What is the diameter of the auger needed for the fence. Drilling holes for fences and foundation poles. Drilling tools

As a rule, drilling holes (more correctly, holes) in the ground is very often a primary and necessary part of any construction work on the site. As an example, I will cite the installation of fence posts around the perimeter of a garden plot under a chain-link mesh.

Let's do a little calculation. Let's say that you need to fence in an ordinary garden plot with an area of ​​\u200b\u200b6 acres. The plot is 20 meters wide and 30 meters long. For normal installation of the chain-link mesh (better fixing it and preventing sagging), the posts must be located at a distance of 2.5 m from each other. Add to this the installation of pillars under the gate 3 meters wide and a gate 1 meter wide. By simple calculations, we get that in order to install a fence, a gate and a gate, we need to drill about 40 holes on the site (along its perimeter). Some more calculations. Suppose we decide to protect our site with a 1.5 m high galvanized mesh netting. Many manufacturers and sellers offer metal poles (with hooks, planks, etc.) 2.4 meters high for its fastening. They are just right for us. Considering that the mesh ideally should not lie on the ground (not touch the ground), let's add a figure of 10 cm to our calculation (the distance from the ground to the lower edge of the chain-link).

What do we get as a result:
2.4 m (post height) - 1.5 m (netting height) - 0.1 m = 0.8 m.
We got a depth of 80 cm to which our pillars should be dug. As a result, in order to completely enclose a garden plot of six acres with a fence, we need to dig 40 holes 80 cm deep. Multiply 0.8 m by 40 pcs. and we get a figure of 32 meters. Those. In order for our fence to stand firmly and reliably, it is necessary to dig (drill) as much as 32 meters in the ground, which corresponds to almost the height of a ten-story building. Agree that the figure is impressive.

Hole drilling is the hardest part of the job of installing a fence. Now imagine that the soil on your site is by no means soft black earth or sand, but hard clay. I am sure that having dug such a land with a shovel to a depth of 80 cm, you will understand all the doom and hopelessness of this lesson. And on digging the third or fourth such hole, calluses on your hands, fatigue and muscle pain will more than eloquently say about this. Conclusion - digging with a shovel is not an option. It is troublesome, long and tiring.

The next method is drilling with a manual gas drill. The price of an average gas drill (motor drill) not for sand, but for serious clay soils lies in the range of 25-35 thousand rubles, plus extension cords for drills, if necessary. Agree that it probably makes no sense to buy a motor drill specifically for installing one fence. Another thing is if you decide to become a professional driller and earn money on it, or discover a new hobby...

Another option. Today, without any problems, you can use the services of drilling holes in your summer cottage with the help of specialized firms and organizations that will gladly undertake to help you for a certain amount of banknotes. On average, drilling holes with a diameter of 150 mm to a depth of 0.9 meters will cost you 350 rubles per piece. Those. for our example, we get the following calculation: 350 rubles x 40 pillars = 14,000 rubles. The amount is quite small (compared to the previous method), and you won’t need to make any efforts yourself. But, given that the price of a fence of six acres (chain-link mesh, poles, ready-made gates and a chain-link gate) is approximately 18,000 - 22,000 rubles. I suggest considering a third option:

So, the cheapest and easiest option is an ordinary garden drill for 800 - 1000 rubles. It consists of three parts: the drill itself with an auger 1 meter long and 150 mm in diameter, a handle pipe screwed onto it and a screw-on extension (1 meter pipe). The assembled structure of 3 parts weighs about 10 kg. and allows you to drill a hole up to 2 meters deep. This "device" is sold in almost any large hardware stores (horticulture and household departments), or in construction markets. It would seem that here it is a miracle device that will allow you to perform any drilling work in the country or backyard without extra spending. However, do not rush to rejoice. Unfortunately, not everything is so simple. If your site is not somewhere in the desert and does not consist of solid sand, then drilling with such a device can be very problematic. Arriving at our average clay plot, located somewhere in the middle lane, and sticking a drill into the ground, you may be disappointed in buying it. Attempts to turn the drill, leaning on it with your whole body, will not give any tangible results. It simply will not go deep into the ground (blunt drill effect). Using an extension pipe will also not give much results. Just having spent colossal strength and energy, after 15-20 minutes you. having torn off your hands and earned calluses, go deep into the ground literally 15-20 cm. What's the matter? Why does the drill not work and "drill" the ground?

