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Post Hole Auger Goes Mobile
After converting several gas-powered garden tractors to electric, Bill Bayer found it easy to convert a corded post hole auger to mobile.
“I got the idea after making a boom pole for Artie, my articulated, all-electric garden tractor (Vol. 49, No. 1),” says Bayer. “I made a rough sketch as a concept and ordered
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Post Hole Auger Goes Mobile
After converting several gas-powered garden tractors to electric, Bill Bayer found it easy to convert a corded post hole auger to mobile.
“I got the idea after making a boom pole for Artie, my articulated, all-electric garden tractor (Vol. 49, No. 1),” says Bayer. “I made a rough sketch as a concept and ordered a $90 plug-in electric auger off of Amazon.”
The electric actuator on the rear of the tractor controls the vertical movement of the boom pole. Bayer used the boom pole frame without the pole to mount the auger. The actuator would provide vertical movement, just as it did with the boom pole.
He slipped a short piece of square tubing into the receiver for the boom pole. Unlike the straight pole, this steel tube has two bends to provide the necessary height, while keeping the auger close enough for adjustment of positioning and vertical movement from the tractor seat.
“I attached a U-joint at the end of the tubing so the auger can swing in any direction,” says Bayer.
He fabricated a trapezoid-shaped housing from steel plate that was sized to the auger drive. The auger drive is secured in place at a hole in the bottom plate. A stub on the top plate connects to the U-joint.
Bayer removed the handles from the auger and reattached the right handle, which has the start/stop and auger speed control on a steel tab on the right side of the housing.
To power the auger, Bayer ran a cable from the e-power takeoff on Artie to an inverter he mounted on the steel tubing. It converts the tractor’s 48-volt DC power to 110 AC.
Once he wired the power cord to the inverter, he was ready to put the auger to work. He drove Artie to a spot near the family chicken coop where he planned to build a deck.
“It worked fine, but it went into the ground at an angle,” says Bayer. “I realized it would take a little practice to coordinate the steering and starting angle of the auger. Or I can just push the tip of the auger away from the tractor when starting the hole.”
Contact: FARM SHOW Followup, Bill Bayer, 250 Buffalo Bottom Rd., Linden, Tenn. 37096 (ph 931-589-0001; bluharo@yahoo.com; YouTube: @billbayer5526).
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