How to Use an Earth Auger (Manual & Hydraulic) | Dig Holes Fast & Easy - video Dailymotion

Shiva Tanamala

Need to dig clean, consistent holes for fence posts, trees, or deck footings? Whether you’re using a manual earth auger or a hydraulic-powered auger, this tool makes the job faster and easier. In this video, we’ll show you how to safely and effectively use both types to tackle digging jobs big and small.   💡 Pro Tip: For manual augers, twist and lift in intervals to prevent binding. With hydraulic augers, let the machine do the work—no forcing.   ⚠️ Safety Reminder: Watch for underground utilities, keep hands clear of moving parts, and always operate on stable ground. For hydraulic models, wear gloves and eye protection.   👍 Like, comment, and subscribe for more tool tutorials and landscaping how-tos!   Hashtags:  #EarthAuger #HoleDigging #FencePostTool #HydraulicAuger #ManualAuger #LandscapingEquipment #DIYProjects

Transcript

00:00Hello there. Today we're going to look at augering, earth augering actually, mostly used for fence

00:17posts. Now the holes can be augered in any number of sizes. The particular pieces of equipment I

00:23got here today are ones that have been around for a fair length of time and this is your standard

00:29hole auger. Sometimes you could call it a one-man auger because only one person could use it but

00:35in the way back days it was hard to imagine that this is all we use to put fence posts in. The

00:41biggest size usually is eight inch. Some are adjustable, some are not. This one here is

00:47adjustable for six, seven or eight inch holes. Now mostly used maybe when you're only going to do

00:51one post, maybe for a sign, maybe for a laundry post, possibly to clean out holes from when you've

00:59used the power augers but this is what you sometimes will start off with, certainly the

01:04most economical but also the hardest to use and uses the most physical effort. Another hand type auger,

01:10this one is also used for digging holes but in this particular case we call it a clean out auger or a

01:18clamshell auger only because of its shape. This one here you have to drive down in the ground, scoop the

01:25soil and bring it out. Now you can certainly do augering with this auger as well but its primary

01:33use would probably now to clean out holes. After you've done them with a power auger you may want

01:39to get the dirt out that's down near the bottom, you may want to make it a little bigger, you may

01:43want to make it a little deeper but in this case at least you can grab the soil and pull it out and it

01:50provides a good accessory to using it with the power augers where some of the dirt that's loose will

01:57get down to the bottom of the hole and you might want it a little deeper. So those are two type of

02:02hand augers that you could use only with maybe a few holes. Now as time has progressed of course we all

02:11want it easier, we want it faster and here we have two types of power augers, both being hydraulic as opposed

02:20to belts and gears and everything. These are all run by hydraulic pumps. The augers come in various sizes,

02:26mostly the common size now to do six by six posts is a 12 inch auger which this one is, has very

02:34aggressive teeth on it. You can add in an extension to go a little deeper, four feet if you want to go

02:40down the four feet. You can also use smaller augers, eight inch augers which you'd use for maybe a four by

02:47four. You have to remember if you're using concrete around your post to measure the diagonal across from

02:53corner to corner of your post, not just that it's a four by four and use an eight inch auger. You don't

02:58have and then you don't have all that room to put a lot of auger, a lot of concrete and you don't want

03:03it to crack around the corners where the water can get down in. So pick a auger of suitable size and also

03:10accuracy of where you drill. You have to be pinpoint accurate if you want to have exactly that post in the

03:15middle. A little bigger auger can give you a little more room when you're augering. This particular auger

03:21here is excellent. It can be towed with a tow bar accessory as well. The handles can be moved. I'll

03:31just move this out of the way here. The handles can be moved up or down. They're always in the back

03:39position for towing but in the front position when you're using the auger. The head can be locked and

03:46unlocked so that it swivels to be used on a on a grade, different grades. It also, this head portion

03:54can be loosened off and swivel when you're on a slate grade or a hill or anything so you can always have

03:59your auger floating straight up and down. It's easy to move around as well and when you're using an auger

04:14on this particular one you have two levers, one for forward, one for reverse. This is the big thing with

04:20hydraulic augers is everybody has reverse but you've got to remember you should never really need reverse

04:26unless you wrap your auger around a rock or a root or a piece of wood or something. If you're using

04:33them right, you have them at your engine running at full speed, have the auger running at full speed

04:38and go up and down and get out of the hole. Go down maybe five or six inches, pull it up, get rid of the

04:43dirt, go down another five or six, get up, get out of the dirt. If you just take it and screw it down like

04:47a corkscrew in a cork on a wine bottle, you may not be able to get it out and reverse may not get it out

04:53especially in some heavier soils, the heavy clays and if you can't get it out reverse, guess what?

05:00You're digging with a shovel to get your auger out and that's not a catastrophe because you can always

05:06have a bigger hole, put a sonotube in, backfill it and use that for your post. So this particular auger

05:13stays in one piece as you see it and towed usually if you have to go somewhere. Another option is this auger

05:22which is fairly unique, it's only made by a couple of rental houses and this one will all come apart.

05:30If you're in a situation where you're in town and maybe you have to drive a fair bit and it weighs

05:35away and you don't want to tow it on the road, maybe you don't have a tow bar on the back of your

05:41vehicle, this one here is a hydraulic auger as well. The same principle, it can be can go in forward

05:48and reverse. The handle can swing around to get up against a wall or an area where you you're trying

05:56to butt it up right against something else and the handles also go up and down when you're putting an

06:02auger in and you have to have an extension on and then this can be moved up so that you're not trying

06:09to lift the auger out of the hole. The only way you can put an auger with an extension on a lot of times

06:14is to drop in the hole and then hook up your auger to be you doing your digging. So in this case this

06:21portion of the motor can be taken off with quick connects which can be detached, this can be taken

06:27off, the wheels can be taken off, this is just a carriage, this piece of the arm can be disconnected

06:35and then you're only dealt with this part here with the arms swing around and so it becomes a very

06:41compact unit. It can be put in an SUV, we've even seen it being put into cars although you've got to

06:48be well aware that some of this here is going on your seats. So most of the connections with the augers

06:55are are very easy quick connects, slide the auger in, lift up the collar and drop it down and in this

07:03particular one it's a little different whereas you put a pin in. You can't quite see the pin in the

07:09bottom here, this one you pull the pin and slide the auger on and put the pin back in.

07:16So that gives you a couple of ideas as far as fences. These are certainly the most common for using

07:22around the around the home for fencing, for doing any smaller jobs but you can do quite a few posts

07:32fairly quickly if you have the right soil. After that you can go into other items which we'll show

07:38you in other videos regarding going into doing it quicker, easier and maybe larger augering.

How to Use an Earth Auger (Manual & Hydraulic) | Dig Holes Fast & Easy

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