Excavator Augers
A Excavator auger is an attachment that uses your excavators hydraulic power to dig round holes in the earth. For example, many customers may use their mini excavator to dig pilings when laying a new foundation.
To better explain how an excavator auger works, it uses a planetary drive system to convert your excavators hydraulic power into rotational force. This rotational force turns an auger with cutting teeth on the bottom. The teeth loosen the earth so the “auger flight” can move the earth upwards and out of the hole.
What Excavator Auger Drive is Right For Me?
When choosing the correct auger drive unit for your excavator, one of your first consideration will be hydraulic flow.
Drive units are designed for specific ranges of auxiliary hydraulic flow. Choose a drive unit that matches the specifications of your excavator.
Running a higher flow than what your auger drive unit is designed for will damage the drive unit, while running too low of a flow through the drive unit will result in an underpowered auger.
Drive units are rated for a gallon per minute range. For example, if your excavator’s auxiliary hydraulics produce 16 GPM, purchasing an auger drive unit rated at 10 - 20 GPM would result the best over all performance and longevity of your drive unit..
How Do I the Right Auger For My Mini Excavator?
Firstly, ensure that the auger you want is compatible with your excavator's auger drive unit.
Auger drives will come with several different sizes of final drives. The most common sizes are 2” hex, 2 1/2” hex and 2 9/16” Round. The auger you select to use with your drive must have the same size head on it.
The size of the final drive is determined by how much torque the auger drive is capable of producing. Higher torque drives require larger final drives.
High torque drive units must also be paired with heavier built augers. On the other hand, a drive unit with less torque will struggle to work efficiently with too large of an auger.
What Is The “Flight” on an Excavator’s Auger?
The flight on an auger is the spiralling metal ribbon that is welded onto the augers shaft. The flight lifts the augured material out of the hole.
An important element to a well built and long lasting excavator auger is the weld connecting the flight to the augers shaft. A weak weld could result in premature failure of the auger.
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