How Many Times can we get this Post Hold Digger Stuck???

John Deere 2038R has issues with a 3 point post hole digger.
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[@RockhillfarmYT]

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[@mattnicol8882]

I have the same issue with my 2038r and County Line 3point auger. Only it was my hard Missouri clay soil letting the auger pull itself down like a screw biting into wood. Here is how I fixed it 1. Adjust the drop-rate for the 3point to as slow as it will drop (test/set this before digging with implement in free air 2. Stack a mix of 6x6 and 4x4 pieces under the 3point arms before starting to dig the hole. This helped the most. When the auger sucked itself down those blocks did 2 things. They either stopped downward movement and while the auger spun it broke loose the dirt at that level. Or the compression of those boards provided some spring-force that helped my tractor lift the auger back up as soon as I stop the pto from spinning

[@anthonyg6924]

Agreed! I just posted something similar. Then scrolled down and saw your post. We'll said sir! Great workaround.

[@bryonmorgan971]

The yoke needs to be connected to a hole farther away from the back of your tractor. Use the hole that positions the yoke in the most upright position for better mechanical advantage.

[@HamiltonvilleFarm]

Still beats digging by hand! 😂

[@Jebedia47]

You're a brave man for putting those post holes so close to the side of the house. Could have taken some of the risk out by putting them about a foot away and the deck built to meet the side of the house. I guess that's what the customer wanted, but it usually doesn't hurt to suggest alternate approaches to certain tasks that could possibly damage surroundings.

[@raincloud54]

Not to mention the guy standing right next to the drill. Sketchy at best

[@jphickory522]

I use a Danuser brand PHD. Never had issue with getting the augers stuck. I go about 6” at a time and pull almost completely out every 6” the auger advances to spin soil off the flights.

[@Brockjn]

Always good to see the best tractors ever made to help out a John Deere. :). Only advice I could think of would be to start with a smaller diameter auger where the tractor will be powerful enough to lift a 6" auger out then go in with the 9" and clean the holes up and less wear on machine.

[@T_Humphries]

The only alternative I know of to stop the auger from getting sucked in is to dig the hole with a set of manual post hole diggers!! It's just part of it. The only tip I can offer is once you reach the depth you want stop the PTO and carefully lift the auger out with the flights full of dirt, move the tractor away from the hole and click the PTO on so it will empty the flights. Just helps get all the loose stuff out of the hole. Not sure if the steep angle of the flights of your auger will hold dirt like I'm talking about or not but give it a try

[@falk225]

I had the same problem. I got stuck several times the first time using my auger. I throttled down for more control. Big mistake. Crank that puppy full blast! The 3pt isn't strong enough and it will suck it down, but with the throttle up it will start spitting dirt out when it hits bottom instead stalling. It's scary at first, especially when you are gun shy about getting stuck, but I maxed out my PTO speed I haven't been stuck since. Spin fast, lower it slowly. Kubota B2320 (23hp)

[@briangustafson3414]

I use a handyman jack when it gets stuck. Much faster than reversing with a pipe wrench. Put a board on front side of hole. Jack up on front lip of gearbox. Works well unless you’re all the way down.

[@PineyGroveHomestead]

Brock, I don't know if this is the issue, but your upper flutes are much farther apart than mine (Titan) especially at the top. It seems when yours catches and wants to dig down, it does it quickly due to the flutes configured like that. Mine seem to give me more time to stop it from going down. Or it could be your soil is more rocky than ours and catching a rock propels it downward??

[@healthyboy2978]

Finally I found that their is also a post hole digger available for tractor

[@TheMakersMarkTSF]

It is funny watching you in this video; I found Tony's Tractor Adventure by your referral. Tony put out an excellent "how-to" video recently on 3-point augers; I suggest you watch that. I only say this because I had the same issues you were having and came back home and later found that video. I then went back to digging more holes and had a lot greater success. Thank you for another great video!

[@harverawls636]

I have a 55hp tractor and have property in Georgia with lots of red clay and tree roots. What I have found is to go slow, dig just a little and rise it up, do not let it get a good bite . Be ready to pull it up as soon as you feel it really grabbing. Also with a small tractor and if you have a bucket on the front, load it with dirt to give you some weight on the front . I have never gotten it stuck doing this.

