When building a house and landscaping a site, it is often necessary to make round holes in the ground. They are needed when constructing a fence - for installing poles, when building gazebos, installing arches and other light utility structures. The same holes, but with a larger diameter and depth, are required when constructing a pile foundation. These holes are made with a motorized or hand drill. There are plenty of them in stores, but many people prefer homemade ones: they are often more productive and reliable than factory-made products. In addition, you can make a drill with your own hands of any design, and there are many of them.
Designs and Applications
There are three main designs of earth drills:
- Garden. Usually these are two semicircular blades welded at an angle to one another. A hand drill of this design is used to organize holes for planting plants, which is why it is called “garden”. But the same tool is used to make holes when installing posts for fences, gazebos and other light buildings.
An example of a homemade earthen garden auger - Auger drill. It differs in that it has a longer cutting part. It is used for the same purposes - to make holes for pillars. Due to its design - a longer cutting part - it needs to be removed less often, so drilling usually goes faster.
The auger drill is distinguished by spirally wound several turns of the spiral - Drill for TISE piles. This design is similar to a garden auger, but has an additional folding blade to form the expansion at the bottom of the pile characteristic of this type of foundation.
Folding blade - features of the TISE pile drill
Garden earth drills that are easier to make. Depending on the type of soil on which drilling is carried out, their design is slightly modified. This is the beauty of homemade drills - they can be “sharpened” to specific conditions and it’s not just about the size - the blades can be made removable, bolted on, but also about the design features. Yes, ordinary drills in the store are inexpensive, but they are “universal”. They work well on “light” soils.” On loams, clays, marl, etc. they are ineffective.
Use of sheet steel
Before making a hole drill with your own hands, the drawings should be considered first. You will have to compose one of them yourself or use what is suggested in the article. If you plan to make the blades from sheet steel, then you must first make a template from paper. In the center of the circle you need to drill a hole into which the rod is inserted and welded. Depending on which rod you prefer, you will need to make a square or a circle.
In this case, the hole will have a slightly larger size compared to the parameters of the rod. You need to decide what kind of blades you want. They can have two halves or can be represented as an open circle with offset edges. The edges must be spread at an angle of 30°. In this case, drilling efficiency will be maximum.
If you are making a hole drill on a tractor with your own hands, with which you will work on dense soils, then the blades can be brought together under load. In order to avoid this, it is necessary to make a stop from a corner or a thick strip of steel. The blades will bend, because the steel used is not hardened, but it is almost impossible to find it in the sheet. If you solve this problem, then it is unlikely that you will be able to bend the material.
Making a garden drill
A garden auger is the simplest but most effective design. It consists of:
- Cutting part. It usually consists of two steel semicircles with sharpened edges. The diameter of the blades is selected depending on the diameter of the holes that need to be drilled. For convenience, the blades can be made removable - bolted.
The post drill can be equipped with a prefabricated rod - Kernel. This is a round or profiled pipe (square cross-section). A crowbar can also be used, but it is very heavy and will be difficult to work with. The length of the rod is the required depth of the hole plus 50-60 cm. If you make it shorter, then the last centimeters will have to be drilled in a deep slope, which is not at all easy. If this calculation results in a total height higher than 1.5 meters, it makes sense to make a prefabricated rod. Then the rod is extended with pipe sections of the same diameter, creating an articulation system.
- Pen. Most often, a crossbar in the shape of the letter T is welded to the rod. The minimum length of the handle is 40 cm, the optimal length is about 50-60 cm.
- The tip is a drill. This is the part that is under the blades. It is the first to loosen the soil, and at the initial stage it is responsible for centering the drill - it is easier to hold it vertically.
This is a basic design, and there are many modifications to it. But let's first talk about what an earth drill can be made from.
Materials
As already mentioned, the rod is most often made from a round or square pipe. Diameter - from 3/4′ to 1.5′, profiled pipe can be taken from 20*20 mm to 35*35 mm.
Blade knives can be made from:
- sheet steel with a thickness of 4 mm;
- saw blade for an angle grinder of suitable diameter.
