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Post holes with a drill...

chester215

Just call me Chester.
Power to ya, I mean really, I bet it saves a tremendous amount of manpower calling and submitting dig tickets, but if you're digging that many holes, wouldn't you want to dig with power tools and do 5 times that in a day?
Or at the very least call in locations and they will mark a larger perimeter around something general like 'the mailbox' or 'the right side of the driveway, by the street'. Hop on google maps to give them coordinates if they require it. It's probably a 5 minute ordeal, and your city utility companies will appreciate you!

It is a matter of time.
First, entering the info into the online database, it's a matter of scale. Let's say on our busiest days we get a minimum of 400+ sign orders, 1/2 of them being new installs where cbyd can be called. If it takes 3 min for each of the 200 new locations to be entered online = 600 min or 10 hours a day just in entering cbyd data for locations to be marked.
Second. The delay waiting to get the area marked in our area is 2 working days. In an industry where there are cancelled orders because properties already sell before we can put the sign up, it would mean a further loss of revenue.
Third, It doesn't happen often enough to worry about. Don't get me wrong, if it happened every day we would call cbyd, but it is a calculated risk.
The Real Estate companies have on their order form a waiver that says if we are not asked to call cbyd, they are responsible for any underground objects we hit when putting up a sign. Mostly we hit sprinkler systems and dog fences but there are no regulations in our area for the depth of cable lines so we cut into them occasionally as well.
I don't think digging holes 18"-24" deep we are going to hit any high pressure gas lines.
These days it is mostly dog fences and sprinkler lines which cbyd wouldn't mark anyway.
 
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Texas_Signmaker

Very Active Signmaker
I'm reporting back here because that little drill attachment Moze posted is amazing. I've used it on about 10 jobs over the last month and it's worked everytime. I have it on the end of a regular Dewalt drill, not the fancy one Moze has in the video... and it's amazing. Plows right though and the drill stops before it get to the point of ripping my hand off (unlike gas powered auger)

The best part is I'm not lugging around a heavy ass auger.. and the drill bit fits in my truck toolboxes so I can have it onboard all the time.
 

CanuckSigns

Active Member
Do you have to get a geologist involved too? I remember talking to a northern neighbor at a sign convention, and when he mentioned that I had a good chuckle, and then felt like an idiot because he was serious...
I've never heard of that, but I've never put a sign up in an old Indian graveyard, so who knows.
 

GAC05

Quit buggin' me
Tex how do you holster your drill with a 2ft auger in the chuck?
Do you strap up regular or reversed so you can cross draw?
tex.jpg
 

Notarealsignguy

Arial - it's almost helvetica
Ok, finally rounded up the proper sized auger bit and driver adapter. No holes to dig yet...
But I did strip 20+ 3'x12' acm panels with a piece of 1" conduit on the adapter! This one actually works. Takes all the fun out of doing it with a corded drill and a piece of all thread. Every time I would try, the drill would bind and the all thread would slip or tear the backing instead of rolling it. Down side is that after a certain point the conduit outweighs the drill and battery...
View attachment 149532
Is that linoleum on the table? How does that work out?
 

Moze

Active Member
Adding this to the thread in case it helps anyone.

Augers tend to throw the dirt pretty far which typically results in a bunch of time spent on clean up if you're in any kind of 'finished' area. My solution to this is a heavy duty tarp with a square cut out of the center (I 'sealed' the cut edges with Gorilla Tape so it won't fray). I place a safety cone where the hole needs to be, then spread the tarp over it so the hole goes around the cone, move the cone and then auger the hole. After augering the hole, the spread out dirt is easy to either broom or tip into a pile with the tarp, and transfer into a tub, bucket, etc.

20200819_150404_HDR-1.jpg


IMG_20210910_090254488_HDR.jpg
 

Stacey K

I like making signs
Adding this to the thread in case it helps anyone.

Augers tend to throw the dirt pretty far which typically results in a bunch of time spent on clean up if you're in any kind of 'finished' area. My solution to this is a heavy duty tarp with a square cut out of the center (I 'sealed' the cut edges with Gorilla Tape so it won't fray). I place a safety cone where the hole needs to be, then spread the tarp over it so the hole goes around the cone, move the cone and then auger the hole. After augering the hole, the spread out dirt is easy to either broom or tip into a pile with the tarp, and transfer into a tub, bucket, etc.

View attachment 155339

View attachment 155340
This is a great idea! I use an ice auger also and boy, what a mess!
 

Texas_Signmaker

Very Active Signmaker
Nice idea. The auger bit has not disappointed. When I'm on a construction site it never fails the contractors will watch in amazement and say they never thought a drill could do that. Did 3 holes yesterday out in some hard dried dirt... I don't even break a sweat anymore.
 

Moze

Active Member
Nice idea. The auger bit has not disappointed. When I'm on a construction site it never fails the contractors will watch in amazement and say they never thought a drill could do that. Did 3 holes yesterday out in some hard dried dirt... I don't even break a sweat anymore.

It works especially well in cases where you don't have to use concrete. A helper and I set 8 posts yesterday and it took about 5 minutes per sign to lay the tarp out, auger the hole, set the post in, tip the dirt back in/around the post, tamp it down and screw the face on.
 
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