Everything is simple. Drills that are sold for such little money have absolutely no sharpening. In other words, they are stupid. Those. that part of the auger, which should bite into the ground and cut off its layers, is not sharpened by manufacturers. They probably think that sharpening for that kind of money is a purely individual matter. And indeed, it is extremely difficult to 3 mm. absolutely unsharpened plate to cut something, incl. and solid ground. Truth? This applies not only to the guide knives of the drill, but also to the edges of the round annular plates of the auger. The sharper they are, the easier the drill will cut into the ground, cutting off all kinds of plant roots, etc.

How to sharpen a drill? Two ways. The first is using an angle grinder. In other words, Bulgarian. 5-10 minutes of unhurried and responsible work and the edges of the garden drill will be sharp as a knife blade. In addition to the cutting spiral surfaces and their ends, the very tip of the drill should be sharpened - its edges and tip should be made sharp so that it enters the ground like a "knife in butter". Method two (if there is no grinder). In this case, an ordinary file for rough metal processing can help in sharpening the drill. It will take a long time to transport (the larger the file is, the faster the work will go) - from about 30 minutes. up to 2 hours to an acceptable result.

Having sharpened the drill, making its cutting surfaces of the auger and side edges sharp enough, we will immediately see and feel the result. The drill will actually begin to fulfill its direct duty - to drill. But here, too, we encounter another difficulty. Having penetrated into the clay soil by about 30-40 cm, it becomes quite difficult to turn the drill. Hands get tired quickly, strength is wasted, and the number of ready-made pits is in no hurry to grow. This is where water comes to the rescue. Yes, the most ordinary water. The technology is simple to disgrace. We take a bucket and pour about 3-5 liters of water into the started hole. We wait for some time, about 2-3 minutes - and we drill. Completely different result! The clay soil soaked up the water and soaked, essentially turning into liquid mud. The drill easily, almost effortlessly enters it. We deepen the auger by 15-20 centimeters. Now the important point. The drill is buried in the ground and sits in it quite tightly. You should not immediately use your back as a lever and hands to jerk the earth out of a drilled hole, because. in this case, you run the risk of tearing your back, and you will simply get tired quickly. It is best to try to swing a drill buried in the ground (back and forth, left and right), as if expanding (loosening) the hole in the pit. After that, you can easily and without straining to remove the soil from the hole. Soaked earth sticks to the auger. To clean it, you can use, for example, some old and unnecessary knife. Do not forget to add water to the drilled hole as needed to soak the soil. To make the process of drilling holes under the poles faster, you can add water to several designated holes in the ground at once. While you are drilling one hole, in the remaining holes you have begun, water is absorbed into the soil and liquefies it. As practice has shown, drilling by the above method of one hole with a depth of 80 cm and a diameter of 15 cm in clay soil takes an average of 5-10 minutes. In this case, the drill extension is not used. And most importantly - the "operator" does not get tired.

It is not surprising, because preparing holes for poles 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 time and effort. What to do? Hire a mounted pit drill based on a car and dump a bunch of money on it? But this is far from always advisable, and besides, using heavy equipment in a summer cottage when installing poles is nonsense! But there is a way out, since technology does not stand still. To what is better and how to properly drill holes for fence posts or installation of foundation piles in one case or another, our today's article is devoted.

When installing a fence, many are accustomed to dig 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 time and effort with a shovel, you will not be able to make a deep enough and at the same time as narrow a hole as necessary for mounting the pole. Although in some cases this method is fully justified not only in terms of cost. So, when replacing an old fence and installing new pillars in place of the old ones, large stones or pieces of cement may turn out to be in the ground, which, except for hands, a shovel or a crowbar, are quite difficult to pull out. Also, if you plan to lay brick pillars, you can’t imagine a better tool shovel: the pits for pouring the foundation for such pillars should be wide and square.

