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Auger attachment for 68,000 lb. excavator - 2 ft. hole by 20 deep

Md00738

Member
Joined
Oct 15, 2016
Messages
18
Location
Iowa
Need to dig some 2 ft. wide by 20 ft. deep piling holes. Would like to use my 290G Deere. Who makes augers to clip on the excavator. Or do I have to use a drill when going that deep? Guessing I have to take the arm off to run this attachment and lift the bit out when full of dirt every 3-5 deep deep? Digga is the only one I'm finding. Like to rent it for 2-3 days kinda deal.
 

Legdoc

Senior Member
Joined
Oct 6, 2007
Messages
464
Location
south texas
Just a thought although certainly not as deep. I drilled 28- 2'wide shafts 12' deep with my 580M in a sand/clay mix soil with no difficulty. That was my limit due to height limitations. The extendahoe worked excellent for compensating the lift arc. I only had to purchase the auger and extensions. Used my Beltec motor. The key was lift out and cleaning. I built a hinged sleeve for cave-ins but did not need it. If the shafts need under reamed or belled it is a different animal. We made a swivel that pinned at the bucket pivot and put quick connect fittings on the bucket circuit.
 

Junkyard

Senior Member
Joined
Jun 5, 2016
Messages
3,621
Location
Claremore, OK
Occupation
Field Mechanic
LoDril makes what you are referring to but it’s much to expensive and involved for a quick swap. How many holes total? I’d be looking for a drilling contractor to do them. By the time you get tooling etc plus learn the ins and outs they’ll be long gone.

I can tell ya anything you want to know about drilling holes...... :)

Edit...in regard to drilling a 24” hole. You won’t get 3-5’ per bite. Lucky to get a foot maybe 18” each bite unless you’ve got a really long auger with lots of flight. 24” augers don’t have enough flighting to hold that much material. Plus as you drill it reduces density of material so it’ll grow so to speak as you go down.

If you have tons of holes and future work that’s a different story...
 

Legdoc

Senior Member
Joined
Oct 6, 2007
Messages
464
Location
south texas
Junkyard is spot on. My situation was unique. I basically had everything but the 24" auger and one extension. After each shaft was sunk we placed 30'-38' 12"x12" pilings with a picker and finished with 1 cu. yd. of concrete in each location. It was my own project as specified by an engineer. I could not find a contractor to do the work as required. So we did it. Other than a few ranch projects I will sell the auger.
 

Md00738

Member
Joined
Oct 15, 2016
Messages
18
Location
Iowa
Know anybody around the Des Moines, IA or Omaha, NE area that has a LoDril? I don't want to get my machine "trapped" down in there and can't lift it out w a cave in.
 

Kiwi-truckwit

Senior Member
Joined
Nov 20, 2016
Messages
315
Location
New Zealand
There's an outfit around here that drills much larger holes with a pendulum auger on 200 class machines..... I'm talking 80' deep by 4' diameter.
This is achieved by a pinned sliding extensio swn bar, and a worker on the ground to pull the pins as it's extended/retracted. All of these attachments can be hired by another company, maybe there's something similar in your area?
Contract Landscapes (2).jpg
 

Junkyard

Senior Member
Joined
Jun 5, 2016
Messages
3,621
Location
Claremore, OK
Occupation
Field Mechanic
The average rig would do what you need easily whether it was truck or crawler mounted. 24” and 20’ deep isn’t all that difficult. What kind of ground is it? Any chance of water or need to case the hole? Rock that would need cored? New know what you’ll find down there sometimes. Those potential issues could create a couple more hurdles. I’d bet there are a couple places within a a few hours that would do a smaller job like that.
 

Junkyard

Senior Member
Joined
Jun 5, 2016
Messages
3,621
Location
Claremore, OK
Occupation
Field Mechanic
They’re big, I don’t know if they’ll mess with a little project. If they do....it won’t be cheap!
 

dirty4fun

Senior Member
Joined
Dec 29, 2010
Messages
1,188
Location
N. IL
In Geneseo Il just 30 miles from Iowa is Blackhawk Foundation they do that kind of work.
 

Raildudes dad

Senior Member
Joined
Dec 29, 2007
Messages
411
Location
Grand Rapids MI
I just had another thought. Do you have a relatively close traffic signal contractor. Our local guy has the ability to auger up to 48 inch by 20 feet deep casings for traffic signal strain poles (those big steel poles that the traffic signal wires are attached to). He can drill most soils as long as it doesn't have big rocks. Over 48", the closest guy is 3 hours away and the price goes way up.
 

Theweldor

Senior Member
Joined
Feb 17, 2018
Messages
556
Location
Western, NY
Occupation
The Village Idiot
The key to this whole project is what type of material you have to drill thru. I have seen down hole hammers used at 5 ft.
 

Theweldor

Senior Member
Joined
Feb 17, 2018
Messages
556
Location
Western, NY
Occupation
The Village Idiot
I have seen them with quick hitches that went right on the end of the stick that would easily do that. The only trouble is I don't remember who made them. I will try to find out tomorrow. I think one brand was Hoe-Drill.
 
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