Can we talk about how much fence post hole digging has changed since I started?

I pulled out a 20-year-old post hole digger from my dad's garage last week and it took me twice as long as the hydraulic auger I rented from Home Depot. Made me wonder how the old timers did whole neighborhoods without modern gear - are you guys sticking with hand tools or renting equipment now?

2 comments

2 Comments

maxpalmer5d ago

Haha damn, that's a good point. I bet the old timers would laugh at us complaining about a few hours with a hand digger when they did whole subdivisions with nothing but muscle and a shovel. But here's what I wonder though - are the hydraulic augers actually better for the soil in the long run? Seems like they just spin the dirt out instead of actually packing it down around the post like a hand digger does. I'd love to know if you noticed any difference in how stable your fence actually was with the machine versus the hand job.

wilson.jana5d ago

Marie, that's a great point about the soil packing. I used a hand digger for my whole back fence three years ago and I had to really work to tamp the dirt back in around each post. This spring we used a rented auger for a front fence and I noticed the holes were a lot cleaner, but the dirt was just loose crumbs around the edges. Took me twice as long to pack it by hand with a tamper bar. I think you might be onto something about the long term stability.