[@RockhillfarmYT]

Good tips. Technique definitely matters. I bet your Tractor has at least 2500 pounds of lift on the 3 point. Mine is 1200 pounds Everything else about this little machine is pretty good, but the three-point lift is terrible

[@gregs8706]

Morning Brock, I would love to find out the fix for this issue as well. I turned my PTO drop knob down and took my time as well pulling up more frequently on the PTO and cleaning out no improvement stuck also so can't wait to hear more ideas. Great video, keep them coming.

[@RandomOkieFarms]

I don’t think I will be getting a post hole diggers lol. You were brave that close to the house. Enjoyed the video 😊

[@anthonyg6924]

Brock, Would blocks of wood under the 3point link arms and cross bracing set to the proper hight help? Set hight just before bottoming out the auger. Thought being, it'll seat itself before bottoming out/stall, keep spinning and purge the spoils instead of stalling. This way you can still lift back up by way of 3point power.

[@frijoli9579]

I don't know how many times it got stuck, but I know how often I laughed!

[@RockhillfarmYT]

All of them

[@donaldstrishock3923]

Hey Brock & Helper, what you guys have here is the perfect 20th century " PERFECT Torture & Killer Machine". My experiences has been very similar using "ole Killer". With precise RPM 's, down drop speed dialed in, a SLIP-clutch installed, a GOOD Helper on directive instructions, ultra precise timing on the engagement & disengament( never let go of leavers or switches), ;--- Minor SUCCESS can be Expected. By keeping a "trusty" pry-barmitsfa to counter- rotate the bit ( near the top U-joint) [ requiring temporary guard removal] TOTAL Success CAN be ACHIEVED. Or just BUY a hydraulic unit for 2500.°°$ and " PRESTO, yer cooken with gas"-:-= this is my goal !! Thank you for the great Video Sir and happy safe auguring.

[@HillsideAcres]

I got one of them, and regally hate it. Hydraulic loader mount unit was very solid investment with over a mile of fence and over 100 posts in new barn. The 3 point was good to have in the small barn where the hydraulic unit wouldn’t make the overhead clearance that’s about it.

[@kdegraa]

Front hydraulic mounted augers are the way to go but they cost around three times as much as a 3 point auger.

[@HillsideAcres]

@@kdegraa in my ground it’s the difference between getting something done and not!

[@rgd2598]

Move your wishbone on the (two bottom links) connection at the top where it meets the top link out as far as you can, but still able to lift out of the ground. That will give you more leverage as it’s at its weakest where it is now…. But gives the most lift height. Also when mine sucks down , I’ll give it more power to try not to stall…. Then when it bottoms out, it will start breaking the screw loose and pulling the dirt out, freeing the bit.( usually but not always ). Then I’ll call for my wife to come unscrew it. She’s good at that. Lol

[@peterkoster5053]

As someone else mentioned you can adjust your 3pt rate of drop so it's almost all the way closed/restricted. You also have the 3pt bracket on the closest hole to the tractor.... you should try to have that bracket in the furthest hole back that way you have more leverage to help pull it out. Hope that makes sense.

[@houstonfirefox]

I agree. My Tym T454 has a knob in front of and below the front seat to adjust the 3pt drop rate. When I first got the tractor the 3pt wouldn't go down and it took me a bit to figure out why. Great tip.

[@mikegraziano1562]

I think you need to move the tractor about 1/2 the way down to keep the hole plumb, by the end you were at quite an angle. Your helper needs to be further away from the auger!

[@lifeonthe80]

what a great implement to have!

[@BigDaddyAddyMS]

I bought a Ryobi electric handheld auger because I didn’t want to deal with this crap. It digs just as fast, easier to position, and has reverse.

[@madmax53]

In the same boat with the drought here in Nebraska. I drilled 45 16" diameter holes in the middle of September. I had to use a 9" pilot hole first than the 16" to break up the solid ground (which I had to remove by hand) than drill the hole the rest of the way down. Took me 2 days with a skid steer but got it done.

[@kyootfox]

I know in Ohio I would get the same, but it was due to a Clay base about 1-2 ft under the topsoil, that stuff was sticky

[@davidn4622]

Slow the pto drop/drag rate to almost nothing make sure RPM are at 540 on PTO. (That keeps your hydraulic pressure up to fight the Drag. Clean out often move your pin on your yoke out so the auger does not have the leverage

[@robertharffman4876]

I've dug hundreds of holes with one of those, bush hog brand. Been stuck like that a few times, tractor that I was using was a ford 2000 with live pto ( 2 stage ) clutch. Easy to stop pto by completely pushing clutch pedal. I think your tractor has a independent pto which has to be disengaged to stop the pto from turning

[@donutman3089]

Many of us have done that too. Like a lot of people, adjust that pin out to the furthest hole for max pulling up leverage, the way you have it is set up for max travel up and down. The last time I did this was for a mail box project and I tried rocking it back and forth a little while spinning it to help break up the clay around it. Don't do that. Ended up turning my now stuck auger into a banana shape. Had to break out the pipe wrench and cheater bar to unscrew it and broke the pipe wrench from all the torque being put on it. Can't tell you how much I hate that 3 point hole digger. Have seen recently here where there is a low flow loader mounted auger. At least you can reverse that one! These 3 point ones should be outlawed.

