I finally tried that trick with the post hole digger and a shop vac

On a job last week in Tacoma, we hit a ton of wet clay that kept sticking in the auger. I saw a video where a guy used a wet/dry vac to suck out the slurry, so I gave it a shot with my old Ridgid. It worked way better than I thought, clearing a 4-foot hole in about 3 minutes. The big lesson was to use a long, stiff hose taped to a piece of conduit to really get down in there. Has anyone else tried something like this for tough, muddy holes?

3 comments

3 Comments

casey8433mo agoMost Upvoted

That sounds like a lot of extra gear to haul around... I just keep a bucket of water handy to rinse the clay off the auger every few pulls. It's slower but way less fuss for me.

thomas.cameron3mo ago

Is it really that big a deal?

walker.hayden24d ago

That bucket of water trick is genius actually lol. I used to fight with clay jamming up my auger so bad I'd spend more time cleaning it than drilling. Once I started just dunking the auger in a 5 gallon bucket every 3 or 4 pulls, the whole job got way smoother. It's one of those simple things that makes you wonder why you didn't do it from the start. Definitely a game changer for anyone dealing with sticky soil.