20 Best Post Hole Digger For Rocky Soil (2023 Updated)

I’m 69 years old and this little jewel works great for setting 2x2x11ga steel posts 3 feet down in dirt, clay or sand. I had to make a homemade extension for the auger to get the 3 feet down but that was an easy do.

It drills under it’s own weight and no pushing is required but it does need to be pulled up every 6 inch’s or so to keep the auger from getting stuck in the tailings. Hold on tight because small roots and small rock make it kick hard because of the high torque.

If it does get stuck just unplug it and turn the whole device backwards until you can get it out. I did hit one solid sandstone rock and I just let it grind on it for 15 minutes until I got through (about 2 inch) yes I had to resharpen the auger afterwards but it sure beat digging a 12 inch hole for setting a 2 inch post.

The post hole digger worked great for what I needed to do. Its very durable and easy to handle for just 1 person. The holes looked good. And when I need to widen a hole, I just used the good ol manual post hole digger.

Just long enough for Metal Fence Pole hole, have used it to drill out some dirt to Plant Rose bushes an the soil here has a lot of clay in central west Texas. Does a pretty good an quick job, sure beats hand digging.

Does chew up roots easy, if they are not too large, it works for me!.

Got the 3-inch auger for drilling pilot holes to drive post with a hydraulic driver. Glued a level to the top of the power head and I am able to drive post true enough to put boards up. only disappointing aspect is the three-inch auger does not have a replaceable cutting edge and after 300 to 400 holes the tip was well worn and needed to be built up with weld.

The metal used was not easily welded. Also, with the smaller hole rocks will bind the auger so kept a pipe wrench handy.

This auger blade cuts into the soil well and has a nice finish. Having it on the small auger allows to dig at rocks that are at stubborn angles along the side of the hole. It is really a nice rendition of a timeless technology.

This is a lighter duty auger blade that has a replaceable cutting tooth (small piece of square metal) at the bottom of the cutter. This could hurt a person if not used properly.

I’m basically reviewing the power head and 2 augers. The power head is great. EZ starting. Bought it because my Bro in law has an old one and it worked good. I had to fix his engine, but it’s very old and he’s not the best at maintenance.

Auger wise. the 3″ is pretty EZ to use for 1 185# man. The 6″ can twist you up good if you hit something, like a big rock/root, etc. It has the power to turn both which is more than enough. Even 2 men can get twisted.

I added a manual auger to remove the balance of the dirt in the hole. The power auger will remove about 50% and loosen up the rest, but won’t get the last 50% of the loose dirt. The combo and a little water to get the dirt sticky, makes perfect holes.

It’s electric and fairly light for what it is. There is one flaw that I can honestly say it has: there is no reverse like some others have. Reverse would be very useful when the bit binds on a root etc.

To “unwind” the auger it gets a bit tiring due to the effort needed, especially if you’re a bit old. Overall it’s impressively easier than digging by hand alone. It’s much better than gas due to reliability and safety.

I don’t mind the cord since it’s less expensive than battery and I don’t have to go far from the house. I’d buy it again and recommend it. It has more than adequate power. It’s pretty quiet.

This is an exceptional tool for the price. I found this same product for twice the price elsewhere. I have over 100 fence posts to set at 24†deep each. My old style diggers weren’t up to the task, so I bought these.

In my area, we have about 6†of sandy soil, above several feet of rock hard clay. I’m not saying these cut through the clay like butter, but they’re a lot better than any others I’ve tried. They dig a hole diameter slightly smaller than standard, but still perfect for 4x4s.

The diggers don’t bring up as much dirt per load as some others, but I see this as a good thing, since it means the load isn’t quite as heavy to bring up. I’m a big guy at 240 lbs, and can slam the diggers down with a good deal of force, but when I do, there’s no vibration in the handles, which tells me they are well made.

The welds appear solid, and overall it’s well engineered. I’ve knocked out a dozen post holes so far, and give this tool an A.

I am a metal contractor and we set a lot of posts in the ground. Usually we use a power auger but when digging 1 or 2 holes we use manual diggers. These are without a doubt the best post-hole diggers we have ever used.

The design of these is perfect for digging. They are a bit heavier due to the all steel construction but the weight behind each stroke allows for easy removal of material and they cut through roots pretty well also.

I just wish I had purchased these for the business sooner.

The tool is all steel so it’s kind of heavy but very durable. The blades are shipped dull but can be sharpened (and resharpened) to make digging easier.

warranty is 90 days not life time, this is the 2nd set i have owned,1st one was great,10 plus years, I use them a lot. These have larger diameter ( better) handles,a little lighter over all (not good).

Made in China. Time will tell about the steel. fast delivery. Only had them a few weeks.

