Ryobi Post Hole Digger: Can a 40v Cordless Electric Battery-Powered Auger Live Up to its Claims?

[@JohnAlexanderBerry]

Great video Frank. Very well presented !

[@MIoffGridAdventures]

Thank you!

[@jimharvard]

i flip houses and purchased the Ryobi digger to build a deck and deck ramp. i drilled 12 holes 36"x6" on one 40 volt battery. i have two batteries since i also have the 40 volt weed eater which also works very well. the post hole digger does work very well. i'm in Pittsburgh and all of this area is shale rock below about 30" from the surface. this digger has an automatic "kick-back" shut-off which works very well. if the auger gets stuck on a tree root or rock, the digger will shut off immediately. i've used gas augers and when they hit a root or rock, the operator can get thrown on the ground by the torque. the Ryobi auger is rather expensive at around $450 dollars, however, once you dig a few holes with this machine, you will NOT regret the investment. this machine will dig a 36"x6" hole in regular soil in about one minute. if you keep the machine running and use your legs to lift the auger, the screw will remove most of the dirt from the hole. i did have a two handle hand post-hole digger handy and it is helpful to remove dirt and rocks from the hole the auger digs. if you are going to install fence posts or a deck, you MUST buy this tool.

[@MIoffGridAdventures]

Thanks so much for the comment! Glad to know others are loving it too. I used it the other day again and it was so easy! Those batteries last forever too!

[@moerftown1]

Thank you for making this video a pleasure to watch. x And no back ground music to annoy us. I bought myself the AEG 36V Fusion Post Hole Digger, which still needs assembling. Being an older female - you gave me the courage to try out my new tool.

[@MIoffGridAdventures]

Thanks for watching and for your encouragement. I haven't heard of AEG, but I hope it works well for you. Batteries have come a long way. I have two Greenworks snow blowers (2 different sizes/styles) and am shocked at how well they work and how long the batteries last. With every battery-powered tool I own (and there's a few), I always wear out long before the batteries do. Let me know in the comments how it works for you after you try it!

[@garrisonbuildz]

Great video thank you for taking the time to post this very easy to watch. I hope your back feels better.

[@MIoffGridAdventures]

Thanks for watching and for your kind comments.

[@tholi1052]

Thanks for the video. Good information. It would be interesting to see a comparison between this Ryobi and the EGO earth auger. Those appear to be the best two battery powered augers available today at about the same price point.

[@MIoffGridAdventures]

Hadn’t heard of that one. I’ll do a lot more testing this spring though. Thanks for watching and the comment.

[@egibbs1623]

My main concern is function in hard soil. My problem I have is that my home is new construction and they put some kind of material around the foundation of the house to make the dirt more stable for scaffolding. With that being said, this makes the top couple inches of soil almost like a clay. You're able to break through it with a digging bar, but I'm curious about your soil density in this particular instance.

[@MIoffGridAdventures]

Thanks for watching. After using the auger a few more times, I believe their claims are accurate in saying it will do as much as a 52cc gas auger will do. It is very powerful. I had it on the lowest setting in the video here. It has 3 levels of power. I'm planning to add extensions to it to dig 25' down soon and I expect it to handle the job well.

[@johnmcginnis5201]

Have the Ryobi. Does the job. Fact I find it very good for planting small saplings and bushes. Only complaint I have is the battery consumption is pretty high so have plenty of batteries if you have a big fencing job.

[@MIoffGridAdventures]

I just used it again today. So easy!

[@bbkyjohnson]

I was actually very happy with the battery life. I bought one 3 days ago and did 5 holes the first day and 6 the second day I did 10 holes today and still had 2 battery lights left. My only correction of what he said is that if you have to go past 2.5 feet not 3 you need the extension. I bought the 21 inch one and wish they had one about 8-10 inches.

[@MIoffGridAdventures]

@@bbkyjohnson Thanks for clarifying. Glad you had a good experience too. I've been extremely happy with the Ryobi 40v power and endurance. I use the same battery on their log splitter and it outlasts me for sure. Lots of splits before it drains a battery. Not sure how they do it, but they've got that figured out! Thanks for watching and commenting.

[@MaruAdventurer]

@@bbkyjohnson I have made a short extension using iron pipe, drilled 2 holes on each end and had what I needed.

[@bbkyjohnson]

Wish I had thought of that. The extension they offer actually makes things worse to a certain degree.

[@mosfet500]

Thanks for the video. There are no rocks in that soil, I'd like to see these augers in Catskill Mountains hardpan.

[@MIoffGridAdventures]

True, no rocks. We have very few rocks at our property, so I can't test it in that terrain. Thanks for watching and commenting.

[@markworkman5803]

I wonder if you could install an ice bit to this so you could use this for ice fishing..

[@MIoffGridAdventures]

Seems possible

[@opforwarrior]

The kobalt version has earth bits in 4",6",8",10" available. (Ships with 8") Also has 8",10" ice bits.

[@guineapigs2998]

Thankyou for this!

[@MIoffGridAdventures]

Thanks for watching!

[@cliffclavin2503]

Should have used Copper Green on the part of the post below grade. It will last for decades instead of a few short years. I have posts in the ground that have lasted more than 25 years using Copper Green.

[@MIoffGridAdventures]

Thanks for the advice

[@robertshark1013]

Try it in the ozarks I did it's fair

[@MIoffGridAdventures]

Cool! Glad it worked for you too