Draper 1050 x 150 mm Fence Post Auger | Post Hole Digger Gardening hand tool| Fence Manual Hand Drill | Tubular steel | 24414 Blue

Normally if I need a hole I just dig it, but this time I needed to dig some deep holes for posts in an area covered in concrete. I also needed the holes to be as small as I could get away with. I looked at post hole spades but they were all wider at the top than the hole-size I planned on cutting through the concrete. One of the holes also needed to be dug right up against a fence, so I could only really get at three sides of it..After much research I decided to give this tool a go. I was a bit concerned because some reviews said it was ineffective on sandy soil. Mind you, covered in concrete I figured my sandy soil would be damp and probably hold together long enough to lift it out.This tool is very heavy and it has a sliding, and fully removable, handle secured by a grub screw. I needed to slide the handle back and forth so I could work the tool right next to the existing fence. The grub screw fell out on the first turn – so if you aren’t using it, then take it out and put it somewhere safe. If you are using it, keep an eye on it, I have a feeling it might work itself loose.The auger did the job beautifully and very quickly. I lifted it out when the screw part was half full with soil, otherwise it gets very heavy with the weight of the soil and of the tool itself. The tool isn’t that tall so by the time I was 2’ down I was bending right over in order to use it. No problem with just a few holes, but I wouldn’t like to do a big job with it. If you’re fit it won’t be a problem.The handle is about 1’ 8” long and gives sufficient leverage. The tool itself is 3’ 4” long, and it drills a hole 6” in diameter. I was installing 3” posts and the hole was plenty big enough. It feels solid enough to last a very long time.

This was bought to dig out two holes for 100x100mm posts for a pergola. The box that the item came in was huge. It could have come in a box a third of the size. It was full of the air bag padding. A little bit OTT. The handle fitted in nicely with a small thumb fastened screw. As it was only hand tightened, it allowed me to move the handle mid dig to get better turning force (torque?) when things got a little tough. The ground I was digging into is solid chalk, through which this just cut without any problems. Applying greater pressure while turning the tool gave a bigger cut but light pressure just kept it turning and digging well. A normal post hold would have taken me ages with just a spade, but in a matter of minutes the hole was dug. I put Concrete-in post supports in to the holes rather than putting the wood into the ground directly. The hole was big enough to drop the posts in without the post supports if I had wanted with sufficient clearance all around for concrete. The only thing I might have done differently was to dig down further so I would have had a bigger column of cement hold the post. All in all this was a great bit of kit and dig exactly what I needed with the minimum of fuss. Not sure how it would have been if I’d hit a big stone or large piece of flint. Great product that didn’t bend while being used – solid construction.

So, the positives first.It’s very solid and made light work of holes for 9 fence posts this week.Easy to use, not too heavy, and gets the spoil out without much spillage.Arrived the next day.On the down side.The little self tapping screw that fixes the handle to the main body wouldn’t screw in once the handle was in place.Take the handle out, push it in and turn. Put the handle in and no dice.I ended up taping the handle in place, although it’s quite a tight fit and doesn’t move much anyway.The end of the handle have little stoppers - one must’ve fallen out whilst using the tool and is now buried in the garden I guess.Just a suggestion but either:1 - drill right through the handle and main tool and provide a nut and boltOr2 - fit one of those little push button locators you get on garden parasols that locks the two parts of the post together.A very useful tool all said, that could easily get 5 stars.Just a word of caution - this thing isn’t magic. If you have a lot of rubble and brickwork to core through it won’t do the job. You’ll end up jarring your wrists as it stops turning. Easy enough to pull the brick out and go again but don’t go at it in a frenzy or you’ll injure yourself.Steady turning with a bit of pressure will end up quicker and you’ll save yourself lots of back breaking digging and only use half as much postcrete as you would digging them by hand!

Ordered via Prime yesterday, arrived this morning at 10am. Assembled in seconds and had the first post hole drilled down 2ft through earth and then clay within 10 minutes. I've dug post holes by hand before and they end up enormous (needing loads of concrete and adding cost), making it far harder to get levels and it takes ages to get down 2ft. This creates a nice clean hole, cuts through small plant roots with ease, and provided you only do a few turns at a time, you can lift the earth out easily. Every bit as easy as the powered one a neighbour hired last year to do their fence, and with more control over the depth. A nice sturdy construction with the handles the right size to get leverage without being so long they make working amongst shrubs and plants awkward. The height is also perfect to make it easy to start the hole, and to pull the earth out when it is getting to the right depth. I expected to get a few posts in today and ended up with the whole fence (8 posts) done and level first go. The best 30 quid I've spent in a long while!