Well made and heavy duty post hole digger. I went with the metal handles because made the tool heavier for more leverage when trying to dig. So far has been worth the money.

Bought this to dig holes for fencing corner posts. Did the job with no problems. Fiberglass handles are less likely to break than wooden ones because they have a little flexibility build into them. The Lifetime Warranty makes purchase of this Digger a no-brainer.

TSC has cheaper Post Hole Diggers, but If you want a digger that will last, spend the extra money for this one.

My older digger had a bent blade and while it did work, it was not overly efficient. Decided to give this a shot for the 5 holes I needed to dig. I had two issues which led to the 1 star reduction. The first was that the handles were not on tightly with one actually being finger loose.

This was an easy fix, but I wouldn’t expect to walk out the door needing to complete assembly. The second is that the handles feel a little light duty for the job. I was a little nervous at the idea of twisting the digger in the hole when trying to scrape the sides.

This works fine, but at the cost I expected a little more.

I build fence for a living, and these are the best post hole diggers you can get. After two years of abuse I broke one of the handles and could not get another set for a few days, I bought a more expensive set that I destroyed whilst digging the first hole of the day.

Other brands use cheaper steel that folds when digging in rocky soil, these absolutely will not bend.

Metal construction can take the punishment of proper hard graft. Great solid bit of kit. More robust that the wooden or fibreglass handle versions. Just wish Id bought one years ago!

Makes digging narrow trenches and post holes so much quicker with less effort and is better than the wooden handled version that I had before but soon broke the wooden handles which were weakened by the holes drilled for the fixing bolts so brought this version.

Rubber grips on the handles would help and if digging in clay wetting the blades helps to stop the clay sticking.

Brilliant tool, heavy duty, cuts into the ground well. Really impressed with it I recently completed a fencing job and it made short work of the post holes and stood up well to work. Absolutely worth the money and Id highly recommend it.

I had to think about what I was doing when I wanted to update all my fencing on a acre. After taking a moment and looking at what was out there I left a lumber store and went around the corner to Ace who had this in stock what a beast it is compared to other models.

this thing didn’t take long to put a hole in the ground and even went around the old rotted post in the ground. actually enjoying digging fence post at the moment.

This post hole digger is able to make a deeper hole without expanding the diameter of the hole as the separation of the handles does not need to be as great as the more inexpensive models. I have some new fence posts which are just a little longer, and my older wooden one–which still works and I won’t get rid of, just cannot get there.

A quality product. A little heavier than some I’ve seen, but not an issue for the few I need to periodically replace. Hope this helps.

Decided I needed one of these after digging 5 holes with a normal spade and suffered for it. Only 4 more to go but this has made life so so much easier. Used with a metal bar to loosen the soil then you can get cracking.

Made of good quality material, sturdy and opens and closes positively. I’m so pleased I purchased this to help me out. My only gripe is they are quite heavy and challenging but I am still recovering from a Heart Operation.

Onwards to achieve my goal of finishing the fencing. Gotta be worth a look at this to make hole digging so much easier.

I bought this post hole digger this year to work alongside my original Roughneck bought 10 years ago. Today’s version does not stand comparison. After 6 hours work, the new post hole digger was bent out of shape.

On examination it was obvious why. By comparison with the 10 year old version, today’s model is made of much thinner steel. Screwfix were brilliant, replacing the new one without question. But I now have one post hole digger that I can really dig post holes with and another that I can only really lift out soil pre-loosenend with a spade.

If you are looking for a tool to dig post holes with, this new version is not really up to the job. Might be worth looking at the Heavy Duty version.

My biggest complaint is that the jaws don’t meet, which allows material to drop back into the hole, slowing the whole job. If the jaws met, it would be a lot faster. The fibre-glass handles flex which doesn’t inspire confidence.

However, the tool does do the job so if you’re happy with the price, still a good buy compared to trying to do the job without a post-hole digger. A more expensive model might work better (I haven’t tried) but if they are heavier, it might also be harder work if you are not used to this kind of work.

Tjis is the 2nd utem I’ve purchased from palletforks – the first purchase was via a south american river company (hint it starts with Ama and ends with zon) for a 3pth 2″ receiver – also excellent – this 6″ auger (& the A* order) came in fast like in overnight delivery fast! Living not quite in the middle of nowhere (we can see it from our house, though) having shipping like this really allows me to be dedicated to pallet forks.

Of course that dedication would soon be gone if the quality wasn’t there. I’m very glad to say that the quality of both items is great! I purchased a 3pth post hole digger used w/a 12″ auger. This is great for many things (primarily to help wife plant her trees) but for standard fence posts it was really a bit much – not to mention that my small (30hp) tractor doesn’t have a hydraulic top & tilt on it so the 12″ rarely would go down more than 6-8″.

