Over 60 fence posts dug with this beast in the hard West Texas dirt/rock. It has done a beautiful job and has performed well for over a year now. Be sure to go easy on your pull cord, in addition to using the right fuel additive and make sure you do proper maintenance and cleaning between uses. Store it properly and you'll get a lot of mileage out of it.
Just what I needed to see, someone else that deals with TEXAS clay. We're more south so we get that hard black clay but we got it easy for now. It's been raining and hot so the clay is pretty much a consistent mush which will help with diggings with less force.
@@builderspluscustomhomesand2146 Yeah, where we live, it's just that hard, red caliche and a LOT of rock. This little beast plowed right through it. If you break your pull cord, they're only 8.00 on Amazon and instead of trying to repair them yourself (or spending the bucks at a local lawnmower and small engine repair shop) order them on line. I broke two, replaced them within days and keep a couple of spares in the garage. Haven't used them yet because I've learned that with just the right grip, the right fuel mix and priming, my toy will fire up quickly and efficiently. Like I said, clean it, store it properly and she'll keep on kicking. Since my last post, I have built 4 carports using 4x4 posts 2 feet deep and this Auger has been up for the challenge with no issue. Damned good purchase, regardless of what some folks say.
Mine had the carbide tips brazed too far back from the edge . It wouldn't cut the hard clay it just tried to wear in a hole . I had to grind a point on the flat face bar carbide. It was a pain carbide dosn't grind well. After I got somewhat of a sharp edge it dug better.
Tip: if you drill a series of holes (garden, to revive a tree whose roots are compacted) and then fill them with shredded wood chips (or cardboard, leaves, etc. ) the worms will distribute the organic material sideways and, eventually, the whole area will become much looser for the penetration of water and, more importantly, oxygen. It will also become a better loam with the distribution of the organic material; more fértil and easier for routes to penetrate.
Test it out when you get it and make sure you got a good one. I've heard a few complaints about long term durability but, mine's still going strong. Good luck!
Ive hand dug four posts in the last two days, first time doing it. The posts ended up being out of square and I have to dig them up and start over. Im going to HF first thing in the morning. My back thanks you for this review! 👍
Was looking to buy one and found your video to get a review. Being here in Georgia, I really didn't want to get out there with a set of post hole diggers. Thanks for the upload and now I have to go get me one.
I just unboxed one of these, and then decided to watch a couple videos. 😃 I also bought a 8” bit. I think it looks like it does a pretty good job. I have several of the Predator things from HF. For the money, so far I’m impressed with all of them. I say that, even though for some reason HF bugs me. I can’t explain why, because I really don’t know. One thing I’d recommend. Let it idle for maybe 45 seconds when you start it, to warm up a bit. That allows the different type metals inside the engine to warm up and expand. To easy to cease a piston cold starting and boring a hole right away. (In this case) Other then that, can’t wait for spring to get here so I can use mine.
I bought one just this past monday and used it yesterday and it worked perfect. It even cut through small 1" roots. Only down fall is the impeller it has to cool cylinder head is that it blows exhaust fumes in your face. So wear a good gas mask.
the Bottom line this thing is weak it will not work for most of you. By the time you confirm that fact, and take it back Harbor Freight will slap you with a 20% 0r restocking fee. yep the guy who posted the review did not mention the restocking fee.
Did you follow the manual's 25:1 gas mix ratio or use the industry standard 40 or 50:1? I hear the engine not "cleaning out" which tells me it's running rich (better than lean) and you're not getting full power output.
Hey guys my friend got into a accident on Monday, his legs got Caught in one of these and had to get a foot removed, he might have to get the other amputated too, please send prayers to Jed.
Great video thanks for sharing. Is this good for rocky type of land? We are planning to put some privacy trees in our back and want to buy an augur to dig holes. We have small river rocks in ground upon digging. What would you suggest and which drill bit would be better for this?
My analytics say your vid has mine as the most suggested, couple others are close behind. What is with the bump over the past few days do you know? Pest performance on the channel ever so far. Hope your vid helped others too, it's good!
Great video, thanks! You mentioned that you use it for gophers. Can you elaborate? Do you use it to find the tunnels? Asking because I'm not winning the battle with the critters LOL
For gophers I found using a HF propane weed burn torch works pretty well, I spin off the burn tip, and stick the wand in the hole and put about 30 seconds of raw propane in their tunnels. I think Propane is heavier than air so it sits in the P traps until they try to run out then breathe in n it suffocates them. I had to do it twice but they gone.
