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View Full Version : A more better digging bar - much more


bananimal
04-14-2011, 12:01 PM
Using the Pitangodiego digging bar, as I call it, was driving me crazy. To cut out big pups had to use a ladder and a sledge hammer to cut the pup from the mama.
So I went to my local welder with a sketch and he knocked out this.......

Dig bar with foot assist
http://www.bananas.org/gallery/watermark.php?file=41807&size=1 (http://www.bananas.org/gallery/showphoto.php?photo=41807&ppuser=820)

Put a small wheel chock behind the bar
http://www.bananas.org/gallery/watermark.php?file=41808&size=1 (http://www.bananas.org/gallery/showphoto.php?photo=41808&ppuser=820)

Chock wont slip cause base is grooved, and rubber surface that normally contacts tire keeps bar from slipping too!
http://www.bananas.org/gallery/watermark.php?file=41806&size=1 (http://www.bananas.org/gallery/showphoto.php?photo=41806&ppuser=820)

Whalla - depupping made easy!!!!!!!!!!!!!!

Dean W.
04-14-2011, 12:04 PM
My bananas aren't that big right now and they're still a pain to dig. That looks like it would make easy work of it.

MediaHound
04-14-2011, 04:20 PM
(clapping) very nice

chasbear
04-14-2011, 05:06 PM
Wow! That system looks really cool, and its cordless too, right?

raygrogan
04-14-2011, 05:11 PM
Great inventions - the cool bar and using the chock - long time problem.

kaczercat
04-14-2011, 05:19 PM
wonderful !!

pitangadiego
04-15-2011, 08:49 AM
I was too cheap, I just use a piece of 2 x 4 for my chock. The chock does help prying them up when you soil is soft.

john_ny
04-15-2011, 08:57 AM
In the first picture, is the tip of the blade (the part pointing up, in that picture) sharp? I have a similar bar, (without the foot assist) but the tip is kind of rounded, and I don't think it would be much good for cutting through anything.

momoese
04-15-2011, 10:21 AM
I'm going to have to weld some square tube onto my bar now! Thanks for the idea :)

bananimal
04-15-2011, 10:51 AM
Thanks guys! If you make your own make sure to place the foot bar far enough from the blade, but not too far, to dig deep enough, but not too deep. And you need to weld the gribbit bar at 45 deg for support.

My pic shows the blade tip with rust. When I need to dig I have an 8" Delta grinding wheel to resharpen. You got to go sharp John. Mentioned Delta cause it never broke down in 30 years.

Jon - Go to Harbor Freight and get a rubber wheel chock! Real cheap - lasts a long time!

Chas - no batteries either - just Miller Lite to run the digger.

pitangadiego
04-15-2011, 01:14 PM
Yes, the point is sharp. You are trying to do two functions with one tool: 1) cut the pup away from the parent corm and 2) pry the pup out of the soil. The sharp edge is for cutting, and the blade and general "beefiness" of the shaft are for prying.

ChuckT
04-15-2011, 02:24 PM
You've re-invented the tree planting bar, available at any forestry supply

e.g. Musser Forests, Inc. - Product Info (http://www.musserforests.com/prod.asp?p=OST)

or

Sheldon Hill Forestry Supplies Inc.: OST Tree planting bar (http://shop.shforestrysupplies.com/index.cfm?fuseaction=product.display&product_ID=265)

Been using one for 30 years planting Christmas tree seedlings.:bananas_b

bananimal
04-15-2011, 03:01 PM
Chuck -- If I had seen this OST Planting bar first I might have considered it. Got the idea for the dig bar from Jon when my narrowest irrigation shovel was cutting off way too many roots. The need for my foot assist developed cause the dig bar has no handle and is 6ft long.

My bar is sold/designed for removing bushes or trees. It's the 2" blade that makes the difference in keeping the most roots on the pup. And the 6ft for leverage.

Soon planting trees is coming up for me. Persimmon, peach, mango, jaboticaba and lemon trees. Again the small OST won't work out. Will be using a big shovel to move this Florida muck sand. And the pots run from 15 gal to 30 gal. Where's my energy drinks???

Dan

pitangadiego
04-15-2011, 08:24 PM
The tree planting bar is not long enough or strong enough for prying. They are meant only to make a hole big enough to slip a small seedling into the soil.

If you have never tried to remove a decent-sized, well-rooted pup, it is hard to understand what it takes.

When you use the chock to help you pry the pup out, you are gaining a lot of leverage, but you also need something that is strong enough to take the force that you develop by pushing down on your "pry bar". 3/4 Galvanized pipe is insufficient. 1" was fairly respectable.

This tool in about 1" solid steel.

bananimal
04-15-2011, 11:32 PM
Jon ----- Talking about digging out large well rooted pups. Got a Gardenweber neighbor who offered me a Jamaican red and a big Siam Ruby pup. But I had to go over and dig them out myself.