Earth drill with blades made from a saw blade for an angle grinder
It is easier to make blades from a saw blade. In this case, the cutting edges are already ready. It will be possible to further sharpen the side edges to make the soil easier to cut.
The spear-drill is made from different materials - there are many different designs. They just make a sharpened rod. Then you need a piece of large diameter rod. The second option is to make something like a drill from the steel strip. And yet - a combination of these two.
Steel strip earth auger bit
Pike - one of the tip options
Combination tip for crushing rocks
And finally - about the pen. It is more convenient if it is made of a round pipe. Its diameter can be selected according to the circumference of the palms. The main requirement is that you should be comfortable.
Knives and fastening method
First of all, you need to decide whether you are making a drill with your own hands with removable or stationary blades. If the blades are removable, weld shelves made of thick steel at one end of the rod. The shelves are made at an angle - so that the planes of the knives are separated at an angle of 25-30°.
After the shelves are welded, two or three holes are made in them for fasteners. Then the same holes will need to be made in the blades, and installed on bolts of substantial diameter.
One rod can have several sets of cutting blades - for holes of different diameters
You will have to cut holes in the center of the disks themselves so that they fit more tightly to the rod, but this operation is also required for the monolithic version - with welded blades.
Sheet steel
If you are going to make the blades from sheet steel, cut out a template from paper and use it to create a circle of steel. Drill a hole in the center - you will need to insert and weld a rod into it. Circle or square - depending on the chosen rod. The hole dimensions are slightly larger than the dimensions of the rod.
Next, you need to decide what kind of blades you will make - from two halves of a circle (as in the photo above) or in the form of an open circle with offset edges - one turn of a spiral (in the photo below).
Manual drill with one turn
The edges should also be separated by 25-30 degrees. In this case, drilling efficiency will be maximum. If you work on dense soils (clay, loams with a predominance of clay), the blades may collapse under load. To avoid this, stops are added from a corner or a thick strip of steel.
Strengthening a hand drill for drilling wells in dense soils
The blades bend due to the fact that unhardened steel is used, but it is almost impossible to find it in the sheet, and even if it is possible, it is unlikely to be bent.
From a saw blade
If you have an old saw blade of a suitable diameter, you have found an almost ideal option. They use hardened steel, which is elastic and durable. But such a disk cannot be bent, so it is sawed in half and these halves are placed at the required angle.
The disc is sawn in half
This homemade drill for excavation works shows quite high productivity. Even used wheels have a well-ground edge. And to make drilling even easier, they also sharpen the drill on the sides with their own hands.
Modifications
In dense soils, it can be difficult to cut the soil with large blades. In this case, several blades of different sizes are welded onto the rod. From below, near the peak, the smallest ones are welded; above, retreating a few centimeters, the large ones are welded. There can be three such tiers, maximum four. The entire cutting part should not be more than 50 cm, otherwise it is physically very difficult to work.
Cutting blades can be arranged in several tiers
If a drill is needed for shallow holes - for installing poles, etc., then this design is optimal - it is relatively light in weight and easy to work with. The working process is as follows: they lowered it into the hole, turned it several times, pulled it out, and poured out the soil stuck between the blades. But if you need to drill deep holes, you will suffer from carrying a small amount of soil from the depths. For such cases, a box for collecting soil is welded above the blades.
A homemade drill with an earth receiver is suitable for installing poles and piles
And all these are hand-made drills. All of them are highly efficient - it’s much easier to work than store-bought ones.
Design features of the pit drill
Pit drill device
When making a pit drill, you must remember that in the classic version this unit consists of two parts. The first is the working body, the second is a vertical stand with a handle for easy grip. The basis of the unit is the pin. A strip of metal sheet in the form of a spiral is attached to its side plane. At the end of the pin there is a sharp blade made of durable materials.
When the handle rotates, the tool goes deep into the ground. It cuts small roots and moves soil to the surface using an auger mechanism. To dig a deeper hole, the stand is equipped with additional inserts. It’s good when the end of the pit drill is pointed, like a spear. In this case, he will perform all tasks more accurately and efficiently.
Auger drill
Due to the large number of turns, an auger auger creates significant resistance, that is, it is much more difficult to work with it than with a garden auger. But augers are used mainly in the presence of a mechanized drive - when making a drill for deep wells - for water, for installing underground probes for a heat pump, etc.