Methods for drilling holes for the installation of pillars for the foundation and fence

We put the fence posts using a garden hand drill

Ideally, for all types of fence posts, with the exception of 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, for these purposes, cheaper non-motorized hand-held garden drills of a T-shaped design are most often used, which is an auger with a diameter, usually 15-20 cm, with a handle pipe. In some modifications, manufacturers provide for the possibility of installing a removable extension between the auger and the handle to increase the maximum drilling depth up to 2 meters - it will be difficult to pull a longer drill out of the ground, as it will not allow growth.

Of course, a hand drill is heavier and more expensive than a conventional shovel, but with the correct sharpening of the auger, they can drill a smooth 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 a slight pressure on the handle of the drill 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 deep 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 when the handles are pressed hard. In this case, you do not need to waste time and effort - pull out the drill and pour some water into the hole. After a few minutes, the soil will get wet and work can be continued. In order to speed up the process, you can drill several holes at once: while 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, it is not always possible to cope with heavy soil with a simple garden drill, especially when drilling to a depth of more than 100 cm. In this case, if funds allow, you can use a manual motor drill (petrol drill). This method of drilling holes for poles is much more productive.

The principle of operation of a motor drill is the same as that of a simple garden drill. Due to the larger number of turns of the auger at a time, they can lift much more soil. Almost all modern motor drills are equipped with a gasoline engine and only very rarely can you still find an electric one. The performance of the unit and the maximum possible diameter of drilling holes 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 for planting large plants and performing similar tasks.

Relatively inexpensive, which is important in times of crisis, and at the same time, hand-held power drills of sufficient quality are Chinese-made ADA Ground Drill units.

They also use hand-held motor-drills for drilling water wells with their own hands. Such models of gas drills are equipped with more powerful engines, have more weight and are designed for two people.

Drilling with pit drills on the basis of a car

As a rule, a manual gas drill is enough for the construction of columnar foundations. However, depending on the materials used and the type of soil, it is sometimes 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 drilling machine.

When building a house and landscaping, it is often necessary to make round holes in the ground. They are needed when constructing a fence - for installing pillars, when building gazebos, installing arches and other light utility structures. The same pits, but of a larger diameter and depth, are required during the device. Make these holes with a motorized or manual drill. They are available in stores in sufficient quantities, but many prefer homemade products: they are often more productive and reliable than factory products. In addition, you can make a drill with your own hands of any design, and there are a lot of them.

Designs and application

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

Making a garden drill

A garden drill is the simplest but most effective design. It consists of:

This is the basic design, and there are many improvements to it. But first, let's talk about what a dredger can be made of.

materials

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

Knives-blades can be made from:

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

Piku-drill is made from different materials - there are a lot of its designs. They make just a sharpened rod. Then you need a piece of a bar of large diameter. The second option is to make something like a drill out of a strip. And also a combination of the two.

Pika - one of the tip options

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

Knives and the method of fastening

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. 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 a solid diameter.

On one rod, you can have several sets of cutting blades - for pits of different diameters

In the disks themselves, holes will have to be cut in the center so that they fit snugly against 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, follow it with a circle of steel. Drill a hole in the center - it will be necessary to insert and weld the rod into it. Circle or square - depending on the selected rod. The dimensions of the hole are slightly larger than the dimensions of the rod.

It is also necessary to spread the edges by 25-30 degrees. In this case, drilling efficiency will be maximum. If you work on dense soils (clay, loam with a predominance of clay), the blades under load can reduce. To avoid this, stops are added from a corner or a thick strip of steel.

The blades bend due to the fact that the steel is not hardened, but it is almost impossible to find it in the sheet, and if it is possible, then it is unlikely to be bent.

From saw blade

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

Such a homemade drill for earthworks shows a fairly high performance. Even used discs 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 of different sizes are welded onto the rod. From below, near the peak, the smallest ones are welded, above, retreating a few centimeters - large ones. There can be three such tiers, a maximum of four. The entire cutting part should not be more than 50 cm, otherwise it is very difficult to work physically.

If a drill is needed for shallow pits - for installing poles, etc., then this design is optimal - it has a relatively small weight, it is easy to work with. The process of work is this - they lowered it into the hole, turned it several times - pulled it out, poured out the soil stuck between the blades. But if you need to drill deep pits, you will be tormented by dragging a small amount of soil from the depth. For such cases, a box for collecting soil is welded over the blades.

And all these are handmade drills. All of them are highly efficient - it is much easier to work than purchased ones.

