Drilling holes for fence posts. DIY fence post holes. Making a garden drill

When building a house and landscaping a site, it is often necessary to make round holes in the ground. They are needed when constructing a fence - for installing poles, when building gazebos, installing arches and other light utility structures. The same holes, but of a larger diameter and depth, are required when constructing. These holes are made with a motorized or hand drill. There are plenty of them in stores, but many people prefer homemade ones: they are often more productive and reliable than factory-made products. In addition, you can make a drill with your own hands of any design, and there are many of them.

Designs and Applications

Garden gardeners that are easier to make earth drills. Depending on the type of soil on which drilling is carried out, their design is slightly modified. This is the beauty of homemade drills - they can be “sharpened” to specific conditions and it’s not just about the size - the blades can be made removable, bolted on, but also about the design features. Yes, ordinary drills in the store are inexpensive, but they are “universal”. They work well on “light” soils.” On loams, clays, marl, etc. they are ineffective.

Making a garden drill

A garden drill is the simplest, but efficient design. It consists of:

This is a basic design, and there are many modifications to it. But let's first talk about what an earth drill can be made from.

Materials

As already mentioned, the rod is most often made from a round or square section. Diameter - from 3/4′ to 1.5′, profiled pipe can be taken from 20*20 mm to 35*35 mm.

Blade knives can be made from:

It is easier to make blades from a saw blade. In this case, the cutting edges are already ready. It will be possible to further sharpen the side edges to make the soil easier to cut.

The peak drill is made from different materials- there are a lot of her designs. They just make a sharpened rod. Then you need a piece of large diameter rod. The second option is to make something like a drill from the steel strip. And yet - a combination of these two.

Pike - one of the tip options

And finally - about the pen. It is more convenient if it is made from round pipe. Its diameter can be selected according to the circumference of the palms. The main requirement is that you should be comfortable.

Knives and fastening method

First of all, you need to decide whether you are making a drill with your own hands with removable or stationary blades. If the blades are removable, weld shelves made of thick steel at one end of the rod. The shelves are made at an angle - so that the planes of the knives are separated at an angle of 25-30°.

After the shelves are welded, two or three holes are made in them for fasteners. Then the same holes will need to be made in the blades, and installed on bolts of substantial diameter.

One rod can have several sets of cutting blades - for holes of different diameters

You will have to cut holes in the center of the disks themselves so that they fit more tightly to the rod, but this operation is also required for the monolithic version - with welded blades.

Sheet steel

If you are going to make the blades from sheet steel, cut out a template from paper and use it to create a circle of steel. Drill a hole in the center - you will need to insert and weld a rod into it. Circle or square - depending on the chosen rod. The hole dimensions are slightly larger than the dimensions of the rod.

The edges should also be separated by 25-30 degrees. In this case, drilling efficiency will be maximum. If you work on dense soils (clay, loams with a predominance of clay), the blades may collapse under load. To avoid this, stops are added from a corner or a thick strip of steel.

The blades bend due to the fact that unhardened steel is used, but it is almost impossible to find it in the sheet, and even if it is possible, it is unlikely to be bent.

From a saw blade

If you have an old saw blade of suitable diameter, you have found almost perfect option. They use hardened steel, which is elastic and durable. But such a disk cannot be bent, so it is sawed in half and these halves are placed at the required angle.

Such a homemade drill for earthworks shows quite high performance. Even used wheels have a well-ground edge. And to make drilling even easier, they also sharpen the drill on the sides with their own hands.

Modifications

In dense soils, it can be difficult to cut the soil with large blades. In this case, several blades are welded onto the rod. different sizes. From below, near the peak, the smallest ones are welded; above, retreating a few centimeters, the large ones are welded. There can be three such tiers, maximum four. The entire cutting part should not be more than 50 cm, otherwise it is physically very difficult to work.

If a drill is needed for shallow holes - for installing poles, etc., then this design is optimal - it is relatively light in weight and easy to work with. The working process is as follows: they lowered it into the hole, turned it several times, pulled it out, and poured out the soil stuck between the blades. But if you need to drill deep holes, you can’t drag it from the depths. a large number of you'll be tormented by the soil. For such cases, a box for collecting soil is welded above the blades.

