Post hole auger thinger

2drx4

Member

Equipment
B7100
Jul 24, 2023
60
88
18
PG, BC, Canada
www.4x4north.com
This is AWESOME!!!!

I for one love the design. It's just dangerous enough to be fun, yet it satisfies my inner "fat and lazy guy"

It certainly beats the hell out of digging all those holes by hand, that much is for sure.

I agree, I would straighten that bad boy out and get one more hole out of it.

Off the top of my head, the only thing that I might change would be the "drive shaft 4 way" swivel mount.

I think the "left to right" needs to be fixed in place, so the angle of the auger is only adjustable "fore to aft" with the tractor movement to try and keep it vertical??????

Nice job sir!
It needs to gimbal in all directions, the weight of the auger means it always will hang level. Unless you're only going to do holes from a direction where you're level side to side, that is. For me I wanted this so I could get to holes that only had very limited access, and even the level parts of my yard aren't level, so most of the holes were fairly off camber. Yes, the holes won't come out perfect, as the bucket never goes down directly straight.

If you look at the skid steer auger attachments, they use a universal to gimbal as well, but they don't source their universals from old driveshafts. They operate in the same way, the weight of the auger just makes them hang level, however they are a little more forgiving as it's easier to see what's going on, and you can fine adjust the position of them easier. They're also $4000 new, and a proper used skid steer is twice the price of a used B7100D, you get what you pay for.
 

Runs With Scissors

Well-known member

Equipment
L2501 TLB , Grappel, Brush Hog, Box Blade, Ballast box, Forks, Tiller, PH digger
Jan 25, 2023
2,513
2,916
113
Michigan
It needs to gimbal in all directions, the weight of the auger means it always will hang level. Unless you're only going to do holes from a direction where you're level side to side, that is. For me I wanted this so I could get to holes that only had very limited access, and even the level parts of my yard aren't level, so most of the holes were fairly off camber. Yes, the holes won't come out perfect, as the bucket never goes down directly straight.

If you look at the skid steer auger attachments, they use a universal to gimbal as well, but they don't source their universals from old driveshafts. They operate in the same way, the weight of the auger just makes them hang level, however they are a little more forgiving as it's easier to see what's going on, and you can fine adjust the position of them easier. They're also $4000 new, and a proper used skid steer is twice the price of a used B7100D, you get what you pay for.
Hmm...makes sense when you put it like that.

I guess I was thinking in terms of a rear facing PHD. I can't remember if it as lateral movement or not, but I don't think so. (y)
 

NCL4701

Well-known member

Equipment
L4701, T2290, WC68, grapple, BB1572, Farmi W50R, Howes 500, 16kW IMD gen, WG24
Apr 27, 2020
2,823
4,301
113
Central Piedmont, NC
3 point post hole augers generally hinge front/back but not side to side. Side to side is leveled by adjusting the 3 point. Reasonably efficient with a leveling box or hydraulic sidelink. Kind of a PITA if you have to do much adjusting with the turnbuckle type sidelink.

Of course the side to side adjustment isn’t built in to a loader so a loader mount needs a two axis gimbal.
 
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tsp159

Member

Equipment
B7100D
Feb 8, 2023
98
50
18
Fort Bend Texas
Honestly, this is the same as a skid steer auger with less engineering and more "hold my beer" involved. It's a little sketchy, but I can see how this would work a treat with a little more refinement.

I love the ingenuity.
 

hagrid

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Lifetime Member

Equipment
K1600GTL, ZX-14R
Jun 11, 2018
944
1,245
93
Pittsburgh
OP's opener was very well written and I enjoyed it.

(y)
 
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