Appreciation post: the moment I realized my post hole digging was backwards

I spent 3 years always digging my post holes with the auger at full tilt, thinking faster was better, until a old timer named Hank watched me struggle on a job in Austin and pointed out I was packing the dirt instead of lifting it out clean. He showed me how running the auger slow and letting it cut actually pulls the soil up instead of just mushing it into the walls, and now my holes are straight and my back doesn't ache after 8 of them. Has anyone else had a basic technique flip like that where you felt dumb but it saved your whole approach?

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walker.alex4d ago

Had a very similar thing happen to me with a skill saw believe it or not. Used to just rip through cuts as fast as I could push the blade till a framer on a crew in Denver showed me that letting the blade do the work and pulling the saw back a hair actually gives you a way cleaner cut and way less kickback. Felt like a total idiot watching him make it look effortless while I was over here fighting the damn thing every time. Now I run my saw at a steady pace and it literally cuts through knots without binding up. Same thing with a shovel too, realized I was stabbing into hard dirt when a light rocking motion actually breaks it loose way better. That grandfather technique shift is always humbling but it sticks with you forever.