Rented a power auger vs digging by hand for a 200 foot run last month

I had to set 30 posts for a privacy fence and figured I'd save money by digging the holes myself. After the first 5 holes took me almost 4 hours in this rocky clay soil here in Ohio, I gave up and rented a one-man auger from Home Depot for $65. The auger finished the rest in under 3 hours total - has anyone else found that the rental cost is almost always worth it compared to the back pain?

2 comments

2 Comments

andrew69312d ago

Yeah, but I gotta push back a little on the "always worth it" thing (not trying to be a jerk, just my experience). The rental cost depends a lot on your soil type and how many holes you're doing. I used a one-man auger in super rocky soil and it kept bouncing off rocks and getting stuck, which actually took longer than just digging manually for the last 10 holes. For 30 posts, sure, the rental makes sense, but for like 6 or 8 holes in heavy clay, I'd honestly rather just use a post hole digger and save the trip to the store.

reeselewis9d ago

Buddy of mine tried the same thing last summer. He rented a one-man auger for a fence project and hit a buried root about 8 inches down. That thing twisted his arm so bad he ended up in urgent care with a pulled muscle. Took him longer to heal than it would have to dig the holes by hand. So yeah, soil and luck play a big part in whether it's worth it. He won't touch an auger again unless it's the two-man with a clutch.