And all these are hand-made drills. They are all different high efficiency— much easier to work with than store-bought ones.

Auger drill

Due to the large number of turns, an auger auger creates significant resistance, that is, it is much more difficult to work with it than with a garden auger. But augers are used mainly in the presence of a mechanized drive - when they are made - for water, for the installation of underground probes for a heat pump, etc.

To make a homemade auger drill, you will need several metal disks. The number of disks is equal to the number of turns. The disks are cut identically, a hole is cut in them in the center for the rod, as well as an identical sector - so that they can be welded.

The discs are welded on one side, then, slightly stretching the resulting accordion, the seam is welded on the other side. Rings are welded on the outer disks. The welded discs are placed on a rod, bottom edge welded.

Drill for TISE piles

In the author's version, the TISE drill is a blade with an earth receiver and a folding wider blade, which forms an expansion at the bottom of the pile. But working with such a projectile is inconvenient - the folding knife gets in the way. Therefore, in some designs it is made removable, but in general, it is recommended to drill the holes themselves with an ordinary garden drill, and for expansion, make a separate folding knife with an earth receiver. This makes the work easier and faster.

Do-it-yourself drill for TISE piles - one of the options

A cut-off shovel serves as a knife, and the land receiver is made from a herring can. The knife is fixed movably; when lowered into the pit, it is pulled up by a nylon cable tied to the end. Having reached the bottom, the cable is weakened, the blade begins to trim the sides of the hole, forming the necessary expansion.

The photo below shows the second version of a homemade drill for TISE piles. The design is more complex, but also more effective. The plow blade is made from a piece of spring, sharpened and welded to folding design on bolted connections.

The dredger is made from an old propane tank. The collection of soil occurs from below, which is why the receiver is made with a rounded bottom. It has two holes, their edges are sharpened.

This projectile works well even on dense clay. True, to reduce friction, the well must be constantly moistened with water.

Blueprints

A self-made drill is good because its design is “tailored” to its owner. During the manufacturing process, everyone makes their own changes, then many more refine the product. But it can be difficult to do without basic drawings. This engraving contains several drawings with the sizes of various drills. As you understand, the dimensions are arbitrary; they can and should be changed, adjusting them to the size of the required wells.

There is no point in making a serious structure for planting plants. In this case, you can make a garden drill from a shovel. Choose a high-quality shovel made of good steel, apply markings as shown in the drawing. According to the markings, you will need to cut out two small fragments, saw bottom part in the middle to a depth of 30 cm (pictured).

If the ground is soft, the conventional design does not work very well. For such cases, there is a special drill with an extended cutting part. It is a kind of glass with slits on the sides. The cuts are equipped cutting edges. They are best made from well-hardened steel.

This drawing shows an interesting handle design - it can be rearranged as the length of the rod increases.

Basic drawings of auger and garden auger

Both of these units work well, but the garden one has to be taken out often, and the auger one is harder to rotate. Choose according to your own preferences.

Garden auger drawing

Video materials

When erecting a fence without a foundation, the main step is the installation of supports. It is necessary to determine in advance the depth to which they will be installed, and also drill holes. To avoid pillars falling, it is important to learn how drilling is done.

Drill or shovel

In any case, making a hole for a fence support post is much easier than drilling a well. But still, this will require some skills and abilities. You can dig holes manually or use special equipment for this. Its cost is quite high; not everyone will agree to pay rent.

Most often, cheaper methods are used - using a shovel or hand drill. With a shovel you can dig wide holes, but to make narrow holes you need a drill. In both cases, you will have to use physical force.

It is easier to work with a drill than with a shovel, but moving it from one place to another is quite difficult, since its weight is rather large. It is worth remembering that a hole alone is not enough to install a post. It is not enough to make a hole in the ground; you also need to properly concrete the support post so that it does not loosen or tilt over time.

Preparation and necessary calculations

Not a single pillar can be installed without carrying out correct calculations and without properly made holes in the ground. The location of the fence must be marked on the site before its installation. In this case, the installation of the pillars is immediately calculated. All this should be done before purchasing all necessary materials. The dimensions are entered in the drawing.

