I finally picked hand digging over the auger for a tricky corner lot job

So I had this big corner lot job in a tight residential area last month. The ground was full of old roots and buried irrigation lines from the 90s. I was going back and forth on renting a mini auger for $150 a day or just doing it by hand with my clamshell digger. Decided to go old school hand digging because I knew the auger would get hung up on every root and probably bust a pipe. It took me about 6 hours total for 20 holes, but I didn't damage anything and the homeowner was thrilled I didn't tear up her yard. Has anyone else had augers cause more headaches than they saved in a spot like that?

3 comments

3 Comments

johnson.river1d ago

Oh man, that's exactly the kind of situation where an auger just makes things worse! I had a similar spot last spring with a fenceline along an old property edge. The ground was pure roots and rocks from some ancient hedge row. I tried the power auger for the first two holes and it just bounced and screamed the whole time, took forever. Switched to my hand digger and actually got through the rest faster because I could feel where the roots were and work around them. Plus no risk of snapping off an irrigation line like you mentioned. Sometimes slow and steady really is the way to go.

davis.olivia1d agoTop Commenter

Totally agree with you on this one. It's funny how we think the power tool is always the shortcut, but sometimes it just creates more problems. I've noticed that in a lot of areas of life, not just digging holes. People rush to the newest, loudest solution when the old school method would actually save time and headache. Like how everyone wants to automate customer service chats, but a real person on the phone can solve a problem in five minutes instead of an hour of clicking through menus. Have you seen that happen in other spots too?

emmamason1d ago

Exactly. That old hedge row ground is brutal. Hand digging feels the roots, power tools just fight them.