This 6″ is perfect for driving holes for wood corner posts even through our crappy, rock & clay soil. After the auger came in today I hooked it up and commenced to digging 8 holes for a small house plot (1/2-3/4 acre) of fall veggies.

Each hole was great except one (I ran into a big boulder and had to move the hole to a different spot – this would have been done regardless of the manufacturer). The 6″ size was perfect for the ~4x4s (round backs) I was using.

The auger had no problem going in at least 18″, most of the holes were ~2′ deep. Great product, great company!.

Thank you TitAn. I dug for three days on one hole with my other auger. All twenty holes in a day with yours. Delivered on time and at a great price. Thank you for making fencing more fun!

I dig 5-6 holes perfect. It worked just like expected. Around the 6th or 7th hole the teeth started to bend and wouldn’t dig at all past 8”. Don’t buy.

After any significant use, this item will wear out and break, and despite the proclaimed “lifetime warranty” displayed on the product, they will not honor their warranty. I’ve had multiple of these PHDs and the shovel head as well as the handles will break individually.

They would be 5 star if the end of the blades were curved less. Florida’s soil is sandy and about half of each scoop is lost before it gets to the top of a deep hole.

Decent set of post hole diggers. They are light weight but you can feel the fleet in them when using them heavily.

My son-in-law wanted to run landscaping wire under a 5′ sidewalk. Initially I thought of using the common “water-jet” method, but dreaded the mess. Discovered this at Ace while looking for alternative methods online.

Dug under the sidewalk on each side about 8″, then used this Worked absolutely perfectly. Easy to use; no muddy mess either. Very happy Ace carried this item in-store.

Needed to install posts for a deer fence, then a privacy fence. Bought first an electric model due to the fact I didn’t want the smoke of 2 stroke. Saw this last year as a “shocking value” and thought.

why not for the price. She fired right up and performed very well for my needs. Very little to none for smoke as it uses 50:1 oil mix vs. 30:1 as for others I’ve seen advertised. Just be cautious of any rocks or roots as with all augers.

Made a difficult job so much easier. Do drain the gas and fire her up to get that nasty ethanol out ans she worked great after being idle over the winter.

My son and I had to put in about 100 posts in El Dorado county. For about half the holes it worked perfect, yes we hit some rocks and had to use a bar, then we could finish with auger. I could not imagine doing by by hand.

The only issue we had were a couple of screws vibrated out. I replaced them from the hardware store, but then called the company. A person answered and sent me a couple extra so I would have them. I used thread locker so they would not come out again.

I am extremely impressed with value.

Easy setup. Add 50:1 fuel and you’re ready to dig! Digging postholes by hand is time-consuming and hard work; this machine got us working on the deck the very next day! 25 minutes to dig the holes. overnight for the concrete to set.

I am a single grandmother of 60 and just put in a raised bed garden. Put in a fence to keep out the dogs. I needed to dig post holes and don’t have the upper body strength for post hole diggers so tried this bit.

I dug three holes in about 10 minutes. One thing about it you have to file down the round end that goes in the drill or it just turns in the drill, I filed mine triangular shaped and it worked great.

I was so surprised it worked so well, it ate right through the small roots. I highly recommend this auger. Going to use it to mix my soil and fertilizer. For anyone thinking about gardening try this inexpensive tool it will save a lot of back breaking work.

WORK SMART NOT HARD ! Happy Gardening !.

This auger tool has been very beneficial for many outside projects. I have used it to trench under areas like sidewalks to run conduit/water lines, in the garden to make planter holes, drill holes in yard around trees/shrubbery for fertilizer & plant food, making holes in ground around house foundation for things like termite treatment (note: safety first– always be careful and know where your critical areas, such as buried electrical lines, utilities, drainage, etc.

before drilling). It is excellent to take a portable drill motor and this auger along with you to the beach—makes a quick hole in the sand for your umbrella (save you money so you don’t have to rent umbrellas).

I have found it very handy to drill starter holes when digging holes for posts/pipe, etc. (would recommend you use a stronger drill motor for these tasks. ). A very useful tool to have around the house for several purposes.

The roto digger is ok as supplied but could be be even better if two items of the design could be enhanced. 1. The round shank “slips” easily in a drill. Should have flat spots for the chuck to “grab” the digger and prevent it from slipping.

2. The pointed end could be more pointed for penetrating heavy soils easier.

I had a lot of post holes to dig and thought I would give this a shot, and here is my take on it. The good – It starts pretty easily and is straight forward to operate. Digging through soil and clay with reasonable speed and is much better than using a manual post hole digger.

The bad – Tree roots – if you have roots of any size it will catch, jam and twist. I am a big guy 6’2″ 230 pound and pretty strong, when it jams it throws a big shock through your arms and you better have the strength to hold it.

