Debate: post hole diggers vs power augers for residential jobs

Used to swear by my 12-inch post hole diggers for every fence post. No machine, just sweat and digging bars. Last year I bought a cheap 2-stroke auger from a pawn shop for $180 and it changed my pace completely. The auger handles rocky ground way faster but it binds up on roots and I snapped a bit in clay last Tuesday. Now I'm split on which to use for standard 6-foot privacy fence jobs. You guys bringing augers to every site or sticking with hand diggers for certain soil types?

2 comments

2 Comments

andrew_rodriguez20d ago

That part about snapping the bit in clay hit me. I used to think power augers were overkill for residential but after fighting through rocky soil with hand diggers for two days straight I bought a used hydraulic one. Now I hand dig the first foot to check for rocks and roots then let the machine do the rest.

seanlee20d ago

Two days with hand diggers in rocky soil? That's not a fence install, that's a form of torture from the medieval times. I bet your back still sends you a little thank you card every morning when you wake up. Smart move on checking the first foot by hand though, nothing like snapping a $400 bit on a hidden rock to ruin your whole week. I swear clay soil has a personal vendetta against anyone trying to dig a straight hole. At least now you get to feel like a proper excavator operator instead of a human mole with blisters.