Auger Appeal: Augers & Hole Diggers

“The attachment paid for itself in six months,” said Wojciechowski, owner of Wojo’s Lawn Care and Landscaping, a design/build and maintenance company in Youngstown, Ohio. “I use a 30-inch auger bit that digs a tree hole in less than one minute as opposed to more than an hour with a man and a shovel. It also saves us the backbreaking manual labor.”

For landscape contractors whose service offerings require them to dig holes, investing in an auger or auger attachment for their skid-steer or compact utility loader can save time and manpower.

AUGER AVAILABILITY. There are a few different types of stand-alone augers and auger attachments on the market today.

Stand-alone augers are ideal for contractors who dig holes for fences, decks or utility posts. This style of auger can come pivot-mounted and attach on the back of a pick-up truck or freestanding and pivot down from a loader arm that has its own engine, pointed out Pat Cappucci, director of marketing, Toro Landscape Contractor Group, Bloomington, Minn. “Most landscape contractors, however, won’t use this kind of auger because they aren’t easy to manipulate, especially when planting 30 shrubs and 20 or 30 trees on one property,” Cappucci said.

This explains the popularity of auger attachments in the landscape industry. They are typically used on skid-steer or compact utility loaders, which provide the hydraulic power needed to push the flow and pressure into a head that drives the auger into the ground. So, the main part of the auger contractors purchase is the power head.

The basic power head style is chain drive, which receives its flow and pressure from a base unit with a hydraulic motor. The hydraulic motor transfers power to the auger through a transfer chain, alleviating the motor from some torque demand, Cappucci said.

A chain drive is considered “inexpensive and can cost between $1,200 and $1,500, depending on the features offered with it,” said Bob Bethards, product manager, Alitec Attachments, Brownsburg, Ind. “But a chain drive usually requires regular maintenance. Without the maintenance, chain drives won’t last as long as the other types of power heads.”

Another power head type is direct-drive, where the motor runs via the unit’s hydraulic power, using up available torque to run the auger. “With direct-drive, flow and pressure come right off of the unit into the power head to drive the auger,” Cappucci explained. “This puts more demand on the motor, therefore the size of the motor dictates its life and power.”

The last power head option is planetary drive. “This is similar to a chain drive but more expensive and requires less maintenance,” Cappucci said. “With this drive, instead of a transfer chain taking up some torque demand, you have a planetary gear case that drives the head so you get greater torque output from the hydraulic pressure and flow input. A planetary drive is efficient and can be a long-life solution for the end user. But the direct-drive option can match the performance of a planetary drive, depending on the size of the motor.”

A planetary drive power head will cost anywhere from $2,300 to $2,900, depending on its features, according to Bethards. Typically, this is the most expensive option, but Cappucci said direct-drive power heads with larger motors can be more expensive than planetary drive power heads.

Choosing a power head can be done by looking at soil conditions and landscape applications. “Sandy soils need more speed and less torque,” Cappucci pointed out. “But a bigger hole needs more torque and less speed.”

Contractors who use augers in rocky soil can benefit from a transfer chain or planetary gear case between the power head and motor to protect the motor from hydraulic pressure spikes caused by hitting rocks.

Cappucci said motor manufacturers are working on developing motors that withstand greater pressure spikes while providing the torque output needed to run augers. “This type of motor would bleed off excess pressure from a spike instead of taking the hit all at once.”

A BIT ABOUT BITS. Drill bits, which come in sizes from 6 to 36 inches, Bethards said, are other crucial auger components.

“Digging post holes requires a 6- or 9-inch bit, 12-inch bits are used for shrubs, and 24-inch bits are used for trees,” Bethards said.

Auger bits range in cost from $70 to $1,000 each, depending on bit size, Cappucci said.

Dealers can recommend bits based on the type of machine and power head the contractor owns. “Most landscape contractors buy at least two bits to get as much versatility as possible out of the power head they purchased,” Cappucci remarked.