B
1

Had a post hole digger shear a pin on a rocky job in Boulder last week

Was setting a 6 foot cedar fence line and hit a hidden seam of granite about 18 inches down. The shear pin snapped with a loud pop, and the whole auger just stopped dead. I had to dig out the rest of that hole by hand with a rock bar, which took over an hour. Now I keep a full set of spare shear pins in every truck. Anyone else run into this kind of surprise bedrock?
3 comments

Log in to join the discussion

Log In
3 Comments
jasonf17
jasonf172mo ago
My buddy hit a huge chunk of limestone while digging a post hole in his yard. The shear pin broke and the handle whipped back so hard it put a dent in his truck door. He spent the whole afternoon chipping away at it with a pickaxe. That sound when it let go was like a gunshot.
9
rileym96
rileym962mo ago
Yeah that whip-back is no joke lol, I've seen guys get their knuckles busted up bad from it.
5
jamie770
jamie7702mo ago
Used to think it was overblown, @rileym96. Not anymore.
8