That happened to me numerous times, I am ready to return it. Thanks for sharing!

Yup, discovered this the hard way trying to drill through hard, rocky clay to plant a tree. I was eventually able to get it done, but I also ended up using a tiller, and good old digging with a shovel. After years of struggling to dig holes in the soil around our property, I’m now thinking about purchasing a rotary hammer.

For hand held, SDS max with hammer only spade bit. No rotation and do not apply rotation. Everyone who borrowed mine, became so tempting to just buy one themselves. Anything spiral upward is only good for lifting up fluid or loose medium.

Shouldn't you run the auger before putting it into the ground? I think there's too much downward pressure which is why it would bite.

@RandomSmith

Жыл бұрын

Not sure, but wasn't applying much downward pressure. I have had the same thing happen with a two man auger in my garden which has a lot of shale rock. Even those two man augers can be quite dangerous in rocky soil. I had someone dig some deep holes with a Kanga/Dingo with an auger and one or two of the holes were not in the marked position - moved about 10-20cm because of rocks.

@willhall7777

7 ай бұрын

​@@RandomSmithyour doing great. I was wondering if you used something with "hammer drill" would it work better? Might be what the last drill was. I also wondered about an impact cause it wouldn't break your wrist... If you could figure out an adapter. Good video.

@RandomSmith

7 ай бұрын

Yes, last one did have a hammer action, it also has a hammer only (no rotate) action which I have used to break up concrete before (albeit it being a bit on the weak side given it is only a small drill)@@willhall7777

We also have similar rocky soil here. Pre-drilling holes into the Rock can make a big difference especially if used with an impact. I doubt enough for the auger to work, but it sure makes the post hole and bar work a lot easier.

@RandomSmith

Ай бұрын

yup. I have only a few holes and have been digging them with a 6ft crow bar and manual post hole digger, hard work, but those 6ft poles can split the shale apart.

I have extend the handle of the drill with broom handle y cut and i rest it on my hip to prevent that 😢 best hack ever

This is why real augers exist. Ryobi makes one. They disengage when catching rocks so you dont destroy your wrist

@RandomSmith

4 ай бұрын

I agree, have used one before, just wanted to see what these smaller ones were like

Thats why you put it in between your knees. 🤦🏼

could try pouring a bucket of water in first..

@RandomSmith

Ай бұрын

great idea (albeit mine is also clay which makes it stick to everything when you add water)

Thanks very much. Will save my money and ask neighbour with tractor and auger instead.

I’ll stick to the shovel 😊 Thank you!

@RandomSmith

2 ай бұрын

And a 6ft breaker bar 🙂

Fyi...you can brace a drill on the left side of one of your legs so you dont hurt your wrist. Just saying in general. Using an auger, hole saw or whatever.

@RandomSmith

5 ай бұрын

good idea...

Was the bit even in the gun correctly? Looks like it was crooked

@RandomSmith

4 ай бұрын

Yes, was in gun correctly, but it did bend at one point, so maybe that is what you saw, not straightened out 100%

Try watering the ground makes it even smoother to work with

@RandomSmith

Ай бұрын

great idea (albeit mine is also clay which makes it stick to everything when you add water)

I did with with my Bosch drill without a hassle key is set drill to hammer action

@RandomSmith

Ай бұрын

my cordless Bosch wouldn't be much use on hammer. The last drill (bigger one) I used in the video has a better hammer action which I have used to split concrete apart. Is amazing how much easier it is drilling into concrete using hammer action.

Thank you so much for showing this!!! You save me from spending bucks for the earth auger 🥹👍🏻👍🏻

use a proper auger, or if you need to use a drill, use one with the right angle handle attachment and brace it against a meaty part of your leg, never allowing it to leave contact with your leg. at least this way if you hit a rock it'll stop without wrecking your wrists

@RandomSmith

Ай бұрын

good ideas, the last one I used had the right angle handle, but my soil is very rocky/shale, so I usually have to use a two man auger which is still hard/dangerous in my soil - tried one before, If I need a lot of holes for retaining walls, I usually pay someone to bring a machine to dig them, just that in this patch of garden I can't get a machine down there and only have a few holes to dig, so thought it was worth trying these small augers. Before I tried these augers, I was manually digging with post hole digger and 6ft crow bar/breaker.

How much for that machine in shilings price

Dang, nevermind then. TNX.