I didn't call dig right on two of many projects...I will always call before I dig. Found a 6 inch service pipe in the middle of my field by chance just putting a tree in the ground
I rented one of the commercial ones at HD and the soil was so dry and hard it didn't work worth a can of beans! So I had to manually do it. It was a heck of a lot of work. So I think it really depends on the soil. The soil in the video looks fairly loose compared to what I was dealing with.
Any tips on removing extensions once you've had it on and used it for augering? I've soaked in WD40 for days and pounded on it with a rubber mallet and can't get it off.
Good review. I'm planting 10-12 Salvia shrubs in a small patio at my rental property. The soil is very compacted San Fernando gray clay that would kill my back trying to dig planting holes in, so going to pick one of these up at Harbor Freight tomorrow; on sale with one of their coupons for $179.99. Someone asked about the mix ratio; are you using 25:1 or 40:1? Also, have you tried it with a larger 8-12" bit? This Predator stuff looks decent for the price and interesting that Consumer Reports recently gave their Inverter Generator a "Best Buy" over the much more expensive Honda and Yamaha. Thanks again for your review.
Yes this should do the job. You may want to soak the ground a day or two before you dig. I am running everything at 40:1 no problems so far. I haven't tried the larger bit. I think it would work well, but probably slower. Good luck and thanks for commenting.
@Chase Likely the cost to value ratio is better for Predator products. Some people that have money to burn say “Save up and get the Honda.” With as often as I use gas powered tools, I could go through 2-3 of the Predator products and still save money compared to 1 of the Honda products for the same duration of time. But of course if I had the money I’d rather buy the Honda brand.
Hi. I’m in the northeast. Ground tends to be rocky. What happens when the auger hits a rock or thick root. Sheer pin I’m guessing? Thanks for any input.
It probably has a sheer pin but I don't know, I've never sheered one. It will stop the auger bit if you hit a root and the engine will bog down. It's not powerful enough to twist out of my grip. You kinda have to lift it out of the hole and rev it up to get it drilling again.
Thanks for the video; it is great. I do have a question: I live in Tucson AZ and would like dig holes to plant trees in my backyard. Our soil is mostly caliche. Do you think this tool can handle digging in such soil?
IDK but I'm going off grid to the Rockies soon and I plan to take the auger to see if it'll handle rocky soil. I'll let you know when I get back. I'm assuming caliche is a mix of rock/sand?
@@TheHandsOnChannel Yes. I found this picture that looks very much like what I am dealing with: www.lowes.com/creative-ideas/images/2014_04/RG-Common-Soils/soil-desert-1.jpg
I'm not sure to be honest. It would depend on the wind load at your location. If it's for a privacy fence that is continuous then I'd say you need 8'' if on the other hand you have air gaps between the boards I think 6'' will be fine. Hope that helps.
The diagonal dimension of a 4x4 (which is really a 3.5x3.5) is about 5". A 6" diameter hole will only give you 1" cover at the corners, which is where you are most likely to get cracking - concrete tends to crack when it is poured around a sharp corner. Bottom line, a 6" hole will work, but it will be flimsy. If you're going to use a meaty piece of lumber, you might as well take full advantage of its strength and give it a meaty base with an 8" hole.
Lol started fresh for 30 sec and making it overwork for applying pressure. Like putting a brand new engine together and redline it. Score the cylinder fast on 2 cycles. Always warm up for 5 mins at least . Ask any small engine mechanical.
biggest thing I noticed that helped was cleaning the oil out before the first use. metal shavings came out of mine and after cleaning those out and adding good oil mine ran well! I also replaced my pull line with a better one because I figure that would be the point that fails haha
@@TheHandsOnChannel : yes I checked with them first thing. They didn't have. Says on box 7/8" is the "standard" for shaft size on auger bits. Have already considered welder. Thought I'd check with you first to see what you might know. Thanks so much.
the problem with mine is that the idle runs too fast and if I hit a root and I lose grip andit comes out of my hands it keeps spinning even though I don't have my hand on the trigger
Hmm, you might try to adjust the idle screw. Oh and check to make sure the throttle cable is not sticking. Sometimes a little spray lube down the cable helps. It certainly shouldn't do that, sounds dangerous. Also if you haven't had it more than 90 days you can exchange it for a good working unit. Good luck.
