That $500 "self-leveling" post hole digger was a total bust

Bought one from Northern Tool last spring for a job in Nashville and it jammed up on the third hole in clay soil. Anyone else had luck with a different brand for rocky ground?

3 comments

3 Comments

riley_taylor2mo ago

Question whether it's really all that common though - I've used a self-leveling model from Lowe's in some pretty nasty Tennessee clay without issues. Maybe it's more about how you're running it than the brand itself, pulling up a bit when you hit resistance instead of just letting it dig deeper. Not saying yours didn't jam, but a lot of times people blame the tool when it's really a technique problem (or maybe just bad luck with a single rock).

felix_lane992mo ago

Yeah, my buddy’s seized up in rocky soil after two holes.

jessica_ross382mo ago

Oh man, that's brutal! I've been there too. We were digging post holes for a fence last spring and hit this patch of rocky clay that just locked the auger up solid after the first hole. Took us like 45 minutes with a digging bar to get it loose, and then the next hole was even worse because we had to stop every few inches to pull rocks out. I swear that old auger still makes a grinding noise every time I use it now.