Augering bores a well by turning a hand auger, a large drill bit on steel rods with a T-handle, clockwise into the ground, lifting it out when full, emptying it and repeating, and it is the fastest hand method in clay and soft soil, reaching about 25 m. It stops at rock, large stones and loose saturated sand, where the hole collapses and a bailer is used instead.
Part of Deep Wells
A hand auger is a rotary boring tool turned by people, cutting soil into a bucket or onto a spiral that is lifted out and emptied. It makes narrow holes for test borings and for small-diameter wells.
Turning A Screw Into The Ground Beats Digging In Soft Soil
An auger removes only the soil in the hole’s own volume, and because people stand on the surface and turn it, no one goes down the hole. That makes augering safer than a hand-dug well, although the hole still needs care. It works best where the ground is soft and holds a hole open: clay, silt, and mixed soils above the water. The Deep Wells guide puts the practical limit at about 25 m in soft ground. In wet sand the sides of the hole fall in as fast as you dig; there you stop augering and switch to a bailer (Bailer Operation).
What You Need
- An auger — a bucket auger for clay or a spiral auger for mixed soils (Auger Types)
- Extension rods — steel pipe sections that screw together, 1-1.5 m each (Extension Rods)
- A T-handle — a crossbar for turning
- Two or more people — the work is hard, and teams swap every 15-20 minutes
- A place to put the soil — a heap or tub away from the hole
Method: Turn, Lift, Empty, Add A Rod
Step 1: Start the hole. Stand the auger upright at the marked spot and turn the T-handle clockwise. Keep the rod vertical.
Step 2: Turn until full. Keep turning clockwise and pressing down until the auger is full of soil.
Step 3: Lift and empty. Pull the auger up, empty it away from the hole, lay the soil out in the order it came, and lower it again.
Step 4: Add rods as it deepens. Screw on an extension rod when the handle nears the ground.
Step 5: Watch the soil. When wet sand or water starts to come up and the hole closes in, stop augering and bail. Measure the depth to water as a test hole (Test Holes) or case the hole and carry on (Well Casing).
Tip
Two people turning the T-handle make augering much faster and less tiring. Swap teams every 15-20 minutes.
Common Mistakes
- Pulling the auger out too full or too fast. The load drops back down the hole.
- Turning counter-clockwise. The rods can unscrew in the hole and be lost.
- Augering on through wet sand. The hole collapses; use a bailer.
- Leaving the hole open. Cover or seal it when you stop.
Safety
Heavy rods, an open hole, and your back
A string of rods gets heavy as the hole deepens; lift it with a hoist or at least two people, not by bending over the hole. Keep your feet back from the hole, never let rods stand loose where they can fall onto someone, and cover the hole when you stop. Nobody climbs into an augered hole of any depth.
What’s Next
- Learn next: Auger Types — which auger suits which soil
- Combine with: Extension Rods — going deeper with added sections