Post hole diggers on a tractor are life savers. If you've evert slaved over an ArmStrong Powered post hole digger or just used a shovel you know the pain I speak of.
PLEASE follow me - It helps me a TON.
They can be challenging to hook up if you've never done it.
Things to remember: 3 point augers do not require and can not use a handylink top link so you'll have to take the one off of your tractor and set it aside for this tool.
Also;
1. The HIGHER you set the main frame center point on the auger to the tractor, the LOWER the auger can go into the ground and the the lift on the tractor will be less..
2. The LOWER you set the main frame center point on the auger to the tractor, the HIGHER the auger will sit on the tractor, the higher the tractor can lift it but the ground penetration could be substantially less. Be careful here as lifting it too high can bind the swivel couplings at each end of the PTO shaft.
Always make sure you have a working PTO cover and connect the chains of the cover to the auger on one end and the tractor on the other. This keeps the PTO shaft covered while it's rotating to protect anyone who may come near (you should NEVER allow anyone near the shaft while it is in operation).
3 Point augers are not built for the smaller tractors, the arms won't go wide enough to accommodate even the smallest auger. Sorry if that affects you.
These things come in very handy not just for digging post holes, but for planting trees and to dig a quick six foot grave for a dead animal or treasures you want to bury!!
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As Always: This is what "I do", it's up to you to ALWAYS use your own research & more importantly...common sense. I welcome your comments & questions and I do my best to answer as many as I physically can If you decide to post a comment, be nice & post an educated, intelligent comment If YouTube doesn't, I may delete and mute/block any inappropriate, rude, mean, frivolous, unintelligent (stupid) or irrelevant posts or posters CaptWingnut
Hello and welcome to my channel. I'm Brad Wardle, callsign Captain Wingnut from Cougar Ridge Ranch
high in the Uintah Mountains of eastern Utah, and today I'm answering some questions I received about
how do you hook up a three-point drill auger on your tractor. If you have a tractor,
this implement is one of the greatest labor-saving machines around, and if you've ever dug just a
couple of post holes, you know exactly what I mean. The tractor drill auger consists of four basic
pieces, the frame, the gearbox, the drill auger bit, and the PTO shaft that goes to the tractor for power.
I could say that this is one of the most dangerous implements that hooks to a tractor, but in reality
every implement that hooks to a tractor is dangerous and can be life-threatening.
This baby is particularly dangerous when hooking it up as well as using it. It is very top heavy
being that the gearbox is right on top and on the auger bit it's sitting on a point, so its
propensity to tip over and hurt you and crush you is high. When using it, you have the big auger drill
bit going around really fast, and you also have the PTO power takeoff shaft going around even
faster, so great caution should be taken when attaching this and removing it from the tractor
as well as great caution when using it. Safety first, I find it helpful when I remove the drill
from the tractor to drill it into the ground at least a foot. This stabilizes the drill auger
because folks, as I said, this baby is really top heavy, and if it tips over just skedaddle out of
the way. It will typically take two of you to upright it and stabilize it, and if you don't
have two of you, you'll be hooking a chain to it and lifting it up with the bucket of the tractor,
and you'll be doing a lot of dancing around in the dirt trying to get it set up and back ready
to hook up. I'll probably make a stand for mine someday, but we got lots of dirt in the open
ground, so for now, I just drill it in a bit and then detach it where it sits. A three-point hitch
hookup has obviously three points of contact with the implement, and almost every implement that
goes on the back of a tractor nowadays has a three-point hookup. The center point usually
has a top link that goes from the top pivot on the tractor to the implement with a screw adjustment
length to shorten or lengthen the top link in between. For a three-point auger, you remove it.
There is no adjustable top link used. The center hookup goes straight onto the tractor. This becomes
the pivot point for the auger that determines how high the tractor lifts and drops the implement.
The lift arms on the side do just that, lift the implement. In this case, if you put the center
point on a low pin on the tractor, the drill auger will not go as low into the ground, but it will
raise up higher. Which pin you use and the ultimate height of which you lift the auger will really be
determined by the PTO shaft. Too high and the shaft coupler will bind either at the gearbox
or at the tractor or both, so take caution. Make sure you don't lift it too high. Word of advice,
if you're doing this by yourself without a helper, have the top pin in your hand
easily accessible ready to go because the auger frame is really heavy and you'll need to hold
the frame in place while you slip the pin in to bolt it onto the tractor. Once the pin is in,
the lock pin is easy to put in. If you put the center point in a higher pin on the tractor,
the auger will go deeper into the ground and you may then have to adjust the uniform depth
with your lift arm lever stop in the cockpit. In this setting, the auger will not raise up as high
when you lift it up. It's all about figuring out the best pin for your tractor. I like to have the
tractor lift the auger so it's about six inches above the ground, which is just enough clearance
to move around safely but lets me punch the auger as deep as I can. Next, we hook up the side points
which are the lifting arms. At this point, you may need to move your tractor a little bit forward
or reverse to get the right distance to accommodate the side arms. Sometimes these are difficult to
get in place but a little strength, persistence, and mostly willpower and the hookup will get
completed. I usually end up going back and forth until I get them seated because my tractor has a
couple of locking braces that keep the lift arms from swinging too wide and allowing the implement
to sway back and forth into the tires. Now, you want to hook up the left arm first, the left as
you're sitting on the tractor because the right side is usually adjustable up and down and you
might have to change that adjustment to match the left arm once it's attached to the to the drill.
Next, we hook up the PTO or the power takeoff shaft. Now, some guys hook up the PTO before the lift
arms. It doesn't really matter but I find with my tractor it's easier once the tractor is supporting
all of the weight of the auger to do that. I have no movement of the auger at that point.
The PTO shaft is a shaft that transmits the power from the transmission of the tractor
to the implement. In this case, it turns the drill. Just push the spline button on the PTO shaft
to allow it to completely slide over the tractor output shaft and then release the button. Now,
push the shaft on again to make sure that the button pops up and locks the PTO onto the tractor
output shaft and then yank on it to make sure that it's there. You don't want this baby coming loose.
Lock the cover chains to the frame of the drill auger and the tractor. This prevents the shaft
cover from turning allowing the shaft to turn inside of the cover where it can't touch you.
When it's all hooked up, it's time to go to work, and when you're done, drill it back into
the ground a bit where you'll park it and disconnect it in reverse order. PTO side arms
and then the center pin, and if possible, have a strong safety helper for this job because
that center frame is heavy. Well, that's it not terribly tough, but these babies are heavy and
very, very dangerous. Finishing up, I would be honored and appreciate if you would subscribe
to my channel, and while you're there, click the like button and the bell icon so YouTube can
notify you every time I post a new video. Also, I post a lot of other stuff on my Cougar Ridge Ranch
Facebook page that doesn't make it onto my YouTube channel, so follow me there as well.
The link is in the description, and finally, if you have any questions or positive comments,
post them below and I'll do my utmost to answer every one possible. Okay, my father used to say
the older you get, that's me, the better you get unless you're a banana. I'm Brad Wardle,
callsign Captain Wingnut from Cougar Ridge Ranch, showing you how to hook up a three-point drill auger.
Happy postal drilling!
