MediaHound

Anyone have the Dyna Diggr?
It's a power shovel, a gasoline powered spade.
I'm getting ready to invest in one and looking for feedback if anyone has used one or owns one. I have to move a lot of palm trees and banana plants and such and this thing seems like a dream come true.
For those wondering, I priced it out, it seems to run $1350 or $1395 or so.
Thanks in advance.

Welcome to DynaDiggr

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MediaHound

Too bad there isn't an attachment for my gas auger that gives a gearbox and the spade...
Just ordered a gas hole digger!!

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harveyc

Jarred, I watched the videos and it looks like this would have good potential for your needs. How many plants do you have to move, approximately?

I don't know of any similar "tree spade" alternatives. Too bad someone doesn't have it available for rent locally.

Harvey

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harveyc

"Page not found"

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Richard

My neighbor owns a 30 lb electric jackhammer, which can be used vertically or horizontally (for demolition). Like most of these, the bits that came with it included a spade attachment. It proved very effective digging post-holes in serious clay soil. The ability to change bits is also a plus, because a spade is not the only head you need to dig 18" to 24" in clay.

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Dean W.

That's quite an investment. Hope you can use it often. Seems like a great tool.

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MediaHound

You sure? Works from here.


I need to move over a hundred trees and banana plants... . .
... . .

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microfarmer

You're not moving further North to see what the zone 9'ers are dealing with, are you?

I was beat to the punch on the 30lb and 60lb demo hammers. They usually come in electric models like the Bosch. The spade on the video is substantially longer than the spade bits you'll get, but you can get a longer shank, which will make up for the spade's length. Price is about the same, however, it is much more sturdy, designed to go thru asphalt and concrete. Works like a charm on hardpan!

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MediaHound

Further North, yes, but its reportedly zone 10!

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harveyc

Works fine for me now. Maybe the site was just running slow. Need to have a talk to the owner of that site!

In looking at your old post, one thing that is sometimes useful for using a posthole digger for planting is to weld a bolt onto a flight of the auger so that the sides of the hole are rough, not glazed. Maybe that's not a problem with your soil, though. In clay or silty clay soils, it can create an area that plants have a hard time penetrating beyond.

On the jackhammer option, I've never tried one but they are built heavier but that also will wear you out lugging around and also be a bit more tiring to be holding over at an angle to dig under the trees. The Dyna Diggr is probably a decent compromise between mobility and durability.

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Rmplmnz

Hey Jarred,

So you sold your house and are moving to wide open spaces?

Would it make sense to rent one?

If it is gas powered you do not want to leave it sitting around idle..

Good luck buddy!

Chris

MediaHound

It would make sense to rent one but I cannot find anyone who is renting them out...

Let me think its a good investment, lol.

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microfarmer

Hey! It's a good investment! After you use it, you could rent it out...

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MediaHound

So I went ahead and got the Dyna Diggr today!
This machine is a dream come true. I was able to dig and pot up 8 palms and 1 screw pine in less than an hour. And I was taking my time.
Setup was as easy as bolting the blade to the unit via 3 screws and gassing it up. I used the 18" blade it came with but also purchased the 24" blade for an additional $88.
The unit itself was $1350 + tax. And worth every last penny.

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NANAMAN

Jarred, what area are you moving to?

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MediaHound

Brian, I moved to Stuart FL. It's undercrowded (my insurance is about a third less!), extremely beautiful, and the people are so nice!

The move overall was a lot of work, it took several trucks to move all the plants. Some fruit trees I probably should have not attempted but figured I would give them a shot. I lost some avocados, mangoes, caimito, chocolate pudding tree, some jakfruit, variegated pink lemon, and others.

But this gas powered shovel I had purchased made the entire move a much more simple process. I did almost cut my big toe off on my right foot, the nail is still black.
I was digging saba corms. They were so large they needed to be cut down to the soil level, totally topped off. The diameter of the pseudostem at that level were approx 26" or so. The best way was to slice the corms into pie and half pie shaped pieces, like cutting a pizza in half, and pry those smaller chunks out of the earth. Using the spade made it simple, you just start at the edge, go straight down, lift up, move over, go straight down, lift up, etc till you cut a fairly straight line. It goes down through the corm like a hot knife through butter. But its a heavy machine so its work to keep lifting ad moving it over. Well, one time I lifted and moved it over, it was sort of stuck, so I had to use force to lift up. It came up, and went down on my toe. The edge 1" of the blade hit the edge 1" of my shoe. Leather sneaker, Nike. The shoe saved my toe. The blade hit just before where the nail starts, it would have cut the toe right after the knuckle had I been wearing anything less protective. I actually thought it was cut off, the pain was enormous.
So I recommend nothing other than steel toe boots when using this machine.
It's funny, when I bought it, I joked with the guy that loaded it into my car. I said, when I cut my foot off, I'll come back and sue you. He said "no way, no guarantees!". We both laughed. It almost happened! (well, I wouldn't have sued, that part was really just a joke).. As careful as I was, a little fatigue combined with a little off balance force goes a long way.
Those of you that watched the instructional videos I embedded in post #1 saw how they show how to sharpen the blade, I'm very glad I did not take that recommendation, I would have 100% for certain cut off the toe had I done it!

Anyway...

If you ever need to move a lot of trees around and want an amazing tool thats designed to do exactly that, get your hands on the Dyna Diggr! I highly recommend it. Any members from here that are nearby that ever wants to rent, borrow, or barter to use it, just let me know. Your feet and toes and everything else (your power and cable lines) are your responsibility though! It is an amazing tool and I'm very glad I got it, without it would have made moving the plants much harder, some I would not have even attempted. It paid for itself in those regards alone.

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harveyc

Thanks for the report, Jarred, and glad it worked out so well for you and that you didn't lose your toe! I work around a lot of dangerous equipment and have learned to take a rest when I' exhausted (I have a large commercial chipper and that can really wear you out and is extremely dangerous.)

Did you also have to haul soil from holes in your new yard to fill in holes at the old house? I keep picturing in my mind the image of the yard at your old house looking like a mine field! lol

Glad that Stuart is working out to be such a nice home for you. I just looked at it on the map and it looks to be a pretty area. I'm not that familiar with most cities there but it also gave me the chance to find out where Port St. Lucie is located; I was curious as I had a strange run of three orders from there this week.

Did the risk of hurricanes have any influence on your move? Are you better off or worse off in that regard now?

Best wishes,

Harvey

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Bob

Glad your digits are intact and you survived the move.Trust me most accidents happen when your tired(guess how I know). Flesh and bone aside , how do you think it would work in clay. I picture Fla. soil as being on the sandy side. BTW my Rhino horn has 2 leaves,ok 1 and 1 starting and is doing great.

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D_&_T

Thats why I wear steeltoed boots with metatarsal plates!!! That way only outside edge of foot is exposed!

Dan

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Chironex

Just hearing about it gives me the "willys"! Yikes!!!

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Scot