I didn't die (obviously...). I didn't take a trip to the ER. I didn't even get seriously hurt... but damn that thing is dangerous.





My wife and I were installing two carports in our rocky New England property. You seriously can't dig more than a six inches without hitting multiple bowling ball-sized rocks on this property, and while the labor involved isn't an issue, the amount of time is. Considering that the anchors for the carports were about 2 and 1/2 feet long, and there were six of them per carport, and I didn't have access to a backhoe or any other power digging tools, I knew this part of the project was going to be a test of patience. After digging holes for three of the anchors and creating a new pile of stones in the yard, I figured there had to be a better way. So, a quick trip to Harbor Freight for a relatively cheap power tool sounded like a good idea. I figured I could use the auger to quickly drill holes in the area where the anchors would go, and widen the holes as needed to remove rocks. Win/win, right?





http://www.harborfreight.com/hp-gasoline-auger-powerhead-with-4-in-bit-60622.html





First, the thing requires 80-90w gear oil. It would have been nice if it said that somewhere on the box in case I needed to buy some before I got home, but luckily I just happened to have a bottle. Setup was really easy, but I quickly found out that the machine is very awkwardly balanced and not easy to control. It's all fine and dandy while you're drilling into soft or at least consistent dirt, but God forbid you hit a rock or a root. The first time I did, it nearly snapped my left wrist. I learned very quickly after that to stick with 1/2 throttle, and as soon as the auger starts to vibrate, be ready for it to spin in your arms. I also found that bracing it with my left thigh rather than my left wrist would give me enough time to let go of the throttle before damage was done. Some kind of clutch or even shear pins would be nice - I'd take replacing 20 shear pins in one day over snapping my wrist.





All in all, it worked out ok. Not great, but better than digging in this horrendous New England rocky soil by hand. Next time I'll just borrow a backhoe, but I can see this thing being handy for a few odd projects here and there.





In before girly man / real men dig holes by hand. I have too many hobbies to have time for that crap these days.

 

I too learned the hard way that a one man auger is a bad idea.

We used a two man auger to install guy wire anchors for telephone poles.
One day two guys were using one and one guys hands slipped.    The handle removed the other guys kneecap.    Messed him up for life.

Try to cobble up an A-frame, tow bar style mount for the  front of a fourwheeler, or jeep.
  something tougher than your wrists and elbows.

I broke 4 ribs with a power hand auger and won't ever use one again. I'll rent a tractor with a hydraulic auger on it if I need one.

I can imagine how awkward one like that that would be.

We rented one when we built my brother's deck, but it had sort of a roll-cage around it and was mounted on wheels, so you just rolled it over where you wanted the hole to be and leaned hard onto the big old lever that moved the auger head up and down to drill, so that one worked out well.  Holding one like OP bought by myself, no thanks.

Yea pretty good way to get fucked up.

I pretended I knew how to run a tow-behind cement mixer one time...Picked me up and threw me about 6'...in front of about 15 laughing asshats.

Good times

I can use the "two man" auger by myself and dig a hole in about 10 minutes.   Or I can fire up the "idiot sticks" and dig the same hole in about 30 minutes.   I feel about the same either way.  

One man augers are almost worse than a damn Milwaukee Hole Hawg.

Guess how I know you don't live near mountains...



 

Ah yes, The Art of the Power Auger.

Diigging bar and sharpshooter not included with instructional video

2 man augers can be a bad idea.

Post hole digger was more efficient than an auger for a deck I helped someone put in.

It's one of the few tools I've used that I wish came with MORE safety precautions / instructions. I think the design by itself is crap (too awkward to hang on to, nothing stopping it from spinning out of your hands), but every tool can be dangerous if you don't know what you're doing. However, the vast majority of tools are safe enough as long as you're not a raving idiot. Don't stick your feet under the lawn mower, don't mow over loose debris; don't cut your own cord with the reciprocating saw; wear safety glasses if you're using a Dremel attachment that's likely to shatter, etc.





The auger just had no warning the first time it took off. I'm really lucky that I didn't do major damage. My wrist is still sore 3 days later, but that's a small price to pay.



In the end, it DID make the project go a bit faster, especially being able to quickly unearth rocks in hard soil. In hindsight, next time I'll just borrow a backhoe.

Do yourself a favor, the next time, and see if anyone has a "post holer" to rent.


It looks like a vacuum truck mixed with a pressure washer.  And that's what it is.

Was a wood fence contractor . Wore out a dozen in the central florida soil. most holes would go down in 10 seconds until you hit something.
 Surgery on both shoulders 20 years later.

Jack hammer. I was digging ditches to lay plumbing for a pool company a few months ago. It was a new housing development. I don't know where they got the fill dirt but it was mostly fist to head sized rocks. The jackhammer saved me days of labor. Looking back now, I should have dug by hand. I was laid off after two weeks because they had no more work for me.

Just looking at the link I would not touch that thing.

I won't use those. I bought a skid steer and a backhoe and auger attachments.

I used one of these style for setting posts for a livestock shelter (not completely enclosed, not completely open either).  even in loamy soil, the value of the long pole to counteract the torque was very apparent.  

Related PSA:  Using a gasoline powered ice auger to drill through 2 feet of ice while drunk, can be an eye opening experience.  It's also quite entertaining to watch so I'm told.  

The best "gas" powered augers come attached to a tractor/skid loader via hydrolic or PTO lines.

Lol, this. The very first time I was introduced to the HoleHawg I was under a house. The drill caught, spun my wrists around where I couldn't release the trigger. I had to kick the plug out of the extension cord. That was 30 years ago and I still give it a wide berth.

Using a two man auger damn near killed me and the guy I was working with.



 

Or, bubba it out yourself with a pressure washer and water pump.
Works great on tree stumps, putting in dock pilings, etc
(assuming you have someplace to dump the water i guess )

You mean a one-man merry-go-round that drags its "riders"?

I bought one of those a few years ago to drill holes for fence posts.  Yea, the first time using it was enlightening to say the least.  I shut it down after the first time it nearly broke my wrist, remove the small handle and made a big one out of a set of old motorcycle handlebars (the wide HD "buckhorn" bars that everyone takes off as soon as they get it home).  That gave me some extra grip to hang onto it, they're also wide enough for two people.

Same here. Had them pick me up and throw me off and I aint light.

Thats one of the reasons I live here in Florida, you can dig a hole with a spoon.....

transported a guy who managed to take out his eye with a auger, apparently the shaft splintered and broke up.

Ran one all the time when I used to build fence in college.

You learn to hang on tight real quick.

Damn. Most of the time safety gear is for faggots, but once in a while you'll see an intelligent red-blooded heterosexual man using it.

This might be a good project to hire out

I know a guy who got the pin that holds the auger onto the shaft inserted through his kneecap and had to have several surgeries to fix it.  He went bear hunting a month or so after that and everyone wanted to be his hunting buddy, in case they needed to outrun a bear.

I rented one of these and had no issues drilling about 25 holes.  Ran it by myself back when I was 35.  The soil here is easy, but I did hit a Walnut root 3' down on one holes that stopped the auger.  Had to use a pipe wrench to reverse it back out of the root, and then cut the root with the end of a Johnson bar.  Glad you made it, OP, I couldn't imagine trying one in rocky soil.

The one I used to use had a clutch so that the damn thing would not kill you if the auger got bound up.  It worked, kind of, sometimes.

Screw that, rent a dingo.