Power Planter Extended Length Garden Auger Drill Bit, 3" x 24" with 3/8" Non-Slip Hex Drive, Auger Drill Bit for Planting Bulbs and Potted Plants, Garden Digging Tool for Dirt, Clay, Soil and Sand

My wife thought that my using a pick to dig a hole for a 1 gallon tree last year took too long and was too much effort. I certainly thought so as well. It took a couple of hours trying to break through the hard clay soil in my South Carolina yard, even after filling the hole with water and letting it sit overnight to soften the soil, only to find the hole still full of water the next day. Well, a year has passed and now she wants the yard finished. I still wanted to plant the plants, but no way did I consider it a job to take on. She took it upon herself to do some research and she found this augur. Hmm, I hadn't considered an augur. But I ordered one. Since I really would need an appropriate drill to drive the augur, I added a corded Bauer 1/2" spade handle drill that is designed to mix concrete or drive an augur using low speed and high torque. Today I used the augur and drill to sink multiple holes and bore out the soil for a 3 gallon plant and shovel out the loose soil from the holes. It took little time, and by far less physical effort that my last attempt to excavate a planting space. The augur went though the soil without a problem. It looked like the video for this item digging a hole. The drill and augur combo was perfect.

I planted over 200 bulbs this past fall and winter in mostly clay / shale soil. This was a huge time saver! And much easier on my old back. It is very sturdy and the length limited how much I had to bend over. Worked extremely well with an 18 volt battery drill. Be careful with your wrists, however. IF you get caught on a rock or root, the drill can twist and injure your wrist. You need a quick trigger finger and need to be careful. I could easily see someone sprain or break their wrist if you don't let go or let off the switch in time. Twisting would probably not be a problem in good garden soil. The auger itself is large and sturdy. Very well built with strong welds and metal. After over 200 holes, and hitting lots of roots and stones, absolutely no damage to the auger. The hex drive makes for a much more secure attachment to your drill. A round shank is more likely to slip or come loose. Highly recommended.

I wasn't sure what to expect from this thing but it turns out it's awesome. I have only used it with a Ryobi 3/8" 18V drill for 6 or 8 holes so far but up the this point I can hardly believe how well it works. I might put it in my 1/2" corded hammer drill if I need more power but even with the weaker drill it's great. I got it stuck a few times and had to switch to reverse to back out and try again but it seemed like that's just part of the process when you get to rocks and other tough spots and it wasn't a big deal. My soil conditions are variable. I have clay in spots and some highly granular decomposed granite in places too. If I get into more difficult areas maybe it will struggle, I don't know. I'll update as I use it more this season. So glad I went with a made in USA version with quality steel, good welds, better tolerances, etc. I could see a cheap knockoff version performing very differently. Update: 2 years of occasional use and it's still great. I now use a 18v hammer drill (in non-hammer mode) with the handle to help fight the torque and more power than my basic 18v cordless. It works great. I have not bothered to use my corded hammer drill.

I've only bored about 10 holes so far, but the auger has worked great. Using it to bore holes for fertilizing trees. Saves so much time compared to hand digging. I got the 24 inch length so I wouldn't have to bend over so much. Use with a decent quality drill, and make sure the shaft size (3/8 inch, in my case) will work with your drill chuck. Construction of the auger seems to be strong and durable. Not the most inexpensive auger you can buy, but it's made in USA and I'm quite satisfied so far. I didn't give it 5-stars all around simply because I haven't used it much yet.

I saw Laura on Garden Answer use one of these, so of course I went directly to Amazon to see what my options were. There are so many to choose from, but I went with the Power Planter because it is made in the USA and is sturdy. So glad I did! First off, I originally planned on using it with my standard Ryobi drill. But then after reading reviews I saw that it is recommended to use a side handle to prevent wrist turning, so my drill wouldnt work. I bought a Ryobi Hammer drill (here on amazon) that had the side handle, charged it up, and went to work! VERY easy to dig in my soil..I made sure I went slowly in case I hit a rock or root (it happens). Used it over the course of 3 days to plant about 500 plants. This cut down my time in half from what I wouldve done without the auger. AWESOME TOOL..highly recommended!!

I'm not a power tool person. I'm clumsy, and I always worry I'm going to accidentally kill someone or something. But my ground was like cement, yall. You could practically draw a hopscotch on it. I was desperate, okay! Anyway, when I first tried using this on my clay soil, it just spun and spun and gradually made a little divot. I finally tipped it to get the edge of the augur to catch the ground, and it was able to work the surface loose enough to then drill vertically. It was slow going, letting the drill and the augur do the work, but the augur made it possible to manage at all! I was really impressed. The manufacturer's instructional video really helped me use the tool effectively, and feel better about its safety. I also used it to plant bulbs in much nicer soil, and my goodness did it make the job soo much easier--especially with the extra length for my back. 100 bulbs done in one afternoon! It was still going strong when I stopped. No connection point issues. Hoping that keeps up. :D

If you’re looking for a well built version of one of these, this is it! Pricey but shouldn’t ever worry about breaking or wearing it out!

Using this auger with a Dewalt DCD999, and despite the clay soil and rocks, it really works well. This size (3") probably doesn't need such a heavy duty drill, but the combo excels in my heavy clay soil that can sometimes be hard to get a shovel into. With this Auger I can Easily dig holes to plant bulbs and small pint plants from the garden center, and the resulting removed soil is nicely broken down and easy to mix with compost and other amendments for backfilling, where digging out with a shovel I'm doing additional work to break up the solid chunks of clay soil. Digging multiple 3" holes can work well when planting larger plants; the auger breaks the soil up nicely which can then be easily removed with a shovel or a trowel. I upgrade to this 24" version after using my smaller one for years, it lets me dig while standing, much easier!