The slightest inaccuracy can lead to serious consequences, which will be quite difficult to correct. If one post is installed incorrectly, the entire fence may skew or fall to one side. Basics for correct installation are:

When making calculations, you need to correctly determine the distance between adjacent support posts of the future fence. It depends on the area of the fenced area, the weight and size of the canvas itself, which will be attached to the posts. Typically, adjacent support posts are no more than three meters apart from each other.
The diameter of the support pit must be greater than the cross-sectional diameter of the pillar itself. However, it is better not to make the hole too wide, otherwise the soil around the post will be loose. If, on the contrary, the hole diameter is too small, concreting will not be possible.
In order to determine the number of holes required, you need to make calculations. To do this, the length (perimeter) of the entire fence should be divided by the width of one run. This refers to the distance between adjacent pillars, on average - 250 cm. If you reduce the width, you will not be able to avoid additional financial costs, and if you make it, on the contrary, larger, then the canvas will sag.
The distance between the posts also depends on the height of the fence. The higher the fence, the shorter this distance should be.
You also need to pay attention to the depth of the holes. This indicator depends on the soil. The stronger the soil, the shallower the depth of the holes can be made. If the soil composition consists primarily of sand and clay, then such soil is usually considered unstable. And there should be more holes for fence posts. Their depth can even reach one and a half meters, while posts installed on more stable soils need holes with a depth of only one meter.

However, whatever the composition of the soil, the support pillar must extend into it at least a third of its length.

Using a shovel, garden auger and motor auger

Using a drill to dig holes

When all the calculations have been completed and all the values have been calculated, and all the necessary markings have been made, the main work of installing the supports can begin. For this you will need suitable Building tools. Most often, a motor drill, a garden auger, or an ordinary shovel are used to dig a hole. The last tool is the cheapest, but it is also the longest and most difficult to work with.

Using a shovel you can rarely achieve the desired effect. It can be used to dig wide holes of small depth, but if you need to make a narrow and deep hole, then a shovel will no longer help.

Be that as it may, to the merits of this simple tool two facts:

A shovel is available in almost all household plots.
To operate the shovel you will not need electricity or any other type of paid energy. You just need to pick it up and start using it for its intended purpose. If it breaks, it's easy to fix.

Another tool that can be used to make holes is a garden auger. Its price is several times higher, and its mass is much greater (the device weighs almost 10 kg), but it is more convenient to work with. With its help you can drill a hole up to two and a half meters deep.

The average diameter of the holes made with this tool is 15 cm. You can purchase it at a specialized hardware store. When purchasing, it is important to pay attention to the sharpening of the main working part. If it is poorly sharpened, it will be possible to make holes only on black earth or sandy soils. On rocky and clay soils efficiency will be significantly lower.

The easiest way to make holes in the soil is with a motor drill. It can help you save time and physical strength, but, unfortunately, you won’t be able to save money. After all, this tool cannot work without electricity or fuel. Also among the disadvantages is the excessive noise of this device. But it can make holes up to three meters deep, and it only takes a few minutes. The diameter of the holes made may vary, but the optimal size is considered to be from 15 to 30 cm.

Concreting

Often when installing a fence around a private suburban area The pillars are mounted using the concreting method. This method is considered universal. In this case, a hole is made in the ground, a post is installed vertically into it, and all the remaining space around the post is filled with concrete mortar.

There is an opinion that in this way the pillars are securely fixed in place due to the high strength of concrete. However, the mixture that fills the empty space in the hole around the support post does not do its main job well. After all, the soil can swell under the influence low temperatures. As a result, the pillar may shift, move outward, or even collapse.

Before concreting, it is necessary to take into account the characteristics of the soil on which the fence will be installed. Most often, the result of soil heaving can be detected in the spring, after the snow melts. However, sandy soil is not subject to heaving, and therefore this technology is quite suitable for it. But on clay soils, pillars should be installed in one of two ways: alternative methods: by butting using crushed stone or driving.

