digging holes

i just bought a rotary hammer with a spade bit
i have to dig about be 40 holes, 4"-12" in diameter, 24"-48" deep
i bought pic related and have my trusty digging bar.
did i do good diy¿

250 Piece Survival Gear First Aid Kit

LifeStraw Water Filter for Hiking and Preparedness

250 Piece Survival Gear First Aid Kit

  1. 11 months ago
    Anonymous

    Looks dumb, use shovel.
    Call before you dig.

    • 11 months ago
      Anonymous

      thanks for the input

      you couldn't just rent an auger?

      Rocky, tightly compacted soil. i have a gas powered auger, it works well with smaller bits

      • 11 months ago
        Anonymous

        why not rent a bobcat with an auger. same as everyone else...

        • 11 months ago
          Anonymous

          this is going to be a long project, lasting months. simply not practical

          • 11 months ago
            Anonymous

            but you are renting the machine and the auger so you aren't spending months drilling for sonotubes ??

            • 11 months ago
              Anonymous

              there's land to be cleared, positions of the holes to be determined etc. it's not simply digging 40 odd holes and calling it done.

              • 11 months ago
                Anonymous

                buy a hand auger then
                one with clams

              • 11 months ago
                Anonymous

                augers have a hard time in my soil with large rocks. my gas powered auger can do 2" bits fine, but barely work for 4" and above. and i just have ptsd with it doing a number on my wrists.
                that's the reason i went with a sds-max rotary hammer with a spade bit attachment. idea being to loosen the soil first and then go in with a showel and post hole digger

              • 11 months ago
                Anonymous

                post hole digger, not hand auger, w/e thats what i meant
                gonna be hard to reach 4 feet down to loosen shit up with the chip gun

              • 11 months ago
                Anonymous

                >hard to reach 4 feet down with a rotary hammer
                valid concern, since the spade bit is about 17".
                from my experience so far, the rocky part is mostly the first two feet, and below it's clay. so, i am hoping that i won't be needing the hammer once i have a good start. i could even deploy the auger once i have dug up the top layer, but i think i will end up using the post hole digger

              • 11 months ago
                Anonymous

                I feel for ya. The clay soil here when not the perfect moisture content is immune to drill augers. Have to time planting trees with the rain.

              • 11 months ago
                Anonymous

                >there's land to be cleared
                gee, ya think having a bobcat to help with that might be a good idea?

                this is going to be a long project, lasting months. simply not practical

                >long project, lasting months
                so take a loan and buy one
                sell it lightly used when you're done
                a dealer who also sells used may well help line you up a buyer off the bat
                (insure it, by the way)

              • 11 months ago
                Anonymous

                ya, with the right attachment, a bobcat would be pretty useful with land clearing and it will certainly have more power with the auger. i will look around for a good deal, but the whole enterprise is a bit daunting. especially when considering if something were to break. the risk is a bit much to take as i have no interest in owning one for the long term

              • 11 months ago
                Anonymous

                It's customary to buy then resell for major projects and if you take your time there's no reason to break anything.

                What's the smartest way to do your workflow?

                Can you clear the land first with rental equipment in one shot then do the rest at leisure?

              • 11 months ago
                Anonymous

                You need to optimize your order of operations.
                Do all your land clearing.
                Then mark out the location of all your holes.
                Then rent a backhoe with an augur attachment.
                At this point it actually is a matter of simply digging 40 holes and calling it done.
                You could probably get all the holes done with a 1 day rental.

          • 11 months ago
            Anonymous

            Can you not predrill the holes then fill at leisure?

            • 11 months ago
              Anonymous

              >Can you not predrill the holes then fill at leisure?
              op said no, they cannot.

              • 11 months ago
                Anonymous

                >op said no, they cannot.
                Show me where he said that.

  2. 11 months ago
    Anonymous

    you couldn't just rent an auger?

  3. 11 months ago
    Anonymous

    anyone here have any experience with a rotary hammer with the spade bit attachment? i will get mine today and will know soon enough.. will update this thread when i have something to report back.

    • 11 months ago
      Anonymous

      Once the hole is started, let the drill work. If anything, you'll be doing more work holding it in place as a light breaking action than you will anything else.

  4. 11 months ago
    Anonymous

    whats wrong with using a pickaxe? seems less stressful than using a roto-hammer to dig a hole.
    ive never used a roto hammer to dig a hole though...

    • 11 months ago
      Anonymous

      a chip gun with a spade bit is way faster and easier than a pick axe

  5. 11 months ago
    Anonymous

    op here, i am thinking of getting a rural king tractor, rk24h

    the rotary hammer did a decent job, but the end result still took a bit of effort and i just don't see doing that 40 odd more times

    plus, a proper tractor with a three point hitch will come real handy on my property in the long run

    now i need to get rid of my john deere 1 series. any suggestions on how to sell? it has about 55 hours total on it

    • 11 months ago
      Anonymous

      If you can justify the expense tractors are fantastic. Way easier to drag trees and make trenches. However they are expensive and you may not use it as often as you think.

Leave a Reply to Anonymous Cancel reply

Your email address will not be published. Required fields are marked *