This is what an auger drill looks like
To make a homemade auger drill, you will need several metal disks. The number of disks is equal to the number of turns. The disks are cut identically, a hole is cut in them in the center for the rod, as well as an identical sector - so that they can be welded.
A sector is marked in the rings and cut out
The discs are welded on one side, then, slightly stretching the resulting accordion, the seam is welded on the other side. Rings are welded on the outer disks. The welded discs are placed on the rod, the lower edge is welded.
It turns out to be such a big spring
Next you will need a winch. The blank for the auger is secured, the winch hook clings to the ring and is stretched to the required length, after which the auger is boiled.
Almost done
Electric models
If you want to create an electric drill for making holes in the ground, you need to have certain skills in the field of electrical engineering.
A gear motor can be used as an electric drive, which guarantees high drilling speed. By the way, to manufacture a highly productive device, you can remake an ordinary manual hole drill, created according to the above instructions. This is interesting: how to make a garden drill with your own hands.
You can also try to upgrade the hammer drill by equipping it with a cutting disc to which a round pipe is welded. An adapter is ordered from a turning specialist to connect the power tool to the mechanical part. When processing the soil with such a tool, it is important to avoid roots, otherwise they can damage it.
If the drill is created for a powerful tractor, then it is better to use durable disks made of hardened steel or any other reliable metal. Their number is determined by the number of turns, and the sizes must be the same. Holes for the rod are made in the central part. On one side, the discs are welded and then stretched a little. On the other hand, they are boiled with a weld. On the outer disks it is necessary to strengthen the rings, and place the finished structure on the rod. Ultimately, the bottom edge is welded to the rest of the parts.
Also, craftsmen use an ordinary electric drill as a basis for a future drill. The “Rebir” model has proven itself to be excellent, demonstrating a power of 2 kW, which is supplemented by an auger. Due to the presence of a third cone in the drill, it needs to be finished with a lathe, making recesses on both sides. A drill with a third cone is welded to the adapter, and the drilling section is cut off.
This design option is characterized by large dimensions and impressive weight, so it is not entirely comfortable to use alone. For convenient operation, the equipment is equipped with an electric winch, and a radiator is mounted on the thyristor.
Drill for TISE piles
In the author's version, the TISE drill is a blade with an earth receiver and a folding wider blade, which forms an expansion at the bottom of the pile. But working with such a projectile is inconvenient - the folding knife gets in the way. Therefore, in some designs it is made removable, but in general, it is recommended to drill the holes themselves with an ordinary garden drill, and for expansion, make a separate folding knife with an earth receiver. This makes the work easier and faster.
Do-it-yourself drill for TISE piles - one of the options
A cut-off shovel serves as a knife, and the land receiver is made from a herring can. The knife is fixed movably; when lowered into the pit, it is pulled up by a nylon cable tied to the end. Having reached the bottom, the cable is weakened, the blade begins to trim the sides of the hole, forming the necessary expansion.
The photo below shows the second version of a homemade drill for TISE piles. The design is more complex, but also more effective. The plow blade is made from a piece of spring, sharpened and welded to a folding structure with bolted joints.
More complex design
The dredger is made from an old propane tank. The collection of soil occurs from below, which is why the receiver is made with a rounded bottom. It has two holes, their edges are sharpened.
Bottom view
This projectile works well even on dense clay. True, to reduce friction, the well must be constantly moistened with water.
Using the saw blade
When making a hole drill with your own hands at MTZ, you can use a saw blade. If you have one in stock, it is important to make sure that its diameter is suitable. These products use hardened steel, which is characterized by high strength and elasticity. It will not be possible to bend such a sheet, so it must be sawed in half and the halves apart at the desired angle.
Such a homemade drill will demonstrate high performance. Even if you have used discs, they will have a well-sharpened edge. In order for drilling to be effective, you can also sharpen the tool on the sides.
Blueprints
A self-made drill is good because its design is “tailored” to its owner. During the manufacturing process, everyone makes their own changes, then many more refine the product. But it can be difficult to do without basic drawings. This engraving contains several drawings with the sizes of various drills. As you understand, the dimensions are arbitrary; they can and should be changed, adjusting them to the size of the required wells.