The last method is very simple. A small hole is made in the ground, smaller in size than the diameter of the post itself, and then the post is driven into this hole using a sledgehammer. To simplify the work, you can use a stepladder.

Butting

Sketch of butting a support column

The butting method is otherwise called dry concreting. It is applicable for installing any support - wooden, concrete or asbestos-cement. Moreover, after making a hole in the ground required size and straight installation of the pillar in this hole, the voids are filled with crushed stone. The void around the pillar should not be filled immediately, but gradually.

First, you need to fill the crushed stone in one layer and compact it, then lay out the crushed stone in a second layer and also compact it, and so on. To simplify the work, you can use a device such as a vibrating plate. Its other name is vibroleg. It will help with compaction.

If you don’t have such a device, you can make it yourself using a cut log. One of the main advantages of dry concreting is soil drainage. Water does not flow to the base of the support, since the crushed stone does not allow it to do so. Poles installed using the butting method can stand for a long time, but still, it is possible that under the influence strong wind they will become loose, and then the tamping will have to be repeated.

Drilling an ordinary hole for a post is quite simple; this work is not comparable to drilling a well. However, even such a simple operation will require certain skills and abilities.

When building a fence or foundation, we are faced with the need to drill a hole for a post. In such cases it is advisable to use special tools, such as a hand drill.

How to make a hole for the pillars? Such work is always performed during the construction of structures, buildings and fences. Pits require a special approach.

Preliminary work

Most often, a hole for installing a post is required when installing a fence on summer cottage. For correct execution work requires some preliminary calculations. To enclose an area of 60 m2 with a fence, the posts must be installed at intervals of 2.5 meters. It will be necessary to punch holes under the gates in advance, provide a hole for front door. Gate posts should be 3 meters apart. There should be one meter to the door. Having carried out the calculation, we get 45 holes.

To dig a hole for a post when building a fence, use an earth drill.

At the next stage of installing the fence, you need to punch holes where the posts will be installed. If you use an ordinary shovel for such work, the digging operation will take a lot of time and will be very labor-intensive. Approximately the same amount of time will be required to bury the holes made. To carry out such work, it is better to use a drill. This tool You can purchase it at a hardware store and select the desired diameter. In order to securely fasten the post in the ground, you need to dig a hole so that its size is larger than the dimensions of the post, by about 15 cm. To facilitate the drilling process, the ground is softened with water. First, dig a shallow hole, then pour water into it. After 30 minutes, the water will saturate the ground and drilling can begin. To prevent the pole from swaying, you need to dig a hole in the ground, the depth of which should be about one meter.

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Preparation of pillars

Before burying in the ground wooden post, it needs to be processed special solutions from rotting.

When preparatory work the pits are finished, it is necessary to carry out processing of future pillars. This is only necessary if the prepared pillars are made of wood, which begins to rot over time. Therefore, the bottom of the pillar, which is buried in the ground, must be processed. This operation can be performed different ways. For example, firing pillars directly on a fire. Such burnt wood will rot very slowly. Another option would be to treat the pillar with special hot bitumen. The coated pole will be protected from moisture and microorganisms that destroy the wood.

Most often, a post intended for installing a fence, in order to obtain the most durable fence, is dug into holes, the depth of which is more than 80 cm. After carrying out simple calculations, it can be determined that the size of all the holes will be equal to 35 meters. It is difficult to do such work with an ordinary shovel. A hand drill will help you do this job.

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Positive properties

This tool is used for the most various works. It is used for drainage work; it will help make a hole for the foundation when small buildings are being built. This tool is used to install piles under the foundation and so on.

The tool has a very simple design, so it’s easy to work with and doesn’t require any specific construction skills at all.

If the tool is made with high quality, it will serve for a long time.

The hand drill is very easy to disassemble, so it can be transported in the cabin or loaded into the trunk of a car.

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Methods used

To punch a hole under the foundation, you can use special equipment. However, this will not be entirely economical; renting such cars is not cheap. Therefore, if possible, it is better to use a hand drill, the design of which is made of several parts:

1. Drilling tool various diameters and 1 meter long.
2. Handle.
3. Extension cord.

During operation, the drill may become dull, and then it can be sharpened using a grinder.

