Hot take: those fancy carbide-tipped auger bits aren't worth the extra cash on rocky ground

Bought a set of Diablo carbide auger bits last week for $65. First hole in some rocky clay out by the Johnson property, the tip snapped right off. My old cheap steel bits from Home Depot would have lasted through that same soil no problem. Learned my lesson - carbide is for clean dirt only. Anyone else had carbide bits fail on rocky jobsites?

3 comments

3 Comments

alexk6022d ago

Stick with the cheap steel for rocky ground. Carbide is way too brittle for anything with rocks in it. Learned that one the hard way myself.

ericj4521d ago

... wait, you actually snapped the tip off a Diablo? Those things are supposed to be tough as nails. I've heard of them chipping but not flat out breaking like that. Man, that's rough for sixty five bucks.

roberts9522d ago

Respectfully gotta disagree with you and @alexk60 on this one. I've been running carbide auger bits on my jobs for the last three years, mostly in rocky northern soil, and they've held up way better than steel ever did. The trick is you can't hammer them like they're cheap steel bits. You gotta let the carbide do the cutting instead of forcing it. If you're snapping tips off, you're probably pushing too hard or running the drill too slow. Steel bits just dull out in rocky ground and then you're fighting to get anything done. Keep the speed up and let the bit work itself in, and carbide will outlast steel every time in my book.