This post should actually be dated for May 15th, but I just got around to posting it today.
Having used a number of a number of low-priced two-stroke engine powered tools over the years, I've had my fair share of frustrations. I'm very familiar with the impossible-to-start, underpowered, half-plastic, never-stay-running engine syndrome often seen among do-it-your-selfer tight-wads, such as myself. Symptoms can include sore arms and hands from constantly pulling the starter cord, sore eyes caused by long Internet searches trying to find non-existent replacement parts, xerostomia or dry mouth from extensive cursing, and tension induced bruxism or grinding teethe. Erections lasting five or more hours would not have anything to do with it, but might mean that you are much cooler than I am and you should probably see a doctor.
Anyway, last week I got the Stihl BT 130 Earth Auger and and an 8" diameter bit, and, after using it over the weekend, I'll have to say that it was AWESOME!!! When I first took it out of the box I remember thinking, "wow, I can't believe I paid that much money for something that small!" Once I put it to use at the ranch, however, it soon proved to be worth every penny. So far it has started every time with no issues and has stayed running until it ran out of gas or I shut it off. Most importantly it has a safety engine breaking mechanism similar to a chain break lever on a chainsaw that immediately stops the auger if the top portion begins to turn rather than the bit. This helps to prevent you from breaking your wrists if the bit strikes something large. It digs at about the same rate as the two-man auger we rented the other week, but is much easier to operate. By myself I was able to drill 8" diameter, 2 1/2 foot deep holes for most of the first thousand feet of fence-line in one day (keep in mind I'm using one wood post for every two t-posts, so that's one hole every 50 feet). Because the wood posts will need to go deeper than 2 1/2', I've placed a special order for an auger bit shaft extension, and will go back and deepen the holes when it arrives. If I do find any problems with the auger in the future, I will blog about them in a future post and link it back to this post.
So far I've learn a few interesting things that might be useful to anyone new to auguring fence post holes. First, the time it takes to auger a hole is most dependent on soil type. On my ranch the soil is incredibly variable. One hill might consist of dense rocky clay soil, while another hill a few hundred feet away could consist of soft sandy loam. The sandy loam has been the easiest and funnest drill (psst, I don't care if you think "funnest" is a word or not). I can literally drill a 2 1/2 foot deep hole in a few seconds. Because the sand is soft enough, any rocks up to the size of a golf ball (perhaps even larger) are either pushed out of the way or scooped out. The most difficult soil I've encountered so far has been dense clay soil mixed with a small amount of marble-sized pieces of gravel. The gravel is very hard and, because the clay soil is so dense, will not move when it is hit by the auger bit. It will either be scooped up and out of the hole, break in half, or cause the bit to stop moving and trigger the emergency brake (this is the rarest). When the gravel is broken in half the top half is usually scooped up and out of the hole, but the bottom half will sometimes become lodged in the soil in such a way that is causes the tip of the bit to skip upwards the next time it strikes the rock. This skip can become self-perpetuating with the auger spinning and jumping over and over without digging any deeper. In these scenarios, I usually try the following: 1) adjust the speed of rotation to disrupt the skipping pattern, 2) stopping rotation, turning myself a quarter turn (if I'm facing North, rotate till I'm facing East), and then starting rotation again or 3) removing the auger and picking out the broken piece of gravel with a hand tool.
On another front, I checked the beehive in my backyard and found evidence of newly laid worker eggs and larva. That means that my earlier attempt to transfer an emergency queen cell from another hive was successful. Yay!
Having used a number of a number of low-priced two-stroke engine powered tools over the years, I've had my fair share of frustrations. I'm very familiar with the impossible-to-start, underpowered, half-plastic, never-stay-running engine syndrome often seen among do-it-your-selfer tight-wads, such as myself. Symptoms can include sore arms and hands from constantly pulling the starter cord, sore eyes caused by long Internet searches trying to find non-existent replacement parts, xerostomia or dry mouth from extensive cursing, and tension induced bruxism or grinding teethe. Erections lasting five or more hours would not have anything to do with it, but might mean that you are much cooler than I am and you should probably see a doctor.
Anyway, last week I got the Stihl BT 130 Earth Auger and and an 8" diameter bit, and, after using it over the weekend, I'll have to say that it was AWESOME!!! When I first took it out of the box I remember thinking, "wow, I can't believe I paid that much money for something that small!" Once I put it to use at the ranch, however, it soon proved to be worth every penny. So far it has started every time with no issues and has stayed running until it ran out of gas or I shut it off. Most importantly it has a safety engine breaking mechanism similar to a chain break lever on a chainsaw that immediately stops the auger if the top portion begins to turn rather than the bit. This helps to prevent you from breaking your wrists if the bit strikes something large. It digs at about the same rate as the two-man auger we rented the other week, but is much easier to operate. By myself I was able to drill 8" diameter, 2 1/2 foot deep holes for most of the first thousand feet of fence-line in one day (keep in mind I'm using one wood post for every two t-posts, so that's one hole every 50 feet). Because the wood posts will need to go deeper than 2 1/2', I've placed a special order for an auger bit shaft extension, and will go back and deepen the holes when it arrives. If I do find any problems with the auger in the future, I will blog about them in a future post and link it back to this post.
So far I've learn a few interesting things that might be useful to anyone new to auguring fence post holes. First, the time it takes to auger a hole is most dependent on soil type. On my ranch the soil is incredibly variable. One hill might consist of dense rocky clay soil, while another hill a few hundred feet away could consist of soft sandy loam. The sandy loam has been the easiest and funnest drill (psst, I don't care if you think "funnest" is a word or not). I can literally drill a 2 1/2 foot deep hole in a few seconds. Because the sand is soft enough, any rocks up to the size of a golf ball (perhaps even larger) are either pushed out of the way or scooped out. The most difficult soil I've encountered so far has been dense clay soil mixed with a small amount of marble-sized pieces of gravel. The gravel is very hard and, because the clay soil is so dense, will not move when it is hit by the auger bit. It will either be scooped up and out of the hole, break in half, or cause the bit to stop moving and trigger the emergency brake (this is the rarest). When the gravel is broken in half the top half is usually scooped up and out of the hole, but the bottom half will sometimes become lodged in the soil in such a way that is causes the tip of the bit to skip upwards the next time it strikes the rock. This skip can become self-perpetuating with the auger spinning and jumping over and over without digging any deeper. In these scenarios, I usually try the following: 1) adjust the speed of rotation to disrupt the skipping pattern, 2) stopping rotation, turning myself a quarter turn (if I'm facing North, rotate till I'm facing East), and then starting rotation again or 3) removing the auger and picking out the broken piece of gravel with a hand tool.
On another front, I checked the beehive in my backyard and found evidence of newly laid worker eggs and larva. That means that my earlier attempt to transfer an emergency queen cell from another hive was successful. Yay!