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Spent $90 on a 'self-leveling' post hole digger that just jacked up my alignment on 12 fence posts
The hydraulic feature locked up after the third hole and I had to hand-dig the rest in rocky clay, has anyone found a brand that actually works without breaking the bank?
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janab8218d ago
Man that's frustrating, especially on a job that size. The self-leveling gimmick sounds good on paper but in practice it's just extra points of failure usually. Those hydraulic ones are notorious for locking up if there's any grit in the fluid, and rocky clay is basically sandpaper for seals. I've had better luck with the old-school manual auger type with the sliding handle, even if it's slower. The key is getting one with replaceable blades so you can sharpen them after a few holes, saves a ton of hassle in hard ground.
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rileyl9818d ago
@janab82 that bit about rocky clay being sandpaper for seals is dead on. I had an older hydraulic model lock up on me in similar ground, ended up having to tear the whole cylinder down to get the grit out. The manual auger with the sliding handle is way more reliable in my book too. One thing I'd add is to keep a wire brush handy to clean the threads between holes, it makes a huge difference in how long the blades last.
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