40v Ryobi post hole digger?

[Southernbuild]

Has anyone tried the Ryobi 40v battery powered post hole digger? I've got an old gas powered Earthquake unit I've probably had 15 years, but it has the typical rarely used old gas equipment issues. I'm getting tired of having to mess with it to get it to run whenever I need a post hole dug. The repair process generally takes way longer than I actually use it, which feels counter productive.

And yes, I replaced the carb a few years ago, and generally use ethanol free gas.

I lent it to some friends building a fence, and I'm not sure what they did to it, but it's really struggled ever since.

 

[mike93lx]

How soft is your soil? Rocky?

I'd go rental over a battery unit.

 

[jkuro]

STA-BIL is your friend.

 

[The Cobbler]

I suspect a 40v post hole auger is fine in sand. anything else? doubtful

 

[Rst277]

Has anyone tried the Ryobi 40v battery powered post hole digger? I've got an old gas powered Earthquake unit I've probably had 15 years, but it has the typical rarely used old gas equipment issues. I'm getting tired of having to mess with it to get it to run whenever I need a post hole dug. The repair process generally takes way longer than I actually use it, which feels counter productive.

And yes, I replaced the carb a few years ago, and generally use ethanol free gas.

I lent it to some friends building a fence, and I'm not sure what they did to it, but it's really struggled ever since.

Use a shovel. Easy to make a 2' deep hole in under 5 minutes. Cheap, always starts.

 

[Hank11]

Son has one and he thinks its great. He knows a little about post hole digging as he's helped me put in some in some tough ground. I am borrowing it in the next few days and will report back.

 

[nadogail]

Has anyone tried the Ryobi 40v battery powered post hole digger? I've got an old gas powered Earthquake unit I've probably had 15 years, but it has the typical rarely used old gas equipment issues. I'm getting tired of having to mess with it to get it to run whenever I need a post hole dug. The repair process generally takes way longer than I actually use it, which feels counter productive.

And yes, I replaced the carb a few years ago, and generally use ethanol free gas.

I lent it to some friends building a fence, and I'm not sure what they did to it, but it's really struggled ever since.

They probably worked it like a Rented Mule, then put it away wet.

 

[MadScientist3019]

I just don't think that something even in the 40v range is going to have enough torque for a post hole digger realm. I love battery powered items but this is one area that I'll keep the tractor and small engine option on.

 

[readhead]

I have one and I have been building a lot of fence for the last few years. It works well. A large stone will stop it but it has an anti kickback feature so it won’t take your arm off. It has reverse which is a nice feature. It is faster than a post hole digger. It will drill a clean 8” hole three feet deep in a minute. If there are not a lot of rocks I can get fifteen to twenty holes with one battery. I have several 40V tools and lots of batteries so I always have one topped up.

 

[racecougar]

Use a shovel. Easy to make a 2' deep hole in under 5 minutes. Cheap, always starts.

I envy your soil conditions.

 

[P0234]

I envy your soil conditions.

Right? There is this drains guy I've been watching on youtube, pretty good advice on yard drainage, but he spends way too much time showing off how fast he can dig. He's in florida where he digs wet sand. I'd love for him to come up here, where you can't go 2" deep without hitting a rock as big as your shovel, and show me how its done.

 

[Digster]

I have one and I have been building a lot of fence for the last few years. It works well. A large stone will stop it but it has an anti kickback feature so it won’t take your arm off. It has reverse which is a nice feature. It is faster than a post hole digger. It will drill a clean 8” hole three feet deep in a minute. If there are not a lot of rocks I can get fifteen to twenty holes with one battery. I have several 40V tools and lots of batteries so I always have one topped up.

I've had one for a couple years and have used it for fence posts and planting for the wife. It works great, handles rocky soil pretty well and saves me a lot of work. For me it has been really worth it.

 

[racecougar]

Right? There is this drains guy I've been watching on youtube, pretty good advice on yard drainage, but he spends way too much time showing off how fast he can dig. He's in florida where he digs wet sand. I'd love for him to come up here, where you can't go 2" deep without hitting a rock as big as your shovel, and show me how its done.

I dug a 4' deep hole a few weeks ago to put in a dry well here. I was ecstatic that I hardly ran into any big rock in this location, but it was all compacted clay. I'm fit, not afraid of labor, and no stranger to a shovel, but it sure took longer than 5 minutes.

 

[mike93lx]

I dug a 4' deep hole a few weeks ago to put in a dry well here. I was ecstatic that I hardly ran into any big rock in this location, but it was all compacted clay. I'm fit, not afraid of labor, and no stranger to a shovel, but it sure took longer than 5 minutes.

