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pamelia00

Water powered Garden Dig-It??

Pamela Church
17 years ago

Hi,

My hubby and I will (eventually) fence part of our yard, the front with picket fence, the back with wire. My question...has anyone had any experience with the Garden Dig-it, a device that digs holes using water pressure? I've included a link to a description of the item.

Here is a link that might be useful: Garden Dig-It

Comments (7)

  • tkendr01
    17 years ago

    This is a great device! It is the one weed-digging device that my wife can easily use and it works very well. The green plastic handle broke off on one side when she was using it, so we ordered another one. The broken one still works but it is necessary to use a stick to block the valve open.
    It is great for digging out weeds that are among the roots of another plant - no need to dig up the other plant, just fill in the hole where the weed came out.

    I assume that this is for digging fence postholes. What kind of posts will you be using and what kind of soil do you have along the proposed fencelines? The Dig-it will certainly make holes but they will probably only be about 1-2 inches in diameter, even though the depth will be OK.

    The weeds and volunteer trees that we hand-pull with the Dig-it are usually only 1/2" diameter. For larger stuff, we use the tool to create a pocket of mud around the weed from several sides, then wrap a chain around it and remove with a truck rim or connect it to a pickup truck hitch if more power is required.

  • Pamela Church
    Original Author
    17 years ago

    We have a combination of sand and loam. One of the problems we've had in the past is old roots and trash. Our yard had been the backyard dump site of an old farmhouse that burned probably 30 years ago. We've found old bottles, crockery, pieces of tools and farm equipment, and about a million Old Milwaukee cans, lol.

    We'll be using 4 X 4 posts in the front and metal fence posts in the back.

    It sounds like the Dig-it might be helpful with the metal, but we might have to rent a power auger for the 4 x 4's in the front.

  • tkendr01
    17 years ago

    Are the metal fence posts like pipe (such as used with chain link fabric) or solid steel T-posts with bumps every few inches? If they are T-posts, you would be better served with a post-driver to slam them into the soil, though the Dig-it would do as well.
    Wood 4x4 posts really need at least a 6" hole in order to make room for concrete mix.

  • nod702
    17 years ago

    With that type of soil, i think i would use post-hole-diggers for the 4x4s and like tkendr01 said use a post driver for the metal posts. I recently dug 42 holes 2 feet deep in Tennessee red clay and it wasn't too bad and i'm 68 years old. Another thing i did was coat the bottom two feet of the 8 foot treated posts with roof cement, the kind you can paint on with a brush. Even though the posts were pressure treated, and for ground contact after a few years they become terimite fodder.

  • Pamela Church
    Original Author
    17 years ago

    Thanks for the tips. I'll print this and pass it along to my hubby.

  • scmusician
    12 years ago

    I love the Dig It but after years of use it needs to be replaced. I don't know where I can get a new one. Any help will be appreciated. I'm at a loss without this super device.

  • bh13850
    10 years ago

    Hi - I have one, tested it, worked great, but I haven't used it in 5+ years and have forgotten how and of course lost the instructions. Does anyone have a copy of the instructions, or could anyone even just give a summary of how to use it? Thanks!

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