Shovel drill
There is no point in making a serious structure for planting plants. In this case, you can make a garden drill from a shovel. Choose a high-quality shovel made of good steel, apply markings as shown in the drawing. According to the markings, you will need to cut out two small fragments and saw the lower part in the middle to a depth of 30 cm (pictured).
Shovel drill
Next, the edges are bent one forward, the other back, and the petals formed in the lower part are folded towards them. The resulting seams are boiled outside and inside.
Drill for soft soils
If the ground is soft, the conventional design does not work very well. For such cases, there is a special drill with an extended cutting part. It is a kind of glass with slits on the sides. The cuts are equipped with cutting edges. They are best made from well-hardened steel.
Drill for soft soils
This drawing shows an interesting handle design - it can be rearranged as the length of the rod increases.
Basic drawings of auger and garden auger
Both of these units work well, but the garden one has to be taken out often, and the auger one is harder to rotate. Choose according to your own preferences.
Auger and garden auger for soil of different densities
Detailed projection drawing of an auger drill
Garden auger drawing
How to do it yourself?
If you have a hole drill with an electric motor, then there is no longer any need to strain yourself when digging the ground with a shovel.
The tool now does everything itself, with it you can make holes for various purposes, you can bring water to the site, lay the foundation of a house and design a garden by planting trees. Instead of buying, as an option, electric drills are made with your own hands from scrap materials. Designing a high-quality unit is a feasible task for everyone. A homemade drill is not inferior to the one you purchased ready-made.
Moreover, the inventor is given freedom to make his own changes: modifications provide the device with additional functions and make operation easier.
You can create just such a unit that would be ideal for drilling. The type of nozzle and the size of the blades, power, dimensions of the equipment, engine characteristics based on the soil properties are determined independently.
To get a new, reliable electric drill, you need to assemble parts such as the cutting part, the rod, handles and the motor. The blades can be circular disks, and to create an auger yourself, you can look for a suitable model - ready-made drawings are used to create working attachments based on a template. The electric motor is made from a hammer drill, and a powerful motor is also obtained from the starter and gearbox of the drill.
With your own hands, using an electric cultivator, it is easy to create an effective machine for cultivating the land, including plowing it and removing roots from it, which a drill can do well. What do you need to start designing?
Tools and materials
One of the simplest options for a homemade drill is a drill unit. The tool is ideal for using it to develop your own powerful techniques.
So, before you start, you will need the following materials:
- drill;
- worm gearbox, it is easy to install;
- Bulgarian;
- steel disks of the required diameter, depending on the size of the pit.
You can start working.
Manufacturing stages
- On the disks, the number of which corresponds to the number of tiers of the cutting part, make holes in the middle for the rod. The hole should be equal to the diameter of the rod.
- Cut the disks to create circle sectors.
- Weld the disks in a spiral and connect them to the rings.
- The ideal tip option would be a metal drill; it facilitates the drilling process. A sharpened pike is less convenient.
- The tip is placed 5 cm below the auger nozzle.
- We sharpen the tip of the drill and auger.
- Now the attachment is installed on the drill with a gearbox.
The universal electric drill is ready for use.
For a review of an electric drill for winter fishing, see below.
Baler
This equipment is difficult to manufacture from a technical point of view. But you can solve the problem if you follow these approximate instructions:
- The running support is assembled on a pair of pneumatic wheels.
- The front part, the pick-up and the conveyor are mounted on these parts.
- The press chamber is mounted separately. The rollers and pressure brush should be at the bottom. The plate on the spring is placed at the top. This part is then used to press the compressed layers together. Thanks to this, the contact of the roll to the working surface will be maximum.
- Next, the drive is assembled, from which all other working units begin to move. A cardan is connected to the 2-speed gearbox. The gearbox is a source of chain energy going to the rollers and the pick-up transport.
- Gears are installed on the picking mechanism of the mini-tractor. The main thing is that their diameter should be larger than that of the rollers. Then the picking speed will be higher, as will the force of simultaneous pressing.
Photos and drawings:
