Hello everyone. New to the forums. I'm a deck contractor and with that you need footing holes in at 4' deep. I mainly use a skid steer to auger them in. Going forward and back several times to clear the auger bit off leaves pretty good ruts in the lawns. Im thinking of swithching over to a mini excavator as I can for the most part stay in one spot and swivel the machine off to the side to clear the bit off. My question is does a mini excavator have enough auxilliary flow to power up to 24" bit. Im thinking of getting a 35 series of some sort. I never used a excavator with a auger attachment so im not sure on how well it would do. Anyone with experience with this situation id like to hear your thoughts. Thanks
You might be better off looking into a track loader; they don't tear stuff up near as bad as wheeled machines do. I don't have experience with running attachments on a mini, but I have run a 24" auger a bit, and I kind of doubt that a 7000lb mini is really going to be able to handle that bit very well. I don't know if it is going to be able to lift the bit out when it is dug in hard. Also, the mini is going to be useless for anything else on the job, where a track loader might be useful for moving lumber around, ect.
I currently use a track loader and it is better than a wheel loader. I'm looking to buy either a track loader or a mini ex. Depending on where im digging theres times where i had to take the loader back and get a mini to actually dig the footings because the rocks are to big. So my thought was to buy the mini and that way i would switch over to a bucket if i ran in to that situation again. But you made a good point that the mini may not lift a 24" bit out full of dirt.
I think it's a sound plan. Not having to stop when you find bad ground is a great point. You can walk right up to a spot and set the blade between you and the hole and have some pretty decent lift with a 35. I set 1000 pound type 30 catchbasins and sling my 900 pound steel plate around easily enough. 1600 is the max.
The 35 has a lift capacity of 3200lbs so even with a 24inch bit fully loaded id have to believe it would lift it no problem. But the question is does it have enough gpm flo to run a bit that size.
I would think a 35 size machine would work fine. Especially if you pair the auger drive to the flow capability of the machine. Its probably a better choice than a track machine since you can dig your footings if you can’t drill them.
I agree I'm thinking the mini is the way to go .
Minis with augers are the slickest way to put in holes, bit dangles straight, you can apply down pressure, and you can reach over obstacles.
It does not, not at the hieght of the auger. Possibly you can find a chart that will show something like that a few feet under the ground and 2' out from the blade.
I ran a 24" auger on the end of my Bobcat 753. (Not an excavator, I know) I don't have much auxiliary flow, or lift capacity. I just pecked away at the holes. I took smaller bites and didn't let the auger get overloaded. It worked very well and we got the polebarn footings done in pretty short order. Spent more time driving to pickup the rental bit than I did augering the 46 holes. I think a mini would work just fine for you based off my experience. You've done these enough to know how to run the large auger, and it sounds like the added abilities of a mini would be a nice compliment to your outfit. Worse case, you're dissapointed, and sell off the mini later if you don't think you're utilizing it enough, though I don't think that will be the case. Another thought - are you close to any rental yards that might have a mini with auger set up you could rent for a job to try out? That way you could try it first hand with minimal long term risk if you don't like the set up.
Why not put down ground pads?
I have a McMillan auger mounted on a KX033-4 Kubota mini-excavator. I have a 12" auger bit on it. Works fine unless a larger rock happens to be in the hole. Really nice because you don't have to move once you start the hole. FWD
Augers don't need to turn very fast. I never even ran full throttle and did drill a couple 24" holes in clay with a skid steer. I had about 16 GPM at full throttle. The trick is to pull the auger up before it gets hard to turn. A mini-ex would be great just for that.
Put many a foot of privacy fence in over the last 30 years. Started with an auger on an Bobcat 843, then 863, then a T250 and finally a 334 mini. The mini was light years better at augering fence post holes. On small yards it could sit and hit 4-5 holes without moving. I think you will like it. Also moved this thread over to the Compact Excavator forum.
Aux flow on a 35G Deere is 16.2 gpm which should be plenty I know I have an 18" I run on mine. The only thing that bothers it is big rocks but those bother a skidsteer too .