Auger drill

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

To make a homemade auger drill, you will need several metal discs. The number of discs is equal to the number of turns. The disks are cut out the same, in them, in the center, a hole is cut for the rod, as well as the same 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 discs. Welded discs are put on the rod, the lower edge is welded.

Drill for piles TISE

In the author's version, the TISE drill is blades with a land receiver and a folding wider knife that forms an extension at the bottom of the pile. But working with such a projectile is inconvenient - the folding knife greatly interferes. Therefore, in some designs it is made removable, but in general, it is recommended to drill the pits themselves with an ordinary garden drill, and to expand it, make a separately folding knife with a land receiver. This makes the job easier and faster.

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

A cut-off shovel acts as a knife, and the land receiver is made from a can of herring. 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 loosened, the blade begins to cut the sides of the pit, forming the necessary expansion.

In the photo below - the second version of a home-made drill for TISE piles. The design is more complex, but also more efficient. The plow-blade is made from a piece of spring, sharpened and welded to the hinged structure with bolted connections.

The dredger is from an old propane tank. The earth is collected from below, because 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 constantly be moistened with water.

Blueprints

A self-made drill is good because its design is “sharpened” for the owner. In 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 dimensions of various drills. As you understand, the dimensions are conditional, they can and should be changed, adjusting to the dimensions of the required wells.

For planting plants, making a serious design does not make sense. In this case, you can make a garden drill from a shovel. They choose a high-quality shovel made of good steel, apply markings, as shown in the drawing. According to the markup, it will be necessary to cut out two small fragments, saw the lower 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 elongated cutting part. It is a kind of glass with slits on the sides. The cuts are equipped with cutting edges. They are best made from well-hardened steel.

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

Basic drawings of auger and garden drill

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

Garden drill drawing

Video materials

Any fence, one way or another, begins with marking and drilling holes for poles. The durability of the entire fence, the ability of the building to withstand harsh gusts of wind and withstand powerful heaving of the soil depend on how correctly the installation of the fence posts is done. Only after understanding the simple, but rather laborious process of drilling wells and pits, you can purchase material and get to work.

How and with what to dig a hole under the fence post

The depth of the hole under the fence post depends on the height of the fence structure and the weight of the web, the higher the fence and the heavier the material, the deeper the drilling under the fence posts. For a gate 60 cm high, a pit depth of 25-30 cm is required, for a two-meter column, drilling of 60-70 cm is required.

There are few drilling methods:

• Punch a hole with a shovel or a specially made tool;
• Use a manual motor rig for drilling wells up to one and a half meters deep;
• Rent for the day the services of a drilling machine on a car carriage.

Advice! To select the scheme and method of drilling holes for the installation of pillars, first of all, it will be necessary to estimate the amount of work to be done.

Usually, vertical supports are used to install the fence, buried in the ground and concreted every 2.0-2.5 m of length. This means that for fencing a site of 60x10 m and a perimeter of 140 m, it will be necessary to drill for the installation of 50-60 pillars. For a small fence enclosing the "front" part of the site, 5-7 wells are needed at the most. In the latter case, drilling can be performed without the involvement of special equipment, if the soil in the area is relatively soft.

Drilling methods, advantages and disadvantages

It’s worth mentioning right away that it makes no sense to dig holes and wells for the installation of a one and a half to two meter pole with an ordinary shovel. That is, it is quite possible for a physically strong adult to dig a hole 60 cm deep, but at the same time it will be necessary to increase the width of the pit to 40-50 cm, otherwise it will be almost impossible to remove the soil from the hole. Thus, the volume of earthworks will double or triple.

How easy it is to do your own drilling

Since ancient times, drilling holes for poles was carried out using special devices and tools:

• Converted garden tools - a drill shovel and a carver;
• A garden-type auger drill or a converted tool for drilling wells for TISE piles;
• Homemade machines and devices for drilling any number of wells for poles and piles.

Note! The most difficult task in drilling is to ensure the required accuracy of the vertical position of the well.

After installing the pillar, the concrete cushion around the support should be as symmetrical as possible, otherwise, with a sharp increase in the level of groundwater or an increase in heaving forces, the fence posts will roll to the side. If, for technical reasons, the direction of the well has deviated from the vertical position, it is necessary to stop drilling and level the hole, removing part of the soil.

