A post digger rental costs about $60 to $100 a day for a one man auger, $80 to $130 for a two man, and $250 to $450 a day once you are hiring a skid steer with an auger head on the front. Which one you want is set by how many holes there are, how deep they go, and what is in the ground.
Count the holes before you pick the machine
Under a dozen shallow holes in soft ground is a handheld job. Thirty holes for a fence line, or anything past three feet deep, and a walk behind two man unit starts losing to a hydraulic auger on a skid steer or a tractor. The machine costs several times more per day and finishes in a fraction of the hours.
Bit size, depth and the extension nobody books
Auger bits hire separately from the power head, usually 6, 8, 9, 12 and 18 inch, and a four by four post normally wants a 9 or 12 inch hole. Standard bits reach about three feet. Deeper than that needs an extension shaft, which is its own line on the ticket, so ask for it when you book rather than on the day.
Rocky and clay ground changes the answer
A handheld auger in stony fill will stop dead and try to turn the operator instead of the bit. Ask the counter for a unit with a torque tube or a hydraulic head if the ground has rock in it. In heavy wet clay the flights pack solid and you spend the day cleaning the bit, which is worth knowing before you pay for two days.
Locate the utilities first
Every hole is a small excavation and buried services do not care that it is only three feet. Have the free national locate service mark the line route before the auger turns, keep the marked corridor clear, and hand dig where a mark and a post position argue with each other. Yards will remind you; the reminder is not the check.
Questions people ask about post digger rental
How many holes can two people dig in a day with a rented auger?
In clean soil at three feet deep, a two man auger will do twenty to forty holes in a working day once the crew finds a rhythm. Rock, roots or clay can halve that. A skid steer auger in the same ground is faster still and does not tire.
What size bit for a standard four by four post?
A 9 inch bit gives room for concrete around a four by four, and a 12 inch gives generous room in loose ground or for a gate post. Going bigger costs more concrete, so match the bit to the post rather than to the biggest one on the rack.
Can I put an auger on my own tractor?
Many yards hire the auger head on its own for a three point hitch or a skid steer coupler, at a lower rate than the machine and head together. Tell them the hydraulic flow and coupler type your machine has, because a mismatch is the usual reason a bare attachment hire goes back unused.