The weight of such a drill reaches 10 kg. This tool allows you to drill a hole, the depth of which can reach 2.5 m. A similar drill can be purchased at a specialized hardware store.

It would seem that all issues have been resolved. I bought a drill and made holes. However, it is impossible to make holes with such a drill if the soil is sandy or clayey. Even an extension cord doesn't help here. When turning the drill, there is no deepening into the ground. The reason for this problem lies in the sharpening of the drill. All tools that can be purchased in stores are at construction market do not have any sharpening. The conclusion is clear, you need to sharpen your hand drill, which will allow you to work in any type of soil.

The tool can be sharpened in two ways. For one of them you will need a grinder. It will quickly sharpen the drill blade. The tool will become very sharp. It will be possible to punch holes in any soil. But the grinder is not always at hand, so you have to turn to another method. It will be possible to sharpen the blade with an ordinary file, but this will take a lot of time and effort.

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Punching holes

After you have dug a hole, the drill must be thoroughly cleaned of soil so that it does not rust in the future.

After sharpening, you can start punching holes. Well-sharpened blades make it possible to work with any type of soil. However, during the work, another pressing problem may arise. After the depth of the hole reaches 30 cm, it happens that the drill stops turning. The problem that arises can be resolved quite easily. You need to pour several liters of water into the resulting depression, then wait a couple of minutes. When the ground gets wet, the hand drill will again turn with ease, descending to the required depth. After finishing digging the required hole, the drill must be pulled out of the ground. In this case, simply pulling out the tool is not enough. The hand drill is removed by rocking it in different directions, gradually widening the hole.

When the drill emerges from the soil, you will see how much soaked earth is stuck to the blade. It is removed before punching the next hole. This is usually easily done with an ordinary knife. To make the drilling operation faster, water can be immediately poured into several pre-made recesses. Professionals will tell you that punching holes using this method usually takes a quarter of an hour. When using a hand drill, no additional tools no need.

How to create a hand drill with your own hands? To make an ordinary hand drill yourself, you need to prepare several stands in advance and stock up on several blades.

Scheme for making a drill with your own hands: 1 – handle; 2 – insert; 3 – cutting attachment; 4 – coupling; 5 – bolt with nut; 6 – cutting plates; 7 – guide rod; 8 – blade.

It is necessary to drill a number of holes in the rack to attach the blade. An ordinary grinder will help you obtain the required shape of the blades. It will also be a sharpening tool. The end of the stand should have a sharp tip, with which the drill will plunge into the ground without any problems.

The last step in making a hand drill with your own hands is to attach the handle. It is made from scrap materials, possibly rubber or plastic.

To protect such a tool from corrosion, it is necessary to treat it with special mixtures designed to prevent rust.

Installation of any stationary fencing involves staged work. They include: calculations, cleaning the perimeter, preparing the base, drilling for fence posts and direct installation. Final result depends on the quality of the tasks performed at each stage, but the rigidity of the structure is given by sufficient deepening of the pits and good quality fastening fence posts.

Drilling for fence posts

The depth of holes for fence posts should be calculated taking into account the following risks:

Temperature conditions of the region. How colder than winter, the lower the soil freezing line, therefore, the support pillar is immersed deeper. IN middle lane countries recommend for a solid post concrete fence dig a well, as under, at least 1.4 meters.
Fence design. If you plan to build, then the “windage” will be high, the load on the supports will be critical, so in this case, use the maximum possible depth. When using the option with a metal picket fence or mesh inserts into the fabric of the sections, you can use pits for supports 20–30 cm less than the limit value.
Soil structure. Low soil density or high occurrence groundwater forces you to make deep holes. On soils where loam and loam predominate, this need disappears.

The depth should be determined by the level of soil freezing

You should not save time and effort to dig a deep enough hole for a post. Everything will be ruined if a year later the new fence becomes askew due to insecurely fastened supports.

Drilling methods, their pros and cons

A well-known, long-used method for preparing holes for holes is a crowbar and a shovel. The process is labor-intensive and ineffective - the resulting holes are significantly bigger size than necessary, therefore, the quantity of reinforcement for fixing the structure increases.