[@wildbill23c]

Wonder if the loader mounted auger would have the same problems? Getting the auger stuck is one main reason I don't care to have a 3 point auger for my tractor. Well that and my tractor is so small it wouldn't have enough power for it in the first place...I'd probably get 1 hole partly done, and get the thing stuck and that's where it would permanently stay LOL.

[@wildbill23c]

That's the main reason I don't care to have a 3 point post hole digger for my tractor, the 2nd point being my tractor is a sub-compact, it wouldn't run one very well in the first place....with the type of soil in my area I'd probably get about a foot to 18" deep and it would get stuck there permanently.

[@marvindiamonjr.9631]

Sure beats digging them by hand!

[@RockhillfarmYT]

Yes sir

[@FireDude13]

I had been kicking around the idea of buying a post hole digger for my little tractor... but I'm thinking now that I should wait until I get something bigger. I fear I might have the same issue with my soil as once you get down a couple feet it is clay. I'll check around the area and see what kind of luck other folks have had. I'm going to have some major upgrades and replacement of a lot of my fence posts around the farm. Don't want to be digging those by hand... lol! Thanks for sharing Brock. 🤠 PS - A lesser man might make a snide quip like asking Billy if those were his legs or if he was riding a chicken... but I'm not like that, so I won't. 🐔

[@louiebillia1857]

I bet it isn't rock that you are running into but rather clay. Here in New Mexico we have the same issue, and when we are digging and run into undisturbed clay the tracor acts the same way, and the "dirt" coming out looks exactly the same.

[@metroplexchl]

Seems like he was wanting those post holes awfully deep for that small of a deck. May be easier next time to stop about 3' down or so before the rock layer grabs the auger. 3' deep post holes seem deep enough for a deck of that size. But I may be wrong!

[@OldIronAcres]

This video seems to have drawn out many opinions! Thought I wanted to get a post hole digger like this.... but now I'm scarred!!! I don't usually have a helper. -- seems like it's great when everything is going smooth!

[@RockhillfarmYT]

Still conditions make all the difference Clean dirt and you can dig a lot of holes in a hurry. Rocky soil and It can be a nightmare

[@janskoropinski10]

Get one for your track loader.

[@RockhillfarmYT]

I would love to have one for the skid loader. I have just spent too much on equipment this year

[@adamm2716]

your operator should pick up on the auger just like backing off when drilling, he's putting constant pressure on it making it dig too fast

[@RockhillfarmYT]

Surely you can tell that the tractor is not pushing that auger down First the tractor doesn’t even have down pressure, the only pressure that can be put down is gravity Second it’s sitting there spinning and not going down. Maybe going down 2 inches a minute and then when it grabs it sucks the whole thing down a foot in a few seconds. I’m pulling up on the auger while it’s sucking down. There’s not enough lift force to counteract the auger pulling itself down

[@adamm2716]

@@RockhillfarmYT i was talking about your helper, he was pushing down on the auger. he could lift up on it to let it catch up instead of pushing down.

[@grantofat6438]

42

[@toddcaskey9984]

You can always hand dig them 🤪

[@bigsway4414]

I don’t think there is a better way to do it if you don’t have a reversible auger…

[@mattnicol8882]

Here is a link to a video of someone else pretty much using the method I described in my previous comment. kzbin.info/www/bejne/iIjaiIKrgpdnbpY

[@rodallen1860]

Buy a bigger tractor

[@raincloud54]

Title should be: How NOT to Use a Post Hole Digger

[@RockhillfarmYT]

It basically was. Also with no reverse feature and very limited lift capacity on the three-point they can be really challenging in different soil conditions

[@raincloud54]

@@RockhillfarmYT I dont know of any “reverse feature” on any PTO. I’ve drilled hundreds of holes in soft soil to shale rock. I never lower the three point more than a foot at the drill at one timw. Let it drill and lower to the next level. Even better if it has draft control