Electra_Glide
Senior Member
Well, tomorrow I'm hooking an auger attachment to the skidsteer for the first time. Have to put in 20 12" diameter holes, 40" deep. Any tricks of the trade I should be aware of? :beatsme
Joe
Joe
-
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Auger advice
- Thread starter Electra_Glide
- Start date
digger242j
Administrator
Too late for that now--"3 days notice is the law", they tell you. And here it's PA One Call--800-242-1776
My advice was going to be: Have the gas company's emergency number on speed dial.
(Sorry I can't be more helpful. I never augered with a skid steer.. :beatsme )
Orchard Ex
Super Moderator
It's nice to have someone standing by for the first few to help you stay plumb when sinking the boom. Might not be much of a problem with the SSL, I used one on the loader of my TLB and I had to back up as the hole went down to stay plumb. The first ones weren't too straight.
RE: 811, We have another number here too, but I just read in one of the trade magazines that 811 was supposed to go national in April.:beatsme Supposed to connect to your local "one call" service. I'll try on my next locate to see if I get our "Miss Utility" service.
RE: 811, We have another number here too, but I just read in one of the trade magazines that 811 was supposed to go national in April.:beatsme Supposed to connect to your local "one call" service. I'll try on my next locate to see if I get our "Miss Utility" service.
digger242j
Administrator
That makes sense, inasmuch as the end of the arms do move in an arc, relative to the machine itself. I can see where you might have to move back a few inches as the auger gets deeper, just to stay plumb.
surfer-joe
Senior Member
Check your mounting brackets and hardware fairly often. Also hose fittings and connectors. Augers are awfully hard on this stuff. Keep it all together and tight.
Keep the teeth on at all times, don't see one missing and say to yourself "well I'll just finish up these next couple holes and then take care of it." Even a little bit of digging puts a lot of wear on a bare shank and then a tooth will never fit right again and you will always have problems with it. DO NOT weld teeth on!
Check the auger drive motor often for loose mounting bolts and leaks. Make sure the auger gearbox always has oil in it. It can be expensive to repair/replace because it ran out of lubricant.
Stay out of rocky conditions if you can at all. Small augers hate rock of nearly any size bigger than a marble.
Keep a couple of extra attachment retainer pins or bolts handy. In spite of your best efforts you will lose the one you have (and your auger) fifty miles from town around 9 in the morning, with several holes left to finish.
If you have to use auger drive extensions, keep a couple extra of those around too. The longer ones bend easily and drilling with a bent auger extension will drive you nuts quickly. You can replace bent sections of hexagonal extensions with hex steel from a steel supplier. Just cut off the coupler piece and weld a new section in. Don't forget, you got to drill a hole or two for the bottom retainer bolt. Still expensive, but not as bad as buying a whole new extension. I never had any luck trying to straighten a bent extension, but you can get them to a point where you can finish a job and then repair or replace it. I just wouldn't recommend this however.
Good augering conditions mean your power unit is going to work hard hydraulically, which means you need to keep an eye on the oil level and temperature. You should change the hydraulic oil and filter at half the recommended interval if you do steady auger work. Augers put a good strain on the system and because of their nature, the potential for burnt oil and debris from inside the motor is higher than most other applications other than maybe brooming or snow-blowing. This is particularly true for small machines like skid-steers with their smaller fluid reservoirs and lack of oil coolers.
I know some guys that say if you are going to auger some 12-36" holes, you better have at least two spare augers handy for when the first one runs amuck. I don't know that I'd go that far, especially if you do not get much auger work. But if you get a chance to pick up a cheap spare or two at auction or a sale of some kind, it's not a bad idea to get them.
Augers tend to taper down over time, a 24" becomes a 22" or worse. You can purchase new flight pieces and weld them in after cutting out the worn out pieces. Again, not a cheap fix, but better than buying a complete new auger. Some folks hardface the outer edges of the bottom portion of the flights right off the cutting edge. I'd recommend this, again if you are going to do a lot of auger work, but not otherwise. Hardface rod is expensive!
Take good care of your augers, and they will take pretty good care of you.
Good luck!
Keep the teeth on at all times, don't see one missing and say to yourself "well I'll just finish up these next couple holes and then take care of it." Even a little bit of digging puts a lot of wear on a bare shank and then a tooth will never fit right again and you will always have problems with it. DO NOT weld teeth on!
Check the auger drive motor often for loose mounting bolts and leaks. Make sure the auger gearbox always has oil in it. It can be expensive to repair/replace because it ran out of lubricant.
Stay out of rocky conditions if you can at all. Small augers hate rock of nearly any size bigger than a marble.
Keep a couple of extra attachment retainer pins or bolts handy. In spite of your best efforts you will lose the one you have (and your auger) fifty miles from town around 9 in the morning, with several holes left to finish.
If you have to use auger drive extensions, keep a couple extra of those around too. The longer ones bend easily and drilling with a bent auger extension will drive you nuts quickly. You can replace bent sections of hexagonal extensions with hex steel from a steel supplier. Just cut off the coupler piece and weld a new section in. Don't forget, you got to drill a hole or two for the bottom retainer bolt. Still expensive, but not as bad as buying a whole new extension. I never had any luck trying to straighten a bent extension, but you can get them to a point where you can finish a job and then repair or replace it. I just wouldn't recommend this however.
