Seymour - 21308 S500 Industrial Auger, Hardwood Replaceable Handle Type, 8 inch

I bought this after purchasing a gas powered auger (because the 1 man gas powered augers simply can't punch through the clay in our soil). This manual auger makes relatively easy work of the job. It can easily be extended for deeper holes if needed. The power auger is a little faster at getting through the more superficial layers of sandy loam, but is not really "easier". Another benefit to this type of auger was the ease in controlling where the extracted soil goes (because unlike a power auger, it doesn't sling the dirt everywhere). The clay I was dealing with, was so sticky that the power auger needed to be repeatedly lifted out of the hole almost as many times as this manual one (so that it could be manually cleared). With the seymour auger, almost all of the soil that was removed immediately went into my wheelbarrow which not only eliminated most of the clean-up, but also meant that very little of the clay would end up stuck to the bottom of my boots!

Man, this tool is industrial! I've not used it yet, but did see a video about it being used. Talk about taking the work out of the project, this tool dug a 4 foot, clean hole in 5 minutes. The tool is VERY well made. Heavy steel.I'll put it to use on the new fence!( Works like a corkscrew)

I was a little skeptical when I saw the price, as I really only had one hole to dig (for now). This thing is awesome! The construction seems good, the handle did get a little wobbly but not enough to affect performance. I dug a 4ft deep, 8in wide, perfectly straight hole in about 10 minutes. The best part is that there was no drop in performance as the hole got deeper, unlike traditional post hole diggers. It just kept going until the handles bottomed out. I will be using this for future projects for sure!

What can I say - it digs holes pretty well. My hubby extended the handle and has dug over 20 feet for a shallow well. He thinks it was money well spent.

I was able to easily dig 30 feet down in clay ground and finish driving my well point another 20 feet to find water for my shallow well.

This is the only way to dig holes unless you can buy a power auger. Very well made and lasts years.

I bought this thing thinking I could win big and find oil. Just kidding, I wanted a water well just like everyone else and I'm not strong so this thing is hard to use. I could only reach 3ft on the first day and by first day i mean first 15 minutes. You have to push and turn, push and turn, push and turn. Mind you I am a nerd with spaghetti arms so this is no easy process but these are trying times and I'm trying my hardest!I haven't hit water obviously but maybe in a month I will. Sadly, I bought this thing at 179 and it dropped to 159 seemingly overnight. This is just two shovel heads with a stick. It shouldn't cost what it does but there's very little competition. Speaking of, you could buy their competitive product for more than half the price, sure... But you won't be able to extend it since water can be down 30 feet. You probably shouldn't dig much further as the joints are likely to break with so much tension. Still, this thing will build arm muscles and I'm sure it'll be a rewarding feeling one day when i reach that liquid gold.As far as I could find, this is the best brand for what it does and I think it's the original in concept. I highly recommend you get a post hole digger as well to remove the dirt because this won't remove much dirt. Make sure you get a long one that fits the size of your auger's hole. If you're good at it, you could use dousing rods as well. This isn't meant to find water but find a spot where you have to dig less to reach it. There is water just about anywhere you dig as long as you keep digging, you'll find it eventually. Or lava if you live in Hawaii. Get a water well, everyone should have one.Oh and you can repurpose this and use it for planting trees and other things in minutes. I wish I had this before I planted 6 trees in clay harder than Dwayne Johnson's abs.

Got the screw that holds the handle on about half way in and it snapped off. If you get one of these pre drill a small hole in handle before putting in hold down screw. Bought this as a second post hole digger to one that is probably 60 years old and going strong, the auger/shovel end seems well made still but where the handle goes through and the thickness of the tube seem thinner and not as well made. We will see when it comes time to dig another post hole how well it does. You don't get much for 75 dollars today. :(

Makes making holes easy, wish the extension were a bit more reasonable