Drilling is the best way to do this work, since a limited volume of soil is selected, the hole has strict shapes and does not crumble, and the speed of the process increases significantly.

Types of drills for drilling holes for pillars

All household drills consist of the following elements:

executive part (guide, auger or milling blades);
rod;
manual or motorized drive.

Scheme self-made borax

The simplest representative of the Boers. The drive is represented by long handles mounted perpendicularly to the top of the device. An actuator in the form of a screw or a pair of blades is welded at the bottom. They can drill holes, holes and holes in almost any soil to a depth of 80 cm. The work can be carried out independently or with the assistance of an assistant.

The simplest hand drill

This device is positively characterized by the following qualities:

Ease of use. To use it, you do not need any preparatory measures or special knowledge - you put it in place and start turning the handle.
Reliability. It is difficult to break a simple tool, but if this happens, if there is welding machine and a minimum of plumbing tools, repairs are carried out quickly.
Weight. Small sizes and low weight allow it to be transported on public transport without creating inconvenience to others.

Auger and garden auger for soil of different densities

The disadvantages include:

limiting the penetration depth and hole diameter;
use of the performer’s maximum physical capabilities;
significant time spent drilling holes or holes.

If you intend to install a small number of supports at a shallow depth, then you should opt for a hand drill - the task will be completed with minimal associated costs.

Petrol

Motor drill – optimal solution when drilling wells under poles is carried out to fencing an area that is not connected to electrical supply networks, but to perform the work manually does not seem possible.

Its design is equipped with:

The drive is a two- or four-stroke internal combustion engine.
A gearbox that reduces shaft rotation speed.
An auger attachment that directly penetrates the soil.
Drive mode control unit.

Usage automatic equipment significantly reduces setup time

Positive characteristics of using a motor drive:

penetration depth up to 3 meters;
high drilling speed even on difficult soils;
system autonomy;
unpretentious content.

Using a motor drill

The disadvantages include:

the need to attract an assistant;
cumbersome design;
increased safety requirements;
consumables in the form of fuel and motor oil;
noisiness.

When you only need to install and do not plan to use the equipment in the future, it seems right to rent it for the duration of these activities.

Drill from an electric mixer

TO positive aspects uses of such installations include:

Minimal noise during operation.
The weight of a portable tool is less than that of a motor drill.
There is no need to have a supply of fuel and oils.

Electric earth drilling mechanism

Flaws:

connection to an electrical power source;
with the same power, the cost of gasoline equipment is lower;
the need for periodic breaks to cool the drive.

At the same time electric drill easy to maintain, and preparation for operation consists only of connecting to the electrical network.

Hydraulic

Despite its small size compared to other drives, it has more power.
The speed of the performing part is adjusted smoothly.
The preset reverse function (reverse rotation of the shaft) facilitates the passage of difficult soils.
Does not require interruption of operation to cool the device.

Portable hydraulic tool

The disadvantages are due to high cost equipment, as well as the need to constantly monitor the absence of contamination on the drive, as they can lead to a catastrophic reduction in the motor life provided by the manufacturer.

Drilling holes for poles with your own hands

The decision to carry out activities for drilling holes for poles independently requires knowledge of the basics of the device and the features of using this or that equipment. This determines the amount of time spent, injury prevention, and the final result.

Drilling holes for pillars

Manual hole drilling

Usage hand tools, despite its apparent simplicity, has its own characteristics. These include the following points:

The drill “from the store” does not undergo initial sharpening at the manufacturer, therefore, this work is performed independently with a file or an appropriate wheel of an angle grinder.
It is necessary to remove grass from the drilling point, or even better - upper layer turf. In this case, the operator’s efforts will be directed to working with the soil, and not fighting vegetation.
It is not recommended to immediately insert the working part of the tool to the planned excavation depth, and this is only possible in soft soils. Periodically, you should pull out the working part, removing the soil and checking its integrity.
When reaching rocky layers, it is recommended to use a crowbar to loosen the problem area.

Drilling a widening using a drill in a prepared area

If it is established before the start of work that the soil composition has extensive stone inclusions, then mechanized drilling options should be used.

