# Forum Home Renovation Tools & Products  Anyone used one of these post hole diggers?

## Kevin_Baker

Hi guys, 
Looking at getting a post hole digger for a retaining wall that I'm going to be slowly building. Was looking at this: BBT 71cc Post Hole Digger - Bigger Boyz Toyz 
Has anyone used one of these and can comment on the quality? I'm looking at doing ~20-30 holes over the space of a few months so it'd be more economical for me to buy rather than hire.  
Cheers 
Kev

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## jiggy

Looks good, but it seems to be designed for a single person usage, depending on the type of soil it can be difficult to use by yourself. If your area has a lot of clay it might be wiser to go for a two handled model.

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## Master Splinter

+1 to the two person type (or the ones that have wheels on one end...or even a bobcat on one end).  Unless your soil is fairly uniform, the one-man diggers can be hell on the back!

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## shauck

It's only good economics if it doesn't end up stored away, gathering dust. You want to be using it over and over again.

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## Kevin_Baker

> Looks good, but it seems to be designed for a single  person usage, depending on the type of soil it can be difficult to use  by yourself. If your area has a lot of clay it might be wiser to go for a  two handled model.

  We do have a bit of clay, but not too  much - my neighbour could always help by holding the other side I'm  thinking. Worst comes to worst it can be modified to have two handles   :Biggrin: .   

> +1 to the two person type (or the ones  that have wheels on one end...or even a bobcat on one end).  Unless your  soil is fairly uniform, the one-man diggers can be hell on the  back!

  Can't afford one of the ones with wheels, suppose  worst comes to worst I could build something though  :Biggrin: . Also hoping that  by buying it rather than hiring that I can do a little bit at a time  (i.e. maybe dig ~3 holes, buy posts, set them in, and repeat as I get  more money!).   

> It's only good economics if it doesn't end up  stored away, gathering dust. You want to be using it over and over  again.

  See above comments  :Smilie:  that's the plan. Also thinking that after finishing with it I could sell it off to recover some costs.

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## stevoh741

Waste of money mate. get a mini excavator or bobcat with auger $90-100/hr and have them dig your holes in 1hr. Then concrete all your posts in 1 go and be dringing beer looking at all your set posts by lunch. Digging by hand / hand auger is a false economy and why buy a bulky machine that will just sit around gathering dust and using space once your done. By getting an excavator, you save $250 on buying that little wrist-breaking toy auger and with the savings you can buy 10 200x75 posts. All you need then is sand, aggi and cement and if your mixing yourself $100-120 will get you a m3 from landscape supplies and you're done. Don't waste your cash on premixed bags as they equate to $1000/m3 and are a ripoff.

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## shauck

What stevoh741 said is what I was getting at. In fact, save your back altogether and get the concrete in by truck. Do it all in one go and get it over with. A days work maybe a day and a half. If your not going to use the auger for more than this lot of holes you are not saving money. Up our way, some guys have a three hour minimum for excavator so check this before hiring someone. Going for a decent size excavator who has a higher rate will also end up saving you money as they take a fraction of the time compared to the little excavators.

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## PlatypusGardens

*DO NOT* buy anything from websites *Like That*!!!  :No:  * EDITED POST:   Removed Site name & changed wording*  All their stuff is cheap knock-off crap and a waste of money. 
They buy it by the container load and slap a sticker on it.
There's a number of sites like that around, all offering great prices.
$1000 off the RRP?
I wonder why....
Be aware* IMHO*.   
And I agree with the others.
Get someone with a machine in to dig the holes for ya. 
No need to bust your balls for the sake of  $100-$200.     :Smilie:

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## Pulpo

I have used those one man post hole diggers. 
They have their place. 
But not for this job. 
I would hire backhoe or the like. 
It could polish off those holes by lunch time. 
Slaving away for days digging holes is not very good efficiency. 
Order in the concrete as well if possible, get a mate to help will save a tremendous amount of time and effort. 
Good  luck
Pulpo

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## Ken-67

Like others say, get all the holes dug in one day. If you can't get all the posts set in one go, put somthing over the holes to stop them being kicked in. Worst case, when you are ready, you may have to bale out a bit of water. I've used one of those diggers before, and trust me, you won't be up to doing more than a couple a day, then another day or two to get your back straightened again.

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## jatt

The one my father bought looks the same.  Ok lets see: both of the flimsey straps attaching the tank have broken, the hand control has come loose a couple of times, be careful how you leave it lying in the ute - fuel everywhere if u dont. 
Actually quite hard to restart once its hot.  remove, clean plug and try again.  Not always successful tho. 
Bent the smallest auger already, so be careful there.  The best plan seems to be start with the smallest auger as a pilot, also less likely to grab than the larger dia one. 
Yes as prevoiusly stated for bigger jobs recommend calling in someone, especially if the ground is hard/rocky.  Many of 50 odd holes drilled for the foundations on my extension were hard work even for  a 9 odd tonne backhoe.  
The little handheld unit was very useful in hard to get at spots where my tractor mounted Berends and the big machine couldnt fit.  You may be better off just hiring a small unit if its not gunna see the lite of day after one job.  The old boy is on a few acres with livestock and I do the odd fence fix in town, so between us it gets enuf use to justify it.

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