Thread: Post hole borer recommendations

I've finally decided to get a post hole borer. We have a block of land that my son will soon be building on and besides general fencing and some tree plantings, I'm thinking of building a basic shelter for our old tractor. I guess I'd need at least a 200mm auger and possibly up to a 250.

I see many of these have only a ~40cc engine and look lightly built. Those bigger two-man units are possibly more what is needed here. What a people's experiences/recommendations?

I have swung on many over the years - they range from pure evil to horribly underpowered - stihl are good but a Husqvarna unit will be quite okay - if you are using it on your own then I would not go much over 50 cc -the big units are two man - they are quite capable of throwing you -

I used a 1 person rental one with a 200mm auger and it was effortless to drill with. This one had the engine mounted on a platform with driven wheels so it was easily moved and the auger was mounted on the end of a 1.5-2m long arm next to the handles,hyd driven wheels and auger controled and the engine weight/arm length provided all the rotational stability.
It was similar to this
https://mechnair.com.au/listings/post-hole-borer/
but the wheels were beside the engine for better rotational anchoring, I just had to do all the lifting

We are currently using a Dewalt DCD470N battery "superhog" for most of our drilled holes (otherwise I just punch in a post and pull it out with the tractor driver) and it's really good in clay up to 200mm (haven't tried a 250 on it). The Milwaukee Super Hawg is pretty much the same and Makita do a dedicated post borer.

These tools have an electronic "clutch" that prevents kick back and the whole tool is so much more usable (eg up against a house) than petrol ones. I'll never start my petrol one again and no loss!

I've got a 2 person (my wife and I) Stihl BT360 with low ratio box. It has my old Stihl 045AV 75cc engine on it. 280mm auger, never got around to buying bigger.
Nothing will stop it including the area telephone cable that unknown to me runs thru my property.

I would not recommend what I have, it's a handful.
All later fencing on my property was done by a contractor using a king hitter.

I did consider getting a rear tractor PTO unit for my tractor as I have a lot of retaining walls to do. It's easier to get the contractor back plus the driven ones are much firmer in the ground than auger ones.

Otherwise if you must bore the holes, just hire one as described by No good names left.

I'm afraid i've spent a fair few hours hanging off them too. some soils like clay/papa are murder and you need two powerful blokes and a borer to match... the last 20 or so years i've been in nice easy ash soil and the Oleo Mac mt51 is easy as to use. finally put a carb diaphram kit in it recently (never even had the plug out). the best thing i did though is i put about an 18" extension on the auger so you don't have to wreck your back when you're heading for china.

Being in Hawkes Bay it will matter a lot in what soil type you want to produce a hole: river gravels, get them rammed. Silts and topsoil a 45-50cc one will be fine. They are all geared down to buggery so don't need heaps of cc's.

A 200 dia one is easy to handle. Going up to the 250-300 dia ones and you will certainly need to have an extra wheetbix or two for breakfast.

If you have an old tractor, check out the local clearing sales for one of the old 3pt linkage ones, and driven from the PTO on the tractor. Usually a bit bigger than 250 for the auger, usually built like the proverbial, and cheap as chips cos no one wants one any more. My Dad used one for years contracting, dug literally thousands of holes all across the Canterbury plains, from clay and silt to big arsed river bed. Seen too many accidents with the handheld ones.

I don't do post borer that often and bought a budget one off trademe (2 strokes, 50cc) a few years ago,
Used it for fencing, decking project and planting every now and then.

When I put up a new retaining wall last summer, to my surprise, it's still going.
Not the fanciest borer out there but it gets the job done.
Just makesure the blade is sharp especially it comes to clay.

If I do lots of post holes, I would get a digger or tractor pto attachment for it.

Depending on soil type, stones/tree roots etc borer's can be bloody hard work from my experience. If you want to build a pole shed I doubt a single man machine will make big enough holes. If you are replacing broken fence posts a borer won't get close enough to the fence. A good spade will be better. By the time you dig broken post out the job is half done.

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Iv got a tool shed post hole borer & the it goes well but I don't use there auger I use my own ones that have tungsten tip & they dig well but the one borer wouldn't hand a auger over 10 inches tho I agree with everything everyone else has said & I fence for a living & I try to avoid using the borer they hard on the body when using big augers lol

I'm on my second cheap chinese trademe one (50ish cc). For the amount I use them and what they cost they have been good value.

I have a side shift post rammer so mainly use that these days. As has been said soil type will determine your experience. Using them on river terraces will stones wasn't much fun and could be quite painful if you hit a big enough stone with enough auger speed. Could be worth hiring one and having a play before you commit

Get one with a cut out clutch fencer I know has one with that best one I have ever used. When it snatches cut out hits your leg and disconnects augers from motor

Hmm, lots to think about there. Sounds like more snags than a tangled up longline.

Might have a play with a couple before committing, or maybe even not committing. Will also investigate a PTO option for the tractor.

A big post driver can drive a long pole if you dig the first bit. I have driven 14 foot posts in the past. If a contractor can knock them in I would do go that way. How high do you need the lean-to ?