@@TheHandsOnChannel , thanks, your reply caused me to take a close look at the carburetor and I noticed that the bolts that hold the carb to the nylon spacer were loose. Also the bolts that hold the spacer to the intake port were also loose. So I put medium blue loctite on them and tightened them up. My auger is running perfect now!!
IDK if they have an extension bar for this unit. I would say it would all depend on your soil. I think it would struggle to go much deeper in my clay soil. Good luck.
Go much deeper and you're going to have fun digging the loose dirt out of the bottom of the hole. In my experience, I go down the 2-1/2 foot max depth and still have to dig a foot of loose dirt out by hand.
Trash bought 2 of these and cant even get it to start.. one start and worked for half hour, turn it off.. next day never start again.. exchange it and new one never starts. Gave me 2 blisters pulling the starter string.. it feels like the string is somewhat stuck.. sonetimes trying to pull it real hard and it stuck causing pain on your fingers..
Dont forget to put some engine oil in the fuel tank...i usually skip the 2 stroke and dump frsh synthetic left over from oil change to my cars, works fine.
Why can't you get electric versions of these? I can easily get power to where I need to use one of these and it would be a much simpler and low maintenance piece of equipment.
I got one. It works OK, but developed a couple of problems after a few uses. Chalk it up to poor build quality control in the factory, I suppose. First, the on/off switch quit working.... It wouldn't turn the unit off. To get it to stop I would have to put the choke in the start position and pull the throttle to make it stall. This turned out to be a bad wire connection on the on/off switch. After stripping and re-crimping that was fixed. The other problem was that it got harder and harder to start, and eventually would stall after it was started or wouldn't start at all. The carburetor mounting plate bolts had loosened up and allowed air to get in under the seal. Tighten the bolts back up and it works great.
I like Harbor Freight if you’re handy for this exact reason, cheap shit for beat em up projects but now if you were the “green homeowner” whos never even stripped and crimped a wire what the hell are they going to say when they encounter your situation? Its cheap so it draws in non tool people but i say harbor freight is a better resource for the people that know tools good and bad and can work around the little quality fuck ups.
Only two complaints about the auger that customers should be aware of, one being important: the drive shaft is 7/8" in ID, not the industry standard of 3/4" for this class of auger; that means you can't use any of the larger 8-12" aftermarket bits since Harbor Freight only sells the 6" model this comes with. I searched high and low through the Internet and there just aren't any larger bits available with a 7/8" female input and the only adapter I could find was configured the opposite of what you need, that is, a 3/4" female to 7/8" male. Therefore, you are stuck with a 6" bit. If anyone out there locates larger bits with a 7/8" female input collet - PLEASE let us know! I'm not sure if the other brands listed on Amazon that look like they all come from the same Chinese factory and are similarly priced use 3/4" drive shafts, but I suspect they do. Why Predator chose to utilize the 7/8" shaft is a mystery. Second, the bit would be nice if it had a recoil spring; I hit a few rocks and roots and the bit will just stop while doing a number on your wrists and back. otherwise, it's a good machine for the price.
larger and smaller augers are on amazon. I think these brands all use the 7/8 size Thunderbay, Earthquake, Harbor Freight, Echo, Dolmar, and Maruyama Augers www.amazon.com/8-Inch-Earth-Auger-ThunderBay/dp/B017OBQWHW/ref=sr_1_44?gclid=Cj0KCQjw3PLnBRCpARIsAKaUbgt0u4SuUIbXzZipNBm5YoRewt0SzlKTXtg1SfhRp5SDQqVwKvF2_WwaAgXoEALw_wcB&hvadid=177787712544&hvdev=c&hvlocphy=9010831&hvnetw=g&hvpos=1t1&hvqmt=e&hvrand=5072317756482853449&hvtargid=aud-646118600766%3Akwd-10797676527&hydadcr=1609_9901453&keywords=7%2F8+auger+bit&qid=1560087458&s=gateway&sr=8-44
@@TheHandsOnChannel Thnak you for replying, Our soil upstate NY is not gravel size rocks, those can be stony & wet soil (it rains a lot) ...which is why I've asked and wonder if anyone has dealt with this kind of soil (thank you in advance)
