Gang

who runs a pilot hole for cable stakes in hard ground and what is your tool of choice? I plan to be trapping very hard soil this fall and am looking for shoulder, wrist and elbow friendly solutions. I ordered a 1 9/16 hammer drill off amazon and a ground rod driving attachment. Going to see how that works on the wolf fangs, but suspect I will still need to drill a pilot hole..

anyone done this before?

thx
LH

I do Larry. My pilot hole maker is a 1 inch concrete form stake. It doubles as a mouse holer. But its all elbow grease. So this probably doesnt help you out much.

I didn't drill a pilot hole for years, but a few years ago....I saw the light! Thanks SteelTrap!....where ever you are.

I bought a 1" bit from Harbor Freight, but soon learned that a 1" pilot hole is not necessary in my soils. I already had a 3/4" bit and tried that. Works better than the 1"....easier to drill the pilot hole and the fang drives truer.

My next purchase is another hammer drill so I dont have to swap the dirthole auger and the pilot hole bit out at nearly every set.

I have been using a concrete drill bit for many years now to pilot my cable stake holes. I make my own stakes and they are round and are about the size of the drill bit diameter. My stake heads are about 3/8" dia. with a nut welded on the side for the cable to attach too. I don't know how some guys use those larger stake heads like wolf fang and the bullet head stakes. It takes a lot of pounding to get them in and a lot of work to pull them out.

I have several bits handy in case one wears out, breaks or bends etc. You dont need to drill much when you are young but as you age into your late 70's and 80's you look for some help if you can get it.

Wow, what a response and great info! thanks gents.. appears I'm on the right track.. I'm not near as old as you Bob, but my shoulders and elbows can only take so much pounding.. I need to last 4-6 weeks out yonder and am trying to take out all the stress and strain I can..

Swamp - I use wolf fangs myself.. I'll pick up a 3/4" bit for the hammer. I'm hoping this chinese model I bought off amazon holds up...

EJ I just aint tough enough for that much hammer work anymore lol.. That Idaho ground is way tougher than here at home..

Larry,
I use Wolf Fangs, DirtDogs, and 2" pogos. I just change drivers that day as I have a bunch of each I've made up with 15" of cable. On pull day.....I cut the cable a couple inches below the surface......no pulling.

I have a DeWalt hammer drill. Most of what I trap in is hard soil too. I always drill a pilot hole first with a ship auger bit. Makes driving cable stake much easier. With frozen soil or really hard packed stuff a concrete bit will probably work better.

Swamp, i just ordered a 39" 3/4" concrete bit off Amazon - figure I'll have to bend over less with the longer one lol, and I had the local shop make me a 40" wolf fang driver already. It's the SDS style, so I plan to drill the pilot hole, swap out to the ground rod driver and drive the wolf fang.. I have two batteries for the drill and will keep one on the charger in the truck while operating. Hoping this will significantly decrease setting time and take the hurt out mostly.. Taking a tile spade out instead of a trowel this year, darn trowel is absolutely useless out there except in remakes.

I use 2 Rigid 3/4" hammer drills and carry 4 spare batteries and 2 - 3# hammers. You always need back ups.

Been doing this for too long and have had about every conceivable circumstance occur. Forgot something miles down the road, something breaks or just is unusable.

Sounds like a plan. Hope it works out in your soils. But, if not you have a base plan & tools to build from to get to what works.

1/2" hammer drills are $50 at harbor freight. You could have three of them for $150, use two and have one spare in the truck. You wouldn't need a spare I guess for $100 you could have two and when one breaks just change bits back and forth while a new one comes.

Maybe Get a charger for your truck so a fresh battery is always ready to go and sockets for it that fit your lug nuts too.

$20 Bit.

silky, that high desert is absolutely a killer, ran a 2" auger on a 1/2" milwaukee impact last trip and stripped the threads off the auger on about 30 sets.. And it was a heavy, well built auger.. Absolutely brutal. Until you get a half inch of moisture then, the top two inches is like slimy, goose snot that solidifies like concrete over your trap.. sigh.. LOL.. Waxed dirt it is..

When I need one, I just use an extra long re-bar trap stake.

Bob, I have two batteries and bought a chinese 1 9/16" hammer drill that had excellent reviews on amazon.. I will have a milwaukee impact with me as well and a darn big hammer.. I also have an ac converter for charging in the truck..

