new hydraulics

[CAT97]

Hi there. New to forum but logs question. Wife and I inherited 2010 Kubota B3200. Would like to purchase a postholedigger, no problem. Problem is need to also install powerdown because of extremley hard soil where we live. I totally know we can purchase a kit, but, I thought I would need a control valve to the right of seat to operate the up and down pressure. Hope I'm not stupid but seems like this is a need. Any advice is greatly appreciated. Thank You

 

[Kytim]

Hi and welcome. If your speaking about a hyd top link ...then yes you would need a spool valve of some design to control it. I will tell you that many a hole has been drilled/dug in varying soils without the use of such a device. Someone with more experience and insight will surely offer you some additional info.

kytim

 

[Eric McCarthy]

I dont think a hyd top link will work because most post hold diggers mount up to where you have to take the top link off and then put the two lower ends on. What you could do is weld a 4 inch piece of steel pipe about 6 or 8 inches to the side of the post hole digger then take a 3 3/4 hunk of pipe about 6 or 8 feet long and use it as a lever to push the digger into the gound.

If the ground is as hard as you say it is I'm pretty sure the digger will get hung up more then once and too much down pressure could be a BAD thing. I stuck a 9 inch bit in the ground one time and got it hung up so damn bad it bogged down and shut off the tractor. There was no lifting it up or geting it to sping out so I had to take a pipe wrench and back it out by hand.

 

[firejunkie]

KyTim is correct, is it needed..no . But it really depends on the soil and how fast it will dig and how many holes you will dig over the life of the unit. If you got hard soil like clay then it will take longer to drill each hole but it may not matter if you drill just a couple dozen hole a year, if you got to drill a few hundred (like myself) then a power down will help get it done much faster (in my case it will be a front loader attachment so the weight of the loader will help power it down) If you got Rocky soil then consider using a smaller bit first to help break up rocks and soil, then go back with the bit you need i.e ( dig with a 4" bit first then move to the 6"or 8" bit) this help ejection of rocks and such without damaging bits, hyd lines, and pins. Hope that helps.

 

[CAT97]

Thanks for the replys gents. The soil here is almost like a concrete slurry, don't know if you know that type of consistancy but it gets that way in the summer and absolutly like grease in the winter. and that is just the top 12 inches.