It hurt my eyes

Set it up to a impact somehow . I use the big boys that a gas fed but an impact I reckon dig better and not break your wrist . 😅

@RandomSmith

4 ай бұрын

Yup, impact would be better with a flat spade bit

bloody hell

Maybe a PTO auger?

@DavidSanchez-ib4ft

8 ай бұрын

Wouldn't do much better. I worked for a company that owned fleets or dodge rams with PTO augers in them. They do well all over Southern California except Fontana. We always hired a back hoe do dgi are holes. Our auger would drill a hole 5 feet deep and wide enough for 6x6 treated poles. Backhoe would dig a 10' wide hole to get the same 5' deep hole. That's how bad the rocks are.

Or just buy and actual auger

@RandomSmith

Жыл бұрын

Or hire one or better still hire someone to do it. I did that for my last retaining wall which was about 10 or so holes. I got those ones cheap and though why not try then out to see if they would work - I had low expectations that they would work in my soil.

Weird ive never had that issue

@RandomSmith

6 ай бұрын

A lot of my soil is like digging through rocks, so usually dig by hand with breaker bar or pay someone to bring a bigger machine with auger

Yeah, for any rocky soil you either need to have a propper auger with a petrol motor, or an alternative drilling meathod

@RichardGeresGerbil

7 ай бұрын

Wrong

Wrsit breaker 3000 these and 6 inch hole bits and bigger 😂

What's the solution?

@RandomSmith

Жыл бұрын

For me, I probably need to dig them manually with a post hole digger and a 5-6 ft crow bar to break the rocks. I did that in one hole and it took a few hours. Did another hole with just the post hole pincer and that took about 30 mins. Sometimes I get lucky and not have much rocks. For another wall I got someone in with a kanga/dingo machine with 30-40 cm auger in it. And for another wall, used a 2 man petrol auger.

Set the drills clutch and use a dabbing motion, not a push straight down. Search "Power Planter Road Pack". Not an issue

@RandomSmith

11 ай бұрын

Those actions you mention would work in well cultivated soil, but in the rocky/shale parts of my garden they don't. The clutch didn't help in my soil - it would just activate and not turn. I did try dabbing motion but that didn't help in my soil. Even when using a two man auger from hire shop, when that hit a rock, it could push two men over if you are not careful. Also previously hired a guy with a dingo/kanga auger and when that hit a rock, it would sometimes move about 5-10cm laterally.

You need a hammer drill

@RandomSmith

Жыл бұрын

My Ryobi isn't a hammer drill but the other two are. I am not convinced that hammer action would break through my soil. I have used a "proper" two man auger on my soil for retaining wall posts and when one of those locks like the small augers in the video it can knock over those holding the handles. I have also hired someone with a larger machine (Kanga I think) and one/two of the holes dug there weren't in the marked location but moved about 10 cm due to rocks. Those small augers are really only useful for making holes for plants in non rocky soil. Mine has a lot of clay that holds small rocks in place. I have also used a 6ft wrecking/hole digger steel bar along with a post hole digger to manually dig post holes - some of them you can dig in under an hour, but some can take a few hours to break apart the shale style rocks.

You are using everything wrong. Learn how to use tools, before you make a video.

@RandomSmith

5 ай бұрын

A better comment would be telling me how I used it wrong. An auger like that is never going to work in rocky soil. I have had larger augers in my garden struggle, so there was no hope for this small one, so the point of this video was to save others wasting time buying one of these for rocky soil.

@Serbo-Greek

5 ай бұрын

@@RandomSmith 1. You need to hold it firmly. Use your knees for stabilazing the grip, so you don't damage your wrists. 2. You dont go so fast with the machine. Take it slowly. 3. Do not press down to the soil so hard. Use the "breakchip drill" technique like they use in CNC machines (you can google it)

That's an auger bit on a crap drill, not an auger.

@RandomSmith

8 ай бұрын

I did manage to bend that auger shaft. Main point is that if people have rocky soil, that type of auger is not worth buying. I have had people in with dingo/kanga to dig holes and sometimes the rocky soil pushes the auger to one side, so better off getting someone else to dig it with a larger machine. We did also try a two man auger if you don’t mind expanding the hole diameter by hand which is easier when there is already a hole. Even two man augers can be dangerous in rocky soil. But yes the first two drills wouldn’t do very much unless in less rocky soil which is the type of drill that most might have.