I'll check back on this thread later gents, appreciate all the help and advice.. I'm heading out to make a little trapping money for the afternoon.

I guess you are planning to do your drilling from a standing position. My drill bits are about 1/2" X 18" long or so. Not sure how sturdy a long bit would be. Seems it would be prone to bend if you arent careful if using it standing..

If you are only running a few sets 2 batteries may work for you. On set out day I can run out 2 batteries easy on 35 - 45 sets. Using the drill to auger holes and drill stake pilots it eats up the juice pretty fast. Sometimes I use the dirt auger to loosen up the trap bed dirt also.

Get the battery's with the highest Amp Hour rating to last longer.

I just use my wolf fang driver to punch in a pilot hole.

Double the hammering at each set!

You da man!

If I had to trap in hard soil conditions, I would just use RE Bar stakes. You're already driving a pilot hole for your earth anchors. Why not just drive a rebar stake.

Gotta double stake rebar or dog knot stakes. That is why I stopped using rebar due to the excess weight needed to carry it around. They work fine just heavy.

If I have to drive in a pilot hole I will drive down rebar stakes.

Thanks for all the input gents.

Larry I always pound in a pilot hole for cable stakes especially the berks. I carry a super stake driver for pilot holes.
For bullet type stakes I didn’t need a pilot hole.
Jim

I used wolf fangs for years.

A pilot hole is a must. Or you’ll be busting drivers weekly.

My size constantly grew, at the end I was using a 1” concrete bit. It sounds to big, but if the grounds hard enough, the fang will still find plenty to grab ahold of. Not to mention the hole “silts in” so you still end up having to pound the anchor down a fair bit.


I’ve since gone back to rebar for probably 90% of what I do. It’s just all around easier. It actually ends up being less weight to carry from the vehicle to the set not having to carry a drill, bit, driver, etc.

You got me thinking about rebar now Boone. Anymore I reach for a long chain and grapple hook....like Larry and others shoulder issues.

Long enough chain and single rebar not bad option. Biggest upside is you can pull up. At least here if it’s frozen deep enough you have to drill you’re gonna spend three times as much effort to drill anchor the anchor back out, or cut off or wait til spring to retrieve.

If the ground is that hard or frozen, I'm probably using a mattock, a grub-hoe on one side and a pick on the other, to dig my trp bed. Then, when the trap bed is done, turn the mattock over and with one swing, drive a pilot hole with the pick. That'll get me at least 6" of pilot hole, which is past the frost usually. Ofter hard ground is only hard for a few inches as well. I would drill a pilot hole if the ground was too frozen or hard for this to work. Recommend bosch drill bits for the drill.

Trying to avoid pounding anything in the ground lol. Might not be feasible, but I believe there is enough info here to give me a reasonable shot at something easier..30 odd sets in a day pounding stakes or cables is tough on the joints.. I'd like to increase that number and take the impact away from my body..

Appreciate everyones input!! And I'd absolutely love long chains and drags, but it's wide open country down yonder and I feel more comfortable pegging them down..

I switched back to long chains and a single rebar two years ago now.

For my operation and ground it’s just the best option.



And I tell ya, with the coyotes reluctance to work a catch circle here this past year, being able to easily pull and move a trap to the outside of a circle has put probably another 30% on the ground for me.

I know if I had to go to all the work of pulling and planting a new anchor I’d have likely been able to talk myself out of moving! Haha

Boone, have you ever tried just adding a longer piece of heavy chain to the trap at the catch circle..instead of pulling the stake?
Works for me here... even with disposables. I tried that back in the 90s...worked well...I had some BIG CATCH CIRCLES...lol
I use a heavy quick link to connect new chain to the existing chain.

I’ve thought about doing that many times.

But I always kinda figured by the time I dug a new bed and scratched a trench in for the chain, I’d be at about the same amount of work of just moving.




I still haven’t ever caught a coyote with an unburied drag, so not burying stuff just doesn’t sit well with me.

Curious...how long of a long chain with single rebar??

gcs, IN SOME OF MY TRAPPING GROUND...where the ground is soft...peat ground...36 inch 1/2 inch rebar I went with 5 ft of heavy chain.
In harder ground, semi clay, kind of mixed gravel...24 inch stake with at least 18 inches of chain...multiple swivels of course.