In another thread I wrote about dealing with hard rocky ground. I found a few things that were giving me issues. I made a driver last year from a big crow bar. 1” in octagonal diameter and 30” long with a T handle welded on top. It’s heavy. I made a slot in the end and profiled it but seemed that the slot was way too deep and the anchor has no side slots support like the factory driver.

So I had a 36” piece of 5/8 O1 drill rod. Looking at some examples online and using an anchor to go by, I filed and profiled the end. Made the driver 30”. Welded a big nut on top, welded a T-handle a few inches down. Cleaned it all up and heat treated the last two inches of the driver and tempered it back. Took it out this morning and had a much better time in the hard, rocky, mine backfill. Still not ideal and pounding rebar is a better option but this is world better than what I was using and costs just my time as I had the drill rod for some project that I abandoned a while back.

I think that I may have been fighting a bit with the larger and heavier driver. A slimmer profile works better and a smooth round rod seems better than an octagonal and rough crow bar. The O1 is tough and the hardened end should resist deformation. The shaft is strong. I’m pretty happy with it.