I actually put a slight bend in my 1" solid steel dig bar getting that JR pup out. Soil was very dry and roots were huge. The bar is still serviceable though.

ChuckT
04-16-2011, 05:46 PM
thnks for the heads up. I've never had to dig out a banana pup, but I do have a digging bar thats 1" steel. If you live in Maryland and garden you have to have one. Our soil here is rocks, and clay, and more rocks, with occasional shale thrown in for flavor.:0519:

pitangadiego
04-16-2011, 09:03 PM
Bananimal, Mine isn't perfectly straight, anymore, either, but I just turn it over the next time and "straighten it out". It is still "the" tool. Used is again today.

Abnshrek
02-04-2014, 10:21 PM
Using the Pitangodiego digging bar, as I call it, was driving me crazy. To cut out big pups had to use a ladder and a sledge hammer to cut the pup from the mama.
So I went to my local welder with a sketch and he knocked out this.......

Dig bar with foot assist
http://www.bananas.org/gallery/watermark.php?file=41807&size=1 (http://www.bananas.org/gallery/showphoto.php?photo=41807&ppuser=820)

Whalla - depupping made easy!!!!!!!!!!!!!!

That's pretty Awesome Dan.. :^)

JCA433
02-05-2014, 06:23 PM
If you dig around here you need a jackhammer or augar! Digging the planting hole can be very very labor intensive even with jackhammer. Recently, my neighbor had an augar available and dug some holes. This favor saves me from the really tough work breaking up the soil and excavating.

bananimal
02-05-2014, 07:50 PM
If you dig around here you need a jackhammer or augar! Digging the planting hole can be very very labor intensive even with jackhammer. Recently, my neighbor had an augar available and dug some holes. This favor saves me from the really tough work breaking up the soil and excavating.

I guess you live in an area with So FL zone 10 calcareous limestone. Good luck. A quarter stick of TNT will give you a nice hole to fill with good stuff. I've seen the big old trees my cousin has is Homestead and the roots are all surface running. Still great for avocado and mangoes and lychees.

Abnshrek
02-05-2014, 09:47 PM
Dig bar with foot assist
http://www.bananas.org/gallery/watermark.php?file=41807&size=1 (http://www.bananas.org/gallery/showphoto.php?photo=41807&ppuser=820)

Put a small wheel chock behind the bar

That foot peg 2 foot from the bottom?

bananimal
02-05-2014, 11:56 PM
The welded foot assist is for digging out big pups that people want. Little ones come out with a trencher shovel.

Nicolas Naranja
02-06-2014, 01:06 PM
I have spent entire days digging suckers, and if there is one thing I wish for, is that the bar was lighter. Digging out 100 suckers with a 15 lbs bar will wear you out.

bananimal
02-06-2014, 08:01 PM
In my soil digging out a 6 ft Pisang Klotek that someone came by for takes 2 people. I use the 2 pick mattocks. One one on each side of the pup. The PK roots run deeper and are 1/2 inch thick. I have put a bend in my digging bar trying to dig PK pups.

Nicolas Naranja
02-06-2014, 08:19 PM
In my soil digging out a 6 ft Pisang Klotek that someone came by for takes 2 people. I use the 2 pick mattocks. One one on each side of the pup. The PK roots run deeper and are 1/2 inch thick. I have put a bend in my digging bar trying to dig PK pups.

I have noticed that as well, the PK is very difficult to get suckers from.

Abnshrek
02-07-2014, 06:21 PM
I know this isn't a Motorcycle Foot Peg I put on mine.. but I have a foot stop on the end of the Foot Assist.. :^)

http://i1362.photobucket.com/albums/r698/Bucko13f/IMG_0055_zps753605be.jpg (http://s1362.photobucket.com/user/Bucko13f/media/IMG_0055_zps753605be.jpg.html)

lmswayne
02-07-2014, 08:09 PM
Chuck -- If I had seen this OST Planting bar first I might have considered it. Got the idea for the dig bar from Jon when my narrowest irrigation shovel was cutting off way too many roots. The need for my foot assist developed cause the dig bar has no handle and is 6ft long.

My bar is sold/designed for removing bushes or trees. It's the 2" blade that makes the difference in keeping the most roots on the pup. And the 6ft for leverage.

Soon planting trees is coming up for me. Persimmon, peach, mango, jaboticaba and lemon trees. Again the small OST won't work out. Will be using a big shovel to move this Florida muck sand. And the pots run from 15 gal to 30 gal. Where's my energy drinks???

Dan

I think you are going to nee more than one. lol :ha:

lmswayne
02-07-2014, 08:14 PM
I know this isn't a Motorcycle Foot Peg I put on mine.. but I have a foot stop on the end of the Foot Assist.. :^)

http://i1362.photobucket.com/albums/r698/Bucko13f/IMG_0055_zps753605be.jpg (http://s1362.photobucket.com/user/Bucko13f/media/IMG_0055_zps753605be.jpg.html)

good thinking could save you shins from getting a good scraping.