Bought a cheap auger for setting posts and stripped the gears on the third hole

Lost about 200 bucks on a bargain auger from a big box store that couldn't handle rocky soil here in central Texas, and now I'm stuck hand-digging the rest of this 40-panel job, anyone else had better luck with a specific brand that won't die on you?

2 comments

2 Comments

theaward20d ago

You ever try one of those handheld one-man augers with the Honda engine on it? I got mine used for about the same price you paid for that big box special, and it's been through three fence jobs in this same rocky Texas dirt without a hiccup. The key is keeping the blade sharp and going slow when you hit a rock, let the auger work itself through instead of forcing it. I also swapped the standard bolts for a proper shear pin setup from Tractor Supply, cost me maybe eight bucks. That little change saved me from wrecking another gearbox, and it's easy to carry spares in your truck.

wright.taylor20d ago

Hold up though, that thing probably didn't strip from rocky soil specifically. Most cheap augers have a shear pin or a breakaway bolt that's supposed to snap before the gears get wrecked. Sounds like you might've had one that used a cheap roll pin instead of a proper grade 2 bolt, or maybe it was missing entirely. I've seen guys swap those out with a regular bolt from the hardware store and then wonder why the gearbox grenades. Double check the manual if you still have it, sometimes that little fix is all it needs to run fine in normal dirt.