That time I tried to use a post hole digger on frozen ground in January

Last winter I had a job up near Albany and the ground was solid as concrete. I figured I'd save time by just powering through with the manual digger instead of waiting for a thaw. First swing bounced right back at me and nearly clipped my knee. Second attempt I put my whole weight into it and the handles snapped clean in half. Landed flat on my back with mud down my coat and the customer watching from her kitchen window. Ended up renting a gas-powered auger for $85 that afternoon and finished the whole job in 45 minutes. Learned that pride and frozen dirt don't mix. Has anyone else had a tool fail on them in a spectacular way?

2 comments

2 Comments

hugo_nelson2d agoMost Upvoted

Yikes, that's a rough one. I had a similar idea once with a sledgehammer and a chisel on a frost heave in my driveway. The chisel just bounced off and flew sideways, hit a old birdbath my wife really liked and shattered it into three pieces. She still brings that up every winter when I complain about the cold. At least you got the job done with the auger, my lesson cost me a trip to the garden center and a lot of apologizing.

the_henry2d ago

Hold on, wait. The chisel flew sideways and took out a birdbath? Man, @hugo_nelson, that is some bad luck. I can just picture it, bouncing off that frost heave like a bullet. I bet your wife still gives you that look every time the ground freezes over. At least with my auger, the only thing that flew was a little bit of dirt and ice. Sounds like your driveway is a hazard zone, maybe you should mark off a safety perimeter next time.