Not surprising, because preparing holes for posts is the most tedious task when installing a fence on a site: you have to pull a large amount of soil to the surface, which takes a lot of effort and time. What to do? Hire a mounted pit drill on a car base and spend a lot of money on it? But this is far from always advisable, and besides, using heavy equipment on a summer cottage when installing poles is nonsense! But there is a way out, fortunately technology does not stand still. Our article today is devoted to what is better and how to properly drill holes for fence posts or installation of foundation piles in one case or another.

Many people, when installing a fence, are accustomed to digging holes under the posts with a shovel. This method is the simplest and does not require large material expenditures, but is ineffective. With a significant investment of effort and time with a shovel, you will not be able to make a deep enough and at the same time as narrow as possible hole necessary for mounting the post. Although in some cases this method is quite justified not only in terms of cost. So, when replacing an old fence and installing new posts in place of the old ones, there may be large stones or pieces of cement in the ground, which are quite difficult to remove except with your hands, a shovel or a crowbar. Also, if you plan to lay brick pillars, you can’t think of a better tool than a shovel: the holes for pouring the foundation for such pillars should be wide and have square shape.

Methods for drilling holes for installing foundation and fence posts

Installing fence posts using a garden hand auger

Ideally for fence posts all types, except screw piles, holes are drilled in the ground with a diameter of 150-250 mm and a depth of 800-1800 mm, depending on the level of soil freezing. When installing a fence with your own hands, cheaper non-motorized hand garden augers of a T-shaped design, which is an auger with a diameter of usually 15-20 cm with a pipe-handle, are most often used for these purposes. In some modifications, manufacturers provide the possibility of installing a removable extension between the auger and the handle to increase maximum depth drilling up to 2 meters - pulling a longer drill out of the ground will be difficult, since growth will not allow it.

Of course, a hand drill weighs more and costs more than a regular shovel, but correct sharpening With an auger, they can drill an even hole even in clay or rocky soil in a matter of minutes. You can sharpen the auger with your own hands either with a file or using a grinder.

Drilling is carried out strictly vertically with slight pressure on the drill handle and at the same time turning it clockwise. It is necessary to periodically pull out the drill and shake off the soil from the auger, otherwise you can get so drilled that it will be very difficult to pull out the drill. Often when drilling clay soils Already at a depth of half a meter, the drill begins to rest and refuses to enter the ground even with strong pressure on the handles. In this case, there is no need to waste time and effort - pull out the drill and pour some water into the hole. After just a few minutes, the soil will become wet and work can continue. In order to speed up the process, you can drill several holes at once: while you are drilling some holes, others will already “fit”.

The video below shows how you can make a hand drill with your own hands.

Drilling holes for poles with a gasoline motor drill

As you can see, a simple garden drill cannot always cope with heavy soil, especially when drilling to a depth of more than 100 cm. In this case, if funds allow, you can use a hand-held motor drill (gas drill). This method of drilling post holes is much more productive.

The principle of operation of a motor drill is the same as that of a simple garden drill. Due to more auger turns at a time can be lifted significantly more soil. Almost all modern motorized drills are equipped with a gasoline engine, and only very rarely can you find an electric one. The performance of the unit and the maximum possible diameter of hole drilling depend on the engine power. As a rule, a manual gas drill, designed for the work of one operator, is used for drilling holes with a diameter of up to 300 mm to a depth of up to 2 meters, i.e. mainly for preparing holes for foundation or fence posts, as well as when planting large plants and performing similar tasks.

The units are relatively inexpensive, which is important in times of crisis, and at the same time quite high-quality hand-held motor drills. made in China ADA Ground Drill.

Drilling post holes using a gas drill

Use hand motor drills and for drilling water wells with your own hands. Such models of gas drills are equipped with more powerful engines, have more weight and are designed to be used by two people.

Drilling with pit drills based on a car

As a rule, a hand-held gas drill during construction columnar foundations quite enough. However, depending on the materials used and the type of soil, sometimes it is necessary to drill holes with a diameter of more than 300 mm and a depth of more than 2 meters. In this case, you should consider renting a crane and drilling machine.