Today we put the Harbor Freight Gas powered Earth Auger from Predator to the test. Predator makes a great engine, but do they make a good earth auger? Have you tried Amazon Prime? Click here for a free 30-day Trial amzn.to/2LAKMj7
When you're ready to lift the auger out of the dug hole, keep the drill bit turning and "lift". It's easier than stopping the spin and trying to lift it out. Thanks for sharing the video. They definitely come in handy.
Thanks man, you don't think there is a lot to it until you do it! but that is exactly right. I am starting to get it down ... "clearing" the auger correctly is a BIG step. Thanks
🤦♂️LOL!!!😄 You probably know by now that HF carries a 21in shaft extension for only $20. As the auger goes into the ground, every few inches pull it up and gas it, it will spread the dirt out above the hole so it doesn't continuously get bogged down. I'm guessing that you have figured that out by now. 👍👍 Take your time and you'll get use to it. I'm gonna purchase one in the near future. Great video my friend.
Perfect. You nailed it. That was basically the entire story (except the extension). This is great info. In my opinion, usually the comments on videos are more useful and helpful than the video itself! Thanks for watching
You can get pretty good results with these in rocky and clay soil if you run it right. The trick in rocky soil is don't go full throttle when digging down. if you have it wide open and hit a rock it will beat you up, you'll be fighting it the whole time. Dig down with 1/2-3/4 throttle and if you hit a rock it will bog it down instead of knocking your shoulder out of socket. Run full throttle when pulling it up after it bogs down, sometimes that will bring the rock up and throw it to the side. Then go back to 1/2-3/4 throttle when going down. If it bogs down and you can't bring the rock up, it's usually a large rock laying in the bottom of the hole, just reach down and pull it out. For clay soil don't go more then about 8 inches down without bringing it up out of the hole at full throttle. Just keep going down a little bit then back up, if you don't it will corkscrew itself into the clay soil and get stuck. If the auger bit gets stuck bad unhook the powerhead and wrap a strap around the bit, leave a little loop in the strap and put that around a floor jack, you can pull it out of the hole.
I have that auger and after about 2 yrs of ownership I can offer a few tips. 1) The carb is crap. Shortly after the warranty ran out the carb crapped out and all the fuel would run out all over the place and would fill the cylinder. This is a common problem, and after researching it a $19 Aokus Predator earth auger replacement carb from Amazon fixed that problem. 2) The fuel lines are crap. 6 months after replacing the carb it wouldn’t start. Thought it was the primer bulb on the carb but it tested fine, problem was the fuel lines where they entered the fuel tank. Where they go thru the rubber grommet into and out of the fuel tank had dissolved completely and were completely severed. Went to Autozone, got some decent fuel lines and it’s good to go. Other than that it’s been a great auger; lots of power and will definitely rip your shoulder out of joint if you’re not careful. Thanks for a great video on a good product, keep up the good work. 👍
Thank you so much for your video and tips! Well worth watching, as this will be my first time using mine. Fortunately, I have no trees or roots to worry about :). Thank you again, people like you help the beginners like me, so we hopefully can be successful.
make sure you read the comments, "clearing" it often helps a lot, and I didn't show that well. wear boots and long pants and yank it up to bring that dirt up with it
I like wearing rubber coated gloves when I work, although I stopped wearing gloves when I am working with a twisting tool. It is much easier to let go of a tool that spins or twists out of control. Just my two washers.
BTW if this auger is being used for a 6x6 post as you're digging with it swirl it around but put less weight on it to loosen a larger area and have less to break up with a digging bar and/or the hand post hole digger when cleaning out the loose out of the hole . this method can also be used for wrist size or smaller roots .
If you mix styrofoam and gasoline; you basically make napalm. It burns for a long time and is very sticky. You need a lot of styrofoam though. I put several cubic feet into one cup of gasoline. Also that thing rips away from me all the time with the rocks up here in pa. There’s not enough leverage. The handles should be a little wider.
yea, I was wondering how it would do in clay? I have a really sandy soil, it works great here, then the next step would be how it does in dirt, and the final test being clay. But, the predator motors are great so, unless you step up the power, I am sure this is a pretty good auger
keep pulling it up every 5-10 seconds to throw the loose dirt out of the hole then drop back in and keep repeating til you hit the depth you need . and call miss utility to mark power , water , cable and phone lines if digging near the street or any building/residence .
yes, I probably should have used it a few more times before I did the review. It still works like a champ, and starts every spring. so it has done well
yep, I kinda learned a little better how to use it as it went on ... that's exactly the case, I probably would have benefited from watching a "how to " video on running this thing ... it's not quite as straight forward as you would think ... Thanks for the watch ...
Wow. I still use mine. So far my only issue is that it must leak gas? Starts and runs great but if I set it for a couple weeks, seems like the fuel is lower than when I stored it
kinda funny, I had literally never used an auger before, which anyone that had could probably easily tell!!! LOL, but pretty straight forward, just have to "clear" the auger a bit more often than I showed!!!
Ha! That's totally something I would do! So silly why they don't have a reverse. I don't think it would work good here in Missouri, clay and rocks! Good review 👍
@@MyLooneyBin no sync issues but definitely has volume issues. Some parts of the video is fine, then you do a scene change and can barely hear you at all. That may be an issue with your audio configurations in your post-edit software. Or may a good mic would solve the problem. Either way, thanks for the useful info and yes, many good tips in the comments section, for sure.
WHat dO I dO Tf iT geTs stUck On A rOOt I don't know maybe use some damn common since and take the motor off and spin the bit the opposite direction 🤦♂️🤦♂️ but what do I know
why you so angry ... some people are different, they can spell or speak good grammar, or type really fast, and then there are those that know better how to do mechanical things. We all got talents, doesn't make one dumb or one smart, just makes us all a little different. strengths in different areas.
