So I am tempted to buy an auger plate for our mini to help our guys with buffer plantings. The boss fears that it will wear the arm significantly. Thoughts?
No first hand experience with an auger on a mini, but wouldn't think it'd be any worse than a hammer or a plate tamper in terms of wear? Just a thought.
I would think is would be a lot less abusive than a hammer or plate compactor. It would just be holding the drive motor. It would probably be less abusive than a bucket as it would not be in the dirt exposing bearings on the stick.
That is kind of what I thought, the only wear being from the twist is hard compact dirt?
What are buffer plantings?
I think its trees -hedges etc along highways where we have deer, elk & reindeer ...ALL THE BEST... Jack
In my experience the mini will not suffer any additional wear but an auger on a mini is a hand full compared to one mounted on a skid steer.
I have an auger for my 303.5e and it works great. I spent much of my youth drilling holes with a PTO tractor mounted auger and there is just no comparison to having one on the mini ex. As for the issue of wear, I don't see it as being much of a problem. There are built in clutches in the auger to prevent too much torque. I believe there is certainly much less potential wear/damage to your machine with an auger on it than either a hammer or tamper.
I've just started using an auger on my TB-016 for a home fencing project.Not being a professional operator the mini/auger combo is both a big help getting into tight spots and a chore to keep straight.After some test holes I promptly bent an 8" bit. How do you manage Go2ndAmend?
If you take your own arm and hold it out in front of you and drop it straight down, it will form an arc. The same is true of the arm on your excavator. Position your auger straight up and down and plumb from side to side (by eyeball) and then as you begin to turn and dig with auger you must also move the arm back towards your machine to keep the auger straight. Think about the arc. With a little practice you will get the hang of it in no time. It also helps to lift up the auger before going to full depth to clean out the hole. As for the bent bit, I snapped off an 8" auger on a fencing project recently also. It happens.
Thanks guys, this all kind of explains what I was thinking.
Thank you. Yes the arc is what has concerned me.At one point I just scooted the mini-ex backwards a touch.Lately I simply pulled back on the left stick (arm retract) as I pushed on the right stick (boom down) hoping the auger mount would continue to hang plumb. For cleaning the hole I simply added some water after withdrawing the bit,then re-entered about 60% of depth & stirred.Finally I stopped my rotation & pushed the bit all the way down then gave maybe a half a turn on the bit before pulling out. So now I'm wondering if keeping the auger as close in to the machine as possible would be the way to go? I had been stretching the arm way out to stay as perpindicular to the bit as possible. Would keeping the stick as verticle as possible make for a better strategy? Thanks for all the help. J.