Power Planter Extended Length Garden Auger Drill Bit, 3" x 24" with 1/2" Non-Slip Hex Drive & Heavy Duty Tip, Auger Drill Bit for Planting, Garden Digging Tool for Dirt, Clay, Soil and Sand

This review is the second one I’ve done for this product. This one is a year later. Last year we did 500 holes for planting flower bulbs. Today I’m halfway through this year’s 500 holes and it’s still performing perfectly in whatever soil I encounter. Tough and works.Use a high torque 1/2” low speed corded drill (preferably with a clutch otherwise just know it can occasionally grab a root and give your wrists a workout). I’m using a low speed paint mixer to drive this auger. It’s got a decent three-jaw chuck and I’ve had zero problems with slipping on the hex drive on the shaft.All in all, this tool has turned what was a terrible order into something near enjoyable. I’d buy another on if this on ever wears out.

We've used our auger all through last season. This year will be our second season with it. This is one of my favorite tools purchase. We have very rocky soil where we live. For a gallon size hole (see photo), it used to take us around 45 minutes to dig with a shovel and a garden fork. With this auger, it is around 8 minutes.Initially, I thought the 3" size might be a bit too small because we plan on digging for larger pots, but with our rocky soil and after using it for a while now, I believe the smaller diameter auger is actually more appropriate. As it is, with the 3" auger, our DeWalt drill is more than powerful enough to twist a wrist if we have the clutch set too high. It would be much harder to control if the auger was bigger. Also, with a smaller auger, it is much easier to go around rocks. I have pulled out 20+ lbs. rocks that are 18 inches across. The trick is to find the rock's edge and use the auger's corkscrew action to pry up on the rock's edge and loosen the soil to lift the rock at the same time. It is then easy to pick the rock up and out of the hole. This is much easier than trying to dig around the rock using the shovel and garden fork.With a powerful drill, we find that we (the users) are the limits of the setup. In other words, the drill is more powerful than we are able to hold on to it. With the 12 or so clutch settings on the drill, we have ours set to around 6 or 7. Otherwise, the power of the drill becomes uncontrollable and it will gladly twist itself out of our hands when it hits a rock.Our very rocky soil is the reason why we waited so long to buy an auger. We were very skeptical if it would actually work. Yes, it is still hard work and there is a certain technique to digging with all the rocks, but once learned, digging holes with the auger is much easier than with a shovel and garden fork.

We've got dense clay with huge rocks, I bought this thing a few months back and I've dug up at least 12 large holes (planting trees and bushes), and this makes easy work of it. this thing has hit so many rocks, some of them granite, some of them lava, some of them river rocks, and there are no dings on it. I'm using a 20 V Dewalt screwdriver/drill. If I'm going into something softer, I can put the torque at 15 (max), or if I'm going into dense clay, I put the torque on drill mode (just have to be careful when it's on drill mode because it will torque your shoulder out of the socket when you catch something too hard or dense to handhold).The technique I use is the same technique that sold me into this thing, which I saw on a YouTube video, and that is to just quickly drill holes all around where I want to dig, and then dig out the dirt with a shovel. A hole that I would spend a half hour digging without this takes about five minutes with this.

We had this item in our shopping list for some time. We purchased others with mixed results. However, this auger cut through red clay and rock (North Georgia US Soil) with ease. Took only a few minutes to drill ten holes for planting. Used a normal Milwaukee M18 cordless drill with handle. We will be purchasing other augers from this company.

Works well but the base model may have even worked better. paying double for the heavy-duty cutter is waste. The base unit is sturdy and all they did was weld on 2 -1" pieces of 1/8" steel with square edges to the base unit and the added metal dis not have a cutting edge. If it had a cutting edge then it might have been worth the extra cost.

Buy this one! I wondered why I would pay $85 for an auger? Well, it is more than worth it. My wife and I used the auger to plant about 300 bulbs in some very questionable soil. We bought a generator, which sits in the back of my truck to run a Bosch 1/2' drill. The soil has tree roots, gravel, and rocks up to fist size. I had destroyed a normal garden variety auger. This one powers through it all. The shaft is rigid and durable. We got the heavy duty tip. Another great benefit is the length, which allows me to squat instead of bending way over.

I love the idea of a “personal” auger however my understanding was with the heavy duty tip this auger could break ground for the first time.Unfortunately it was not able to do this n my Mississippi soil. So buy to use n previously broken soil-not virgin soul.

Very strong but you need to order on with a longer lead before the blade. I am using this for small post holes in hard clay and broke the cheap $20 one from Lowes very quickly. this held up nicely.