Post Hole Auger won't dig

admin

Neighbor called up asking if I could look at his Post Hole Digger which is mounted on the3 point of his tractor. I looked at it last night, figure the cutting edges aren't horribly but the spiral and Point are shot! Research shows that reconditioning the Spiral will help. It needs some sort of point on the end of the Spiral. I'm thinking of welding a piece of Plow edge on the end, then grinding it to match? As far as the spiral, I'm figuring the same with that by building it up, then trying to hand grind a contour into the spirals.
Reply:Tractor supply has replacements for a whole lot less than your neighbor will spend on you.For example: http://www.tractorsupply.com/tsc/pro...b?cm_vc=-10005You may want to think about replacing the whole auger....Be wary of The Numbers: Figures don't lie,. but liars can figure.Welders:2008 Lincoln 140 GMAW&FCAW2012 HF 165 'toy' GTAW&SMAW1970's Cobbled together O/A
Reply:ask your neighbor that he wasnt on top of a small rock or stone, thats all it takes to stop those type of augers to not dig.Of all the things I lost I miss my mind the most...I know just enough about everything to be dangerous......You cant cure stupid..only kill it...
Reply:Originally Posted by drujininNeighbor called up asking if I could look at his Post Hole Digger which is mounted on the3 point of his tractor. I looked at it last night, figure the cutting edges aren't horribly but the spiral and Point are shot! Research shows that reconditioning the Spiral will help. It needs some sort of point on the end of the Spiral. I'm thinking of welding a piece of Plow edge on the end, then grinding it to match? As far as the spiral, I'm figuring the same with that by building it up, then trying to hand grind a contour into the spirals.
Reply:Lord knows the dumb things I've done in my bulletproof years digging holes with these. Some how I still have all my limbs and digits as I was shipped from the factory.
Reply:Mine had the same problem.  I'd grind and resharpen, but after one or two holes it would quit digging.  I have hardpack clay with sand mixed in.Ends up the sand was wearing away the sharpened point, and making it so there was no clearance angle on the cutter.  Then the auger just slid around without letting the cutting edge touch any new material.  The cutting edges "looked" sharp, but there was about 1/4" of flat on the bottom where it was riding.I tried hardfacing the leading edge.  That helped, but it was still worn away after 5 or 6 holes.I finally ended up brazing on some worn out, chipped, or broken TNMG carbide inserts.  I put these triangle point down, with one or two on each cutter (2" wide).This really did the trick.  The carbide will get polished, but it won't erode very fast.My post hole digger has a hydraulic cylinder for power downfeed.  This works ok, but can get you in trouble.  The pto doesn't turn backwards.  So if you power it down and get a load big enough the 3-point can't lift it.... oh ****!!  Get out the pipe wrench with the 6 foot cheater bar and back it out.Dynasty200DX w/coolmate1MM210MM VintageESAB miniarc161ltsLincoln AC225Victor O/A, Smith AW1ACutmaster 81IR 2475N7.5FPRage3Jancy USA1019" SBAEAD-200LE
Reply:Had same trouble few years back, part or problem was point and the other part was the auger was tapered. Found some wire same thickness as auger and welded to the flights. When the auger becomes tapered it becomes wedged and will not dig. It took awhile to figure what was happening, but once the bottom of auger was widen it worked great. Used some 3/16 diameter fence wire and stitch welded. This was on a tractor supply auger/post hole digger,. You can use PALCO 210 tungsten-carbide alloy to help reduce wear, from Palcoweldingsupply.comLast edited by guajilloweld03; 09-12-2015 at 09:28 AM.
Reply:Thanks Guys! I researched it through TSC and really came up with nothing that would fit! Obviously this is one of those deals where TSC changed suppliers and discontinued carrying Old Stock!What I did was took a piece of plow steel and welded it on as a tip. The tip on this was a blunt inch wide flat surface with a little taper still ground on one side. Next I built up the edges of the screw with some left over 5/32" 6011, finishing with some surplus Stainless rod. Followed the same procedure to extend the edges of the cutting bits because I have noticed that on new ones, these extend past the spiral. Then I spent about 2 hours carefully grinding the point, and the top of the screw edge, finishing with shaping and sharpening the built up cutting bits.Took it back to him, installed and dropped it into a hole he couldn't dig. Auger screwed itself in by its own weight with no problem! Left him to dig the last hole himself as I see where the "Diggers Hotline" spray marker came to within a foot of his desired second hole. Told him legally he needs to dig that by hand as "Diggers" spray mark doesn't guarantee exact Cable location!One thing I noticed was that a replacement spiral is available through another major Supplier but his is apparently welded into the end of the tube? I envisioned this as opening up another can of worms that I really didn't want to get into!
Reply:Glad you got it fixed. I had to modify my hand auger with some auger flighting, because when you are in dry soil or clay their is not enough down pressure to pull the auger in other than its weight and the weight of the soil and it polishes the surface and sits their spinning. I also had to cut back the bottom plate. Their is a bottom plate to keep the auger from digging aggressively in sandy soil and stalling out. As road kill already said the smallest rock will stop these things from penetrating because your down force is limited. You almost better off to make an auger of your own design. Sent from my SM-N915W8 using Tapatalk