Anyone have or use a rock auger on a PHD?

McMXi

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Sometimes taking a supposed short cut can prove to be a more expensive and time consuming way to solve a problem. Since I have a Land Pride HD25 PHD (SSQA model) with standard 9" and 12" augers, the temptation is to use what I have and try to make it work. I find myself in that situation, and perhaps foolishly ordered a Land Pride 6" rock auger in the hope that it'll help me achieve the objective of making a bunch of 4ft deep holes in my very rocky ground.

My thought here is that spending around $1,400 on a 317-258A rock auger is worth the risk. If it works then great, if not, hopefully I learn something and I'll still have the auger that I could use elsewhere. Considering that I have very little cost into this shed project, and that it would cost tens of thousands of dollars to pay someone to build it, I think I can absorb the cost of a rock auger regardless of whether it works or not.

The desire is to end up with 14 holes in two parallel, symmetric and straight rows, but it's highly unlikely to happen. The obvious way to do this would be to rent a large excavator and to dig two trenches to a depth of 4ft and position posts accordingly. But then I'm reminded of the fact that my neighbor (a contractor with lots of equipment) decided to move his 40ft x 40ft shop about 8ft to the west to avoid a massive boulder that was in the way. He didn't want to blast it out to make room for the foundation. So even with big equipment, not all problems are easily solved. That's oddly comforting.

I envy those with rock free ground. :sneaky:
 

Runs With Scissors

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Our cabin has this exact problem. There are multiple “rock quarries” near us and our “land” has 3 YUGE boulders on it, as further proof.

Will this "rock auger” actually drill through rock though?

That would/will be quite a feat.

( I did a quick search, but could only find the price..no descriptions of what it can do)
 

bbxlr8

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Following & suspect you need to be lucky as well. I'm on a budget and use a 9" plus the BH if I can work around it. Will be interesting to see it that tunnel boring tip type can do the job.

This is my problem on my land here in PA - Glacially deposited boulders typically from softball to suburban size: Some I move, some I push, and some I work around like the tip of an iceburg. I rate my soil on the percentage of rock mixed in & am envious of those on the valley floor with plentiful topsoil.
 
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NorthwoodsLife

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30+ years ago I worked on a gov - (a new high school) construction project which was next to a brand new housing tract.

At the housing tract next door, during rough grade they unearthed several car sized boulders. They piled them up.

Once they staked the new houses foundations, they dug holes in the future backyard of a couple lots, and buried the boulders.

No swimming pool for you.
 
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McMXi

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Our cabin has this exact problem. There are multiple “rock quarries” near us and our “land” has 3 YUGE boulders on it, as further proof.

Will this "rock auger” actually drill through rock though?

That would/will be quite a feat.

( I did a quick search, but could only find the price..no descriptions of what it can do)
It has replaceable "teeth" and will certainly cut through some rock that would stop a standard auger in its tracks, but not all rocks are created equal. I would think that the best auger would be more like an annular cutter and would have fluid pumped into the hole, but that's not going to happen.
 
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McMXi

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Following & suspect you need to be lucky as well. I'm on a budget and use a 9" plus the BH if I can work around it. Will be interesting to see it that tunnel boring tip type can do the job.

This is my problem on my land here in PA - Glacially deposited boulders typically from softball to suburban size: Some I move, some I push, and some I work around like the tip of an iceburg. I rate my soil on the percentage of rock mixed in & am envious of those on the valley floor with plentiful topsoil.
We seem to have a similar problem. I'm also in the ping pong ball rocks to suburban sized boulders and everything in between club. I cut a friend's field down by the river and you couldn't find a rock on his 20 acres if you tried. It's flat and has great soil and that's where all the farms are. There's a reason why no one is growing anything 200 ft or more above the valley floor.

I'll follow up when the auger gets here, but I'm thinking it's going to be like the movie Armageddon, but without all the stars! Yep, that's a pun. :ROFLMAO:
 
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McMXi

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No swimming pool for you.
This house was supposed to have a walk-out basement, and I asked the original owner why it doesn't have one. He told me that they had planned on it, but the cost to blast out a bunch of rock was too much so the basement idea went away.
 
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North Idaho Wolfman

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I've had mixed results over the years.
Even if you can get 1/2 to 3/4 of the holes in, your way ahead.
Then maybe a mini ex to dig holes for the stubborn ones and use sono tube.
 
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Shawn T. W

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The 1st house I bought, in Chester, Vermont, had a basement, but about 1/4 of it was only about 2' tall ... A huge ledge filled up the area below it, and they just poured the foundation around/on it . . .
 
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Showmedata

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I've had mixed results over the years.
Even if you can get 1/2 to 3/4 of the holes in, your way ahead.
Then maybe a mini ex to dig holes for the stubborn ones and use sono tube.
or when you hit a rock big enough, make it part of the system. a 4' deep post hole isn't gonna provide more support than a rock that's too big to dig out.

I have one deck post footer that stopped at about 2' deep on solid ledge.
 
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