2 man post hole digger

Going to rent a 2 man post hole digger this weekend. I"ve never used one before. Anyone have any luck with one of these? Anything to watch out for? I need to dig a dozen 12 inch diameter holes at least 30 inches deep in good soil(no rock, former tobacco field).
Thanks!
Mark

Yes. They do work well. As with all power equipment be careful. Do not wear loose clothing that can get "grabbed" by the auger. Wear gloves and eye protection. We used it to dig fence post holes for a wooden privacy fence around the house.

One of James' relatives got the pant leg to his overalls caught in a tractor pto powered auger. He lost his leg.

Respect the power of your equipment.

I"ve used most of them. Is this the auger with engine on top and 4 handles for 2 "men" to hold? Some of it depends on how big the engine and how heavy it is. The little chainsaw engines are easier and lighter to handle but don"t drill well in hard soils.

The emphasis above is on "men". Make that big strong men. It is not a matter of holding on while it does all the work. Depends a lot on the soil type and condition. In the clay and some loose stuff they have a tendency to screw themselves in the ground. Since you probably have no reverse, a real pain to unscrew. This results in you having to hold it up all the time so it digs and cleans the hole instead of drilling itself in. Sometimes you let it dig a few inches and pick up a little and sometimes you have to pick it up a ways to clean the hole. A 12" auger full of dirt gets very heavy. Sometimes you have to stop and scrape dirt away from the hole to keep it from falling back in (don"t do it with the auger moving and a 3d person helps for this). It"s not so bad when the auger is all the way down and you can use your legs to help lift, it"s when the auger is up about waist high and above when you are solely using arm strength is what wears on you.

All in all it makes for a lot of work and a long day on muscles you haven"t used in a while. After a few holes, it might be all you can do to move it to the next hole. Add that to the fact that you are trying to do this in a 2 hour or 4 hour rental time frame.

Now is a good time of year for digging in soil before it really dries up this summer and gets hard. But if it is too muddy, it will work you to death having to pick up all the time and clean mud from your auger with a shovel. Mud is a lot heavier. Your rental guy, if honest, should know the area and have enough feedback from others to let you know if conditions are allright for rental. You might want to consider paying extra for a bobcat rental with auger.

I have a general 330 with 5 hp engine and gear box underneath. I can barely move it around and their is no way my wife could hold one end of it. I"m figuring on hanging it from a loader to avoid the heavy lifting. Good luck.

For just a dozen holes, I'd suggest a GOOD (not a $10 garden center special) clam-shell digger; 12 or 15 minutes per hole in the soil as you've described. (Surely, you or a neighbor already have one) I'd much rather do a little digging than to 'rassle' one-a-them things.

Best two man post hole digger is where the second man is the guy down the road with the tractor mounted variety. Or better yet, a post pounder- I had the neighbor come up and pound about a dozen posts for me the other night- took about 10 minutes, I gave him 20 bucks, and we were both happy.

bc has the right approach. This is not work for the frail or the skittish. Don't rent a machine that does not have a "deadman" throttle and switch. Get the biggest strongest partner you can find to hold the other side of that thing.

Keep it at wide open throttle. Raise it up frequently to let the augur spin off the dirt. Keep everyone's clothing and arms, legs, hands, and feet away from the augur.

I have a set of those "idiot sticks" I'd be glad to lend.

If you don't have any rocks, why not use a clamshell digger? A dozen holes only 30 inches deep in soil with no rocks (what kinda place doesn't have rocks?) would be a piece of cake!

Have had three 3-point hitch diggers; an off-brand in the '50s/early '60s; Ford after that and finally a Danuser hydraulic, which I've still got; also a front-tractor mounted Shaver driver. Have dug/drove thousands of holes with each of 'em, but sometimes nothing will work but a hand digger. Also have a dozer and a back-hoe, but I've also used a shovel on occasion. :>)

Try to find a rental place that has Little Beaver post hole diggers. They can be safely operated by one man.
Little Beaver earth drills

Someone can borrow my idiot sticks too. Not bad for a 6" hole to 30" deep. Any deeper and it doesn't want to clean the hole unless you widen it out to about 12" in diameter. For most posts, I don't want to go wide enough necessary for the handles to spread. For narrow 6" holes going 36"+ deep, I have a round auger head mounted on a tee handle pipe. Go so far with the clam shell until you can't spread them any more then finish out the hole with hand auger. OK for a few holes at a time but mud really gums up the works and sticks to the metal. Spend more time and effort cleaning mud off the clam shells and the auger than the actual digging of dry soil. With a second guy to trade off not so bad. At least with the clamshell, I quit when my arms get tired and no clock is ticking on the rental. They need to be sharp for hard clay.