With compacted clay, will it actually drain? Around here, if I did that, it would just fill up and sit until it evaporates

 

[racecougar]

With compacted clay, will it actually drain? Around here, if I did that, it would just fill up and sit until it evaporates

It drains, slowly. It's a long story, but the little 40" trench drain alone, directed to a small amount of gravel, did the job for the past few years without issue. We had an absolute deluge after weeks of rain (a few inches of rain in less than an hour with ground that was already saturated) about a month ago that the trench drain simply couldn't handle. Adding 55+ gallons of slow-draining surge capacity will be more than overkill. I did fill the hole twice prior to installing the dry well to verify that it does drain.

 

[Mandres]

With our soil even my 18hp pto auger struggles sometimes. I've had to borrow my in-laws 40hp tractor more than once to put in a post. Hand digging is practically impossible in the summer if it's dry. Clay is no joke.

 

[Rst277]

I envy your soil conditions.

Mostly hard packed clay here. I dug 7 holes in a hour yesterday, the clay is sticky and I wanted everything I dug up in pails so I don't have to shovel is again. The first three required going through my neighbours 6" thick 1/4 down parking pad, no real issue. Augers don't go through rocks either.

 

[mike93lx]

Mostly hard packed clay here. I dug 7 holes in a hour yesterday, the clay is sticky and I wanted everything I dug up in pails so I don't have to shovel is again. The first three required going through my neighbours 6" thick 1/4 down parking pad, no real issue. Augers don't go through rocks either.

I feel like your clay is quite different than what some of us have. Not trying to compete, just throwing it out there that not all soils are the same

It took me 6+hrs to trench about 12' at 18" deep, and I was busting my ***. That said, the trench was exactly 5" wide, whereas the same trench could have needed to be 18" wide in new England to pull all the rocks out

 

[firebirdparts]

I truly have good productivity digging them by hand. It goes pretty quick. Red Tennessee clay.

 

[egdede]

I have clay that does not drain. It does not contain significant amounts of bentonite. A geologist prepared a report for me and said It has been being compacted for many eons and is on the way to becoming sedimentary rock.

 

[Crazyjake8493]

For setting small footings on the beach I suspect a battery auger would work. Other than that, no way. I use a PTO auger on a 22hp tractor and I wouldn't use anything less here in the hard clay, even with minimal rocks. Any chunks of clay it pulls up that remain on the surface are as hard as rocks the next day. No fun.

I do like battery tools for weed trimming and such, but digging in soil or moving snow is not the place for batteries.

 

[Southernbuild]

Wow guys, thanks for the fast responses!

Use case is, heavy clay, minimal roots, no rocks. Occasional use, a few fence posts or a mailbox post, nothing extensive.

It sounds like it might be a decent fit for me, but I'd appreciate any additional user reviews before I pull the trigger on one.

 

[Copymutt]

All I know is Ryobi attached an ice auger to that and tried to sell it for ice fishing. Yeah no issue w/ a battery auger weighing more than a gas auger.

 

[jives]

I dug three 3' deep holes a couple of months back for fence posts. Within the first 8-10" I was using a digging bar and manual post hole digger. Each hole took at least 30 minutes. Rocks.

 

[carlaisle]

Rent one (or something as similar as possible) first and see how it does.

 

[firebirdparts]

I would rather say dig one by hand and see how that goes. To me it’s just a lot easier than you’d think.

 

[mike93lx]

Rent one (or something as similar as possible) first and see how it does.

I can't say I've ever seen homeowner grade cordless tools like this at a rental place. They'd last a week

 

[Uncle murph]

I truly have good productivity digging them by hand. It goes pretty quick. Red Tennessee clay.

This.I have dug thousands of holes ,anything less than ten I use hand diggers any more I use a tractor.

 

[Fixr]

This.I have dug thousands of holes ,anything less than ten I use hand diggers any more I use a tractor.

Come by my place and show me how easily it's done and how it can be done that way everywhere. We have clay and rocks. Lots and lots of rocks jammed in close together, and ranging in size from pebbles to multiple tons, and with some clay packed in hard in the voids.. Even driving t-posts by hand, you keep trying different spots until you find a place where it will go in 8 inches without stopping dead on a rock. They usually won't fall over if you can get that far. It might even be within a foot or so of where you wanted it. If you require a straight line of posts set deep, it's good to have an air-rotary well drilling rig, pile driver, or pretty large excavator.

As far as the OP, I suspect that a 40V unit can grind its way through simple clay with no obstructions reasonably well with a 6 inch auger.