Do this all day and your upper body will get a work out. A more petite person is likely to hurt themselves trying to operate it. Overall it is a good tool but with some limitations. It will speed up your work and if you are digging a lot of post holes it will make your life easier, but you are still going to need your post hole digger.

Bought the earthquake,with a 6inch bit to drill holes for are pasture fence. Tried renting a one man towable auger. Used it for 3 holes and after that it was useless on a slight grade. Thing was so heavy kept rolling away.

Thought about purchasing a three point auger for my tractor, but with the amount of rocks it would this bounce off. Under suggestion from the manager at tractor supply Uniontown, I operated for the earthquake, being I can use it elsewhere with my dragging my tractor along.

It drills nice it loose and even clay, any rocks smaller then a softball get dug up. I have to sometimes change the angle of the auger to help dig them up, but it works nice. Clear the hole often, use a bar for the bigger rocks, and be aware of the torque this tool puts out it catch and spin.

My pasture has been plowed under so many times the first 12 inchs is easy drilling after that it’s tuff, but this machine makes light work of it. Only thing I would change are the plastic choke lever and on/off switch, I sometimes hit the chole lever when operating the machine and the on/off switch is a little too small to hit with gloves on.

Other then that it’s excellent.

We’ve gone through 3 of these augers in one year. The motor has seized up in two of them. The first one I was able to replace by taking back to TS, but the second one I had to pay full price to replace.

Both should have been covered under warranty but the company that owns the earthquake brand has a very small service center network. 1 service center in all of California!!!.

This auger works great! The screw tip keeps the auger centered while starting the hole and the cutting tips maje short work of digging. I uaed this to plant 6′ trees and 12″ hole is the perfect size.

Highly recommended.

Work’s good for me. Fit implement great. Digs post holes, as well as, holes for tomato plants.

12 inch auger works great smooth and easy. Had to dig 25 holes for my barn 24 inches deep.” Perfect”

I ordered this online at the weekend and delivery was said to be 5 working days (the following Friday). In fact it arrived in 2 working days (Tuesday), delivered directly from Draper Tools. It’s a substantial tool that is very robust.

It made the holes for my fence posts much easier and cleaner than struggling with a spade, even in my garden where there is quite a bit of clay in the soil. My only minor criticism is the somewhat feeble screw that locks the handle in place.

That could do with a re-think but it’s not enough to take off one of the stars I awarded. I think it’s excellent value for money and I’m glad I bought it. Highly recommended.

Surprised as to how strong and useful this was. My first time putting up 8ft garden posts which needed minimum depth of 2ft. This effortlessly did the job making a significantly better post hole than if having to dig.

With this, the post level and post cement any amateur can do this job easily.

Cannot rate quality as not used yet and we do have stony ground. The bottom seems up to the task but would be cautious with the handle but no experience with it as yet. Good value for money and price was slightly less than other sellers.

In the past I have been guilty of digging holes for fence post only with a garden spade. Wish I had bought one of these years ago. Easier to dig and achieves a better job.

Very well made with substantial wooden handles. Finish of product excellent and easy to use.

I was surprised how good this little product is pretty well built great price I seen the same product in a building merchant for 45 I’m very pleased with this product I had very stoney soil to dig and so far so good.

This is one of the very few items that I have purchased that all the parts, nuts, bolts, pins ect were included and not missing. It went together very easy with all holes lining up correctly. I think they could have included a bottle of gear oil but I had plenty on hand and was up and running in about 45 minutes.

Very happy with the country pro post hole digger. Great price.

Shopping for implements online is like shopping for clothes online – you order it and hope it “fits” your machine. I was concerned I had ordered too much digger for my small tractor, but I was relieved when it installed comfortably on my Yanmar 1300 (a small 13hp machine.

) Good build quality – the welds aren’t something to post on the fridge but they’re good enough. With this digger I was drilling 2′ post holes through clay/loam soil with rocks and roots using a 6″ auger.

My little Yanmar, not even at full power, would bury the auger into the ground, and it brought inch thick roots up with it. The biggest problem I had was the force of the auger digging down was stronger than the 3pt’s lifting arms to counteract it.

It was best to let the auger dig down until it leveled out, then bringing it up with the lift arms to shed loose soil before going deeper. Good tool for small/subcompact tractors. I think my 25hp/compact machine would handle it best, but even a small 13hp tractor can wield this tool.

Sheer pin broke on second hole, no sheer pins at North 40 that would fit. Had to go to 3 different stores to get the whole sheer pin bolt combo needed to replace it. I contacted manufacturer and they told me what I needed to replace it with and they said grade 5 and it comes with grade 2, so which is it? Digs great but for this money throw in an extra sheer pin or at the very least north 40 should carry them.