Besides, for less than the price of the rental, I own the digger. He who dies with the most tools in the shed wins.

I've rented the 2 man in the past and it is an incredible amount of work and really heavy to pull up to clear the hole. I really recommend a small trailer mounted auger especially for 12inch holes if you can get the trailer to the site (it's not real big). Home Depot rents them along with the 2 man auger that you are considering, it is more expensive but you can do a lot more faster with it.

I've rented one of those little beaver style diggers. Just like in the ads for the general 2 man augers, look at the size of the dudes using them. I would rate the little beaver style diggers better than the single axle trailer mounted hydraulic one I rented last summer(motor on one end and auger on the other end).

Even with those it helps to have a helper. I did a dozen holes in hard clay one summer. It was a bigger model than the one in the picture. The head and the auger are still heavy. Because I drilled the first one in, you still have to drill a little at a time and clean the hole often. It does have a reverse so you can unscrew yourself or back up if you hang up on a root. It was hard work with no breaks but I got it back with 1 minute to spare of my 4 hour rental. I dig my holes to 39" or so. Put gravel in the bottom for drainage, paint the bottom and sides of my fence posts with asphalt foundation coating, and place them in 36" deep with 5' sticking up to add my cross runners for a wood fence. It is so windy around here with summer and winter winds at 30 to 40 mph common, I space posts at 6' so they stand up to the wind and also because this clay dries up and pulls back from the post (there are cracks in the ground you can stick your hand in) which allows the wind to let the post wallow out the hole so I back fill with sand to move with the dirt.

I've found that these augers, sewer roto rooters (you have to pull hard on the cable a lot), and jackhammers (you have to pick that heavy dude up each time you break through the concrete and move over a few inches) are so hard on you that I try to rent them for the weekend or the late saturday to monday morning rate.

Sometimes you want to get so close to the house or barn that you still have to use the idiot sticks cause none of the powered ones let you get too close.

Lots of good advice here. Guess I forgot to mention the augers I used were for 6" and 8" holes. I couldn't do it probably with 12" holes, too much weight. Remember you are standing back from the auger with arms outstretched and you have no muscle lift power like that. Even when you can get over it, you still have to lift it above your waist while the auger is spinning and you have no power there.

Rent the bobcat or hire someone who has one with an auger. They may be cheaper than you think to drive in and punch your holes. I'm the ultimate DIYer but I'd draw the line at 12" holes without a tractor behind it. Screw your 2 man auger into the ground and you might end up buying it or rent it for two days while you dig it out.

Guess I've beat this subject to death. Good luck.

The little beaver type work great, eps the ones that are counterweighted. You may be drilling three smaller holes then the 12"

I wouldn,t do it,especialy with those 12 in holes.Very hard to lift out of holes and if it hangs up,it could really hurt somebody.Try to rent a tractor with posthole digger.cost more but safer.

I"ve never run one with a 12" auger. I"ve spent some time on one with an 8" auger, and from experience I can tell you to go slow until you get the hang of it. Pick it up often to clear the auger. DO NOT let that thing have its own way and start digging fast! It will bury itself to the point where you"ll be twisting it out of the ground with a pipe wrench! Don"t ask me how I know that.....

I'd stock up on the Deep Heat and your favorite pain reliever. Those 2 man post hole diggers put up quite a fight. I'd opt for the clam shell method if the soil is decent.

Thurlow, you have a lot oph stuphph, don't you?

Yeth..........

carry a 36" pipe wrench just in case!

Yeah, TWO man - right - get yourself three more good strong guys. Rented one a while back - 6.5hp Honda motor. Good machine, but a killer for two fairly strong men to operate. Remember that you're going from above your head to foot top level, then picking the thing back out of the hole. If you catch onto anything burried, you're in for a fight! I went out and bought one for the 3pt hitch on my tractor. Even at idle speed they can be dangerous, but at least the tractor is taking the beating. I'm no longer a "HE_MAN" - I'll admit it!

These machines can put a permanent kink in you back.Dont use one.

Have some one drill the holes with a tractor auger.Drilling holes is a dangerous business.A woman was killed using a rented auger near me a few years ago.

Don't care what ya do MA, for all I know you may be Paul Bunyan's bigger cousin.

Just post back this weekend and tell us how your experience went is all I ask.