Seymour AUA2 Adjustable Auger with Wood Handle

Why did I not know about this thing before??This simple device is NUTS! It has been phenomenal to use. It is so easy to bore a simple post hole, regardless of soil type. I have HEAVY clay, and boring a simple post hole for a fence is so easy it is nuts. Now, to be fair, if you hit a rock of a root, you are going to struggle, you may need to pull out the borer & hit the rock or root with a heavy digging bar.Turn, dig, pull up & clear the head, repeat.The fact that the shaft is basically a 3/4" black iron pipe with standard NPT pipe threads is a bonus when (if) you decide you need a pipe extension.I am a little nuts, so as someone else posted that he had dug a 30' deep well shaft, I decided to try something similar. As I mentioned I have HEAVY clay, so I wanted to drill a test borehole to see if I could do a dry well. I thought 10' would be enough, it wasn't. I hit super heavy hard sticky clay which is a PAIN to go through, but with steady turns & a constant downward pressure, this thing just gently drills away. My clay was wet, which sounds awful, but it actually digs into it better than dry clay which is like digging into concrete.So I actually ended up digging down 22' in solid clay & didn't hit any sand, so I gave up trying to make myself a dry well, but I am amazed at how strong, how well built & how easy to use this device is. I cannot recommend it highly enough!I have also used it for what it is supposed to be used for & dug post holes too and that simple 2'6" deep hole is EASY & fast to drill, even in my clay. Made setting post holes so much easier.Just don't expect to keep drilling & never pull it up. Drill about 6" & pull it up, clear the head, start again.One piece of advice, regularly check the nut holding the 2 clamshells apart to make sure it is still tight. It will have a tendency to work loose with the constant motion of the head & it would suck to have a deep hole & lose the head. You have been warned.Otherwise, this is a great tool.I did not get paid, reimbursed, of given anything for free (never do as I am not important enough online!) so you are getting my own unbiased, honest opinion & nothing but that. :-)

I don't want to repeat the other reviews but I bought this for digging post holes for my deck, and it worked very well in what is basically solid clay. This thing performed wonderfully and I was able to dig "standard" holes with great expediency and almost no mess. for bigger holes (I had 8 holes to dig that were 12" in diameter), it let me dig one hole quickly, then shave the outside of the hold to the proper diameter, using the auger to remove the shavings (thanks, clay) and load into the wheel barrow. The thing I really liked is that I did not end up with a ring of dirt around the hole as with a power auger, or as much spillage as a clamshell. This was important as my yard is in pretty good condition so I didn't want to have to rake tons of dirt out of the grass. Another benefit of this that I wouldn't get with other types of augers is when I'd need to add an extra post next to an already installed joist; you could buy an extension and deal with the weight, OR...what I did was when the handle started hitting the joist, just pull the handle to one side and use it with greater leverage while just holding the shaft steady.I only had one rock that I had to remove by hand, light gravel doesn't seem to bother it at all.I've also used this for planting tree starts and it works beautifully. And yes, this thing really does give wonderfully smooth walls when compared to most anything else. The only thing to watch for is to make sure you're going straight down. I will probably never buy another post hole digger in my life, as this thing works well and will last forever.

I bought this after searching for alternatives to the typical "pinching" post digger. I live in a very heavy clay soil area, that can be quite tough to deal with. This thing makes easy work of the clay down to 1 meter (as far as I dug). It worked wonderful and made setting posts so easy.The hole that was dug was so straight and uniform, that I was shocked. Each hole took about 15 minutes to dig (averaged over the course of setting 10 posts - got a bit slower as I lost energy). Doing it again, I would have added a pipe extension because once down in the ground, getting traction to turn the auger became wearing.As other reviewers have stated, roots can be a problem. A spud bar made quick work of those and I could get back to digging in under a minute at most time.I did change the bolt out on the adjustment for width to a bolt that has nylon in it. Occasionally it would work lose and this was my solution. Considering the force applied, I was really impressed by the way the adjustment worked and how well it stayed adjusted.Tips:Use a small <a href="http://www.amazon.com/gp/product/B00005YX2U/ref=as_li_ss_tl?ie=UTF8&camp=1789&creative=390957&creativeASIN=B00005YX2U&linkCode=as2&tag=iad-20">garden trowel</a><img src="http://ir-na.amazon-adsystem.com/e/ir?t=iad-20&l=as2&o=1&a=B00005YX2U" width="1" height="1" border="0" alt="" style="border:none !important; margin:0px !important;" >to start your hole or <a href="http://www.amazon.com/gp/product/B004N8529O/ref=as_li_ss_tl?ie=UTF8&camp=1789&creative=390957&creativeASIN=B004N8529O&linkCode=as2&tag=iad-20">Sharp Shooter Spade</a><img src="http://ir-na.amazon-adsystem.com/e/ir?t=iad-20&l=as2&o=1&a=B004N8529O" width="1" height="1" border="0" alt="" style="border:none !important; margin:0px !important;" >. The auger has a tendency to walk a bit, so your hole might move from where you have identified you post location.Drive a stake in the ground to bang the auger on to release the dirt. This will probably only really apply to heavy clays or moist soil, but this saved some work of cleaning each load of dirt out.