How effective a post hole auger running at 16 gpm depends on soil conditions. Easy digging and sub 2' augers it would probably fine. However if the aux flow on the mini ex is running a thumb also, the psi will be turned down to allow the thumb to give to the bucket curl. Again if the soil easy, probably not an issue running around 2-2.5K psi. However its not all about GPM, the power comes from the PSI. If you happen to have dual aux flow on your mini then you can turn up the PSI on the nonthumb aux hyd. and get max PSI on the other aux. Something to think about.
I'm going to go out on a limb here and ask if a crane man basket and auger all in on would be handy for you.
16 GPM and 2500 PSI will turn a 24" auger unless there's big rocks or roots. In heavy clay soils just take smaller bites. You don't have to do it all in one shot.
I don't know about the excavator Auger thing. We did some holes for street lamp post and rented an auger for our TB153fr from United Rentals. Worked ok. I prefer my Toro Dingo with Auger, but that's not quite as good for wide and deep. You must build nice fancy decks! Most deck guys just throw down some pre-casted concrete blocks.
Just a update here. My local bobcat dealer set me up with a E35 mini with a auger drive. I had 6 holes to do with a 18" auger. I was able to do all six holes from on position. I was extremely happy with its performance and the fact that I could swivel the machine away from the hole to clean the bit off without moving the machine. I was able to barry the bit all the way down and pick it out fully loaded with no problem. I am now currently looking and will be purchasing a mini with a auger drive to continue on with my deck buisness.
Good deal. I think you will be happy with that set up. Might be able to pick up other jobs in addition to the new deck. A 12” bucket is a great size for 4” roof leaders.
Make sure the mini has a thumb. Excellent to help tear apart an old deck, pull stumps and roots out of the way, and as I'm sure you know, an old concrete patio in the way. Sometimes a breaker is handy for removal of thick concrete pour sections, door stoops, stairs, or to break up rocks.
Maybe you should keep using the track loader so you can get paid to regrade.... or do what we do and take both
I've got an auger attachment for our Cat 304.5 at work. I've run up to 18" holes with no issues whatsoever. The auger is gear reduction so it multiplies the oil flow. I actually picked up a 24" auger at United Rental today to use tomorrow, I'll let you know how it works out.
Should work good as long as you clean it often instead of trying to drill the hole in 1 shot. I've ran a 20" auger 5 1/2' deep in clay and it helps to go up and down a little at a time to prevent the auger getting stuck or stalling out.
Two foot dia is not too bad I bet. The auger I think I rented from United Rental was 3' dia. to dig holes for pre-casted concrete lamp post bases. See image I posted earlier in this thread. When I picked up the Auger from United Rental, it was huge! The TB153fr barely had enough height to lift it into the hole. A 9 ton machine would have worked a bit better.
Here is another image.
That may be one of the most dangerous contraptions every invented for sale to the general public... That little 2 stroke will whoop yo' ass if the auger gets hung up on something.
Completed my job this morning in about 30 minutes, three 24 inch holes 45 inches deep. The soil was clay with rocks, I had to stop twice and pop a large rock with the digging bar because it wanted to kick the auger off course. I didn't have the RPMs cranked, just nibbled at the earth and pulled the drill to clear it when I lost sight of it. It stuck in the hole once, I just reversed it a quarter turn and it lifted right out. Very pleased with how it went!
There's a video online of a couple guys trying to stop a hand held auger that's stuck in the hole and the engine is spinning around out of control.
Don't need a YT video to know how dangerous those can be. I've been on one side of one of those 1 too many times. I'd rather have a manual post hole digger.
I let some fence guys I know borrow my tl150, auger and 6" bit they let a big vine wrap around it and it bent the 4" auger shaft like it was made of plastic. It was like a deer in the head lights "what happened". Uhhhh. I don't know it just bent... it moved the whole machine. BS. I can see it swinging around now. under improper use i could see it bending an excavator arm
The video shows how dangerous they can be while appearing to be funny. I saw some rental auger's at HD but they were basically a trailer with a long arm coming out with the auger. Hydraulic powered and much safer. Ground Hog Towable Hydraulic Auger Rental HD99-H - The Home Depot Rent a Towable Hydraulic Auger Rental from one of our over 1,200 THD rental locations. Call your local store for same day pickup availability. www.homedepot.com