Good augering conditions mean your power unit is going to work hard hydraulically, which means you need to keep an eye on the oil level and temperature. You should change the hydraulic oil and filter at half the recommended interval if you do steady auger work. Augers put a good strain on the system and because of their nature, the potential for burnt oil and debris from inside the motor is higher than most other applications other than maybe brooming or snow-blowing. This is particularly true for small machines like skid-steers with their smaller fluid reservoirs and lack of oil coolers.
I know some guys that say if you are going to auger some 12-36" holes, you better have at least two spare augers handy for when the first one runs amuck. I don't know that I'd go that far, especially if you do not get much auger work. But if you get a chance to pick up a cheap spare or two at auction or a sale of some kind, it's not a bad idea to get them.
Augers tend to taper down over time, a 24" becomes a 22" or worse. You can purchase new flight pieces and weld them in after cutting out the worn out pieces. Again, not a cheap fix, but better than buying a complete new auger. Some folks hardface the outer edges of the bottom portion of the flights right off the cutting edge. I'd recommend this, again if you are going to do a lot of auger work, but not otherwise. Hardface rod is expensive!
Take good care of your augers, and they will take pretty good care of you.
Good luck!
Woodstock
Well-Known Member
I have a belltec post hole digger on my JD 328 with a nine and a twelve inch auger, they are a rock and dirt auger. It has rock saw teeth on it and is heavy duty. It will dig through solid rock, but you have to take your time and work the auger in circles, It seams to cut easier. My augers have welds (hard serfesing) on the side of it and I have dug over 1,000 holes in rock and hardly any wear to the auger (welds).
Electra_Glide
Senior Member
Well, the job is done. No real difficulties or surprises. No utilities were harmed.
I now think it will be VERY difficult to ever use one of those 2-man augers again. I feel the same way about jack hammers after the first time I used a hydraulic breaker.
Joe
I now think it will be VERY difficult to ever use one of those 2-man augers again. I feel the same way about jack hammers after the first time I used a hydraulic breaker.
Joe
digger242j
Administrator
Glad to hear it went well.
So, the question now becomes, what tricks of the trade do you have to share with us?
So, the question now becomes, what tricks of the trade do you have to share with us?
Electra_Glide
Senior Member
No great pearls of wisdom. Went slow and took my time. The biggest trick was what to do with the spoils. Things seems to go much smoother when I could simply move the machine straight ahead or straight back to clear the bit. Much less swinging of the bit when trying to recenter it on the hole as compared to turning the machine to the side.
The only other trick I never really figured out was how to get the spoils to "stick" to the auger. The soil was quite dry, and most of it would slip off the auger as it was being lifted from the hole. Had to clean up all the holes by hand, but I don't think there's any way around that.
What is it they say about practice makes perfect? I have 5 more holes to do on another job next week...
Joe
surfer-joe
Senior Member
Quote: "The only other trick I never really figured out was how to get the spoils to "stick" to the auger. The soil was quite dry, and most of it would slip off the auger as it was being lifted from the hole. Had to clean up all the holes by hand, but I don't think there's any way around that."
I saw this on a couple of 24" augers digging in dry sand. The contractor had a welder install a strip of 1/4" X 3" just on the inner edge of the auger flights up abut a foot or so. This prevented the dirt from sliding off into the hole, yet it still flew off the flights pretty good when the auger was reversed at high speed. Smaller auger might only need 2" or even 1" or 1 1/2" to work. You might try this. I don't know if anyone else on the forum does this or has heard of it being done.
Good luck!
I saw this on a couple of 24" augers digging in dry sand. The contractor had a welder install a strip of 1/4" X 3" just on the inner edge of the auger flights up abut a foot or so. This prevented the dirt from sliding off into the hole, yet it still flew off the flights pretty good when the auger was reversed at high speed. Smaller auger might only need 2" or even 1" or 1 1/2" to work. You might try this. I don't know if anyone else on the forum does this or has heard of it being done.
Good luck!
norrodbh
Well-Known Member
Hi Joe,
JUST ADD WATER !
On getting that loose stuff out of the bottom, just add water.
Usually not a problem with the clay we have around here. I did a pole building last fall and it was loose stuff. I asked the customer if his garden hose would reach out to the site. He got it out, and I had him start adding water to the holes dug. I went back, and the mud comes right out !
Let me know if you need a portable water tank. I have a 325 gal portable tank that will slip into your pickup or dump. I need to get rid of it ! Free- you haul !
Electra_Glide
Senior Member
Oh well, so much for more practice...
Got about 3/4 of the way through the first hole and one of the locking rings for the quick-coupler on the auxiliary hydraulic circuit on my machine broke...:crying Ended up doing the rest by hand. It sucked...:cussing
Joe
Nicks
New Member
Tlb
Does anyone have an idea whee i can get a backhoe auger attachment for CNH B90B TLB?
Does anyone have an idea whee i can get a backhoe auger attachment for CNH B90B TLB?
Nicks
New Member
Does anyone have an idea whee i can get a backhoe auger attachment for CNH B90B TLB?