Some of the oldest devices for digging holes for fence posts are a sharpened bayonet shovel and an ax soil cutter. The shovel is cut to a smaller size, the edge is bent at an angle. A steel inch pipe is welded to the ax and bent at a right angle. The result is a tool with a narrow, 5-7 cm blade at the end.

In this case, the hole for the fence posts is not drilled, but cut with periodic removal of the crushed soil. In this way, it is realistic to punch a well to a depth of at least 50-60 cm on any, even the most solid soil with a large amount of rock fragments.

The easiest way to drill holes is with a screw or auger garden drill. The device of the tool allows you to drill both alone and together.

On soft ground, drilling with auger tools is quite easy. Approximately the first 20-30 cm, drilling takes place in one breath. Further, before working with a drill, the soil has to be loosened with a home-made cutter or periodically pour 4-5 liters of water to soften the rock.

The cutting edge of the drill in the standard version is made in the form of two flat knife blades. This is the most loaded part of the drill. If the soil is sufficiently dense, with a large amount of gravel, the knife edge of the drill quickly loses its sharpness, therefore, every one and a half to two meters of penetration, the cutting part has to be corrected and reground. In home-made designs, handicraft forged knives, cutting nozzles from sharpened segments of automobile springs and circular saw blades are widely used.

Often, for drilling wells for poles, a pile drill is used for TISE supports. It is more difficult to work with such a tool, but this method gives a serious advantage over conventional garden drills. As a result of drilling, a widening is formed at the base of the well, due to which, after pouring concrete, the fence post acquires a high level of stability even on heavily watered clay soils. The use of a drilling tool for TISE supports makes it possible to build a fence even on heavily heaving soils.

Homemade unit for drilling wells

In addition to hand tools, many of the craftsmen build real drilling machines with their own hands, allowing them to punch a hole for a pole or a pile support for a fence without the use of expensive specialized equipment.

An example of one of the most successful home-made units used for drilling wells for poles and piles is shown in the diagram.

The design of the machine allows you to drill wells under fence posts with a diameter of 40-360 mm to a depth of 2.5 m. You can work alone or together. The performance of the unit is such that on the most difficult soil, drilling a well to a depth of 1500-1800 mm is carried out in 40-45 minutes. It will take another 15-20 minutes to move the machine to a new hole drilling site. With a manual drill, a similar amount of work is done twice more slowly.

The design of the machine is welded from a steel angle in the form of a truncated pyramid. To rotate the drill, a drive made from a GAZ-66 towbar is used. The drill is a one and a half inch steel pipe with welded blades from a cultivator and a thin twist drill at the end. The device of the machine is provided with a cable winch, which fits the lifting of the working tool to remove the drilled volume of soil.

Using Motorized Hole Drilling Tools

In the case when, for the construction of a fence, it is necessary to break through a hundred points for installing pillars, it is quite difficult and long to do such work with your own hands, even when using easel drills. For example, for a simple fence of 20 posts, with a net drilling time of 40 minutes and 20 minutes to move the device, it will take 20x (40 + 20) \u003d 20 hours of continuous work, or 2 days of work with rest and smoke breaks.

A similar volume can be completed by a special petrol unit in one working day. If you need to install more than ten fence posts, it would be more rational to rent a manual or easel version of a motor drill. The cost of renting the simplest gasoline auger unit will cost 1000 rubles per day, with a deposit of 6-10 thousand rubles. The amount of the deposit is determined depending on the price and condition of the equipment. For a longer period, the daily rate can be reduced from 1000 to 600 rubles, subject to a rental period of at least a week.

Conclusion

As an option, you can buy a new unit for drilling wells, today the cost of a gasoline unit in a package is at least $ 300. Usually, a new or used motor drill is bought together for several sections of a garden or dacha cooperative. With the correct use of the motor drill, even after the installation of all fences and poles on the territory of the cooperative, the gasoline engine still retains at least 50-60% of the planned motor resource. In this condition, the unit can be sold at a residual value to builders or a private company involved in the installation of fences and barriers. You should not purchase decommissioned motor units in offices and organizations that provide services for drilling wells for fences. Their equipment, as a rule, is sold already in a very deplorable state.