[North Idaho Wolfman]

This may just be semantics, and my mind may work differently than most a lot of the time, but I would have guessed it was best to make sure the PTO shaft is not too long when the auger is all the way UP, and not too short when the auger is all the way down...

My logic being that if too short the PTO shaft could seperate when all the way down, and if too long it could stress the tractor PTO shaft when all the way up...

You have it backwards:
The PTO needs to be able to be the shortest when the shaft is horizontal with the tractor (auger down).
Otherwise it will drive the shaft right through the case of the tractor, and cause huge damage.

Yes it needs to be long enough when lifted that it still says engaged.

 

[Henro]

You have it backwards:
The PTO needs to be able to be the shortest when the shaft is horizontal with the tractor (auger down).
Otherwise it will drive the shaft right through the case of the tractor, and cause huge damage.

Yes it needs to be long enough when lifted that it still says engaged.

Yep, makes total sense now. I need to use my post hole digger more so I remember the geometry!

Thanks for the clarification, Wolfman.

 

[Danaidh]

As it turns out, the old ford Post hole auger (PHA) did not fit the B2601. The frame of the PHA was too wide to fit between the lift arm vertical supports. The PHA frame design skips the center link (Remove the center link) and connects directly to where the center link would pin to the tractor. Not enough room in that area for the PHA frame.

However, I believe that I have a work-around. A short center link is too long and will not work so I acquired a center link extender which should give a few more inches of space to allow fitment of the PHA frame. I will try the extender on my next opportunity.

Dan

 

[hedgerow]

As it turns out, the old ford Post hole auger (PHA) did not fit the B2601. The frame of the PHA was too wide to fit between the lift arm vertical supports. The PHA frame design skips the center link (Remove the center link) and connects directly to where the center link would pin to the tractor. Not enough room in that area for the PHA frame.

However, I believe that I have a work-around. A short center link is too long and will not work so I acquired a center link extender which should give a few more inches of space to allow fitment of the PHA frame. I will try the extender on my next opportunity.

Dan

Just make sure your work around is going to keep that arm that normally hooks to the top link bracket on the tractor is secure. Years ago a friend of mine had JD three point digger that was made to used on JD model A,B,G tractor with three point hitches and he had the same issue when he wanted to use it on a more modern tractor and made a bracket to hook the top link up and it worked for a while and then the top piece broke away and the digger went wild and the PTO shaft came apart and tore up several items and ruin the digger and both his rear fenders.

 

[Danaidh]

@hedgerow , thanks for the warning.
I will certainly go slow and monitor the situation.
If the 60 yo post hole auger breaks, it will be sad but not expensive.
However, i prefer not to damage the B2601.