Yard ButlerRoto Digger - Handy & Durable Gardening Tool - Multi-Use Auger Drill for Digging Holes & Removing Weeds - Power Drill Compatibility - 30" x 1.75" Diameter

It did slip a little bit in the drill chuck, but it worked well enough to get a tunnel under my sidewalk

I bought this to aerate my compost. I really wasn't expecting much, given the price. When I took it out of the box, I can't say I was overly impressed. It has a round shaft and I agree with the other reviewers who've noted that if they had squared off the top of the bit where it enters the drill it would sit more firmly in the chuck. The blades look a little flimsy and am a bit worried that they're only spot welded onto the shaft.Still, I put this isn't a DeWalt 20v Max Hammer Drill, set it on low speed and went to the composter. A few people have questioned whether a batter operated drill would provide sufficient torque. I suspect a weaker drill might have issues, but I had no problem churning my compost with the Dewalt and this digger. In fact, given that it's not really a heavy duty digger, I would worry that a low speed, high torque drill might be too much for it.As an experiment, I also went looking around the garden for some dried and packed soil to see how the digger would do and it performed well. It didn't bog down at all, though, since the blades don't go up very high, you will not be able to just dig down two feet. You'll need to pull the digger out, which sometimes required putting the drill in reverse, which resulted in the chuck loosening.When the digger does bog down, you'll find that the drill will twist pretty violently in your hand. No injuries to report, but I can see how a wrist could get strained if you're not careful.All in all, a very serviceable digger at a very good price.

When I bought this it was $17. This is not a $50 or $150 dollar tool, and I set my expectations accordingly.It worked very well for me. So far I have 3 holes drilled that are 24" deep in some terrible dirt. I'm hoping to get another 8-10 holes done, but even if not, this thing has already paid for itself.A few tips for using this effectively:1. Go slowly. This is a huge drill bit for a household drill and it puts a lot of stress on the drill and you. Ease it in, don't lean on it, and back it out every couple of inches to ensure it's clearing debris out of the hole. I set my drill to the slower speed and then turned it very slowly. It's not a race and you're not drilling a 1/4" hole through a 2x4. Give it a chance to work and move the dirt.2. Try to keep the sides of the hole straight. I let it wobble around on my first hole so the inside of it was lager than the bit. It can't move the dirt out if the hole is too wide. Slow and some care are require to keep the sides straight.3. Gravel is a real pain. I have 1/2" to 2" gravel buried all over my yard. I had to abandon some holes when I hit a larger rock. You can you 1" gravel up, but you need to ensure it dislodges it. I let it "bite" into the dirt around the gravel and then pulled up on the drill gently. Then I slowly pulled out the bit while rotating it to get the gravel out. You can't expect it to to just fling out big pieces of rock.My trees are going to be so much happier that I can get them some deeper watering. Plenty of other uses for this as well.

I purchased is tool specifically to use as a compost aerator. We have a big garden and do a lot of composting. We end up with two piles that are about 40" tall. It becomes really difficult to turn the compost properly after it exceeds about 30 inches in height. I purchased the 30" auger and this sucker drills down beautifully and works the compost into a fine crumbly consistency. I agree with other reviews that the key is to keep the tool moving. If you just let it drill down, it tends to get stuck and the drill bucks back pretty well. If you work the tool in and out of the compacted compost, or soil, then it will keep working smoothly. It does offer some resistance of course, and will take some effort. It's not a magic bullet. I use a DeWalt cordless hammer drill and I keep two fully charged lithium batteries on hand. I can aerate an entire 36" x 30" x 30" compost pile in about fifteen minutes. I have also used it to till some harder soil. It is suitable for small jobs, anything large and you'll see its limitations rather quickly. You'll need to do as the other reviews have said. Take a flat file and square off the rod about 1.5" where the rod meets the chuck. You just need to get the circle to have four edges, you don't need a perfect square. So, I find it to be an adequate light-duty tiller and auger, but it makes a truly superb compost aerator! I give it a FOUR.

Design appears to be fine but the build quality and materials do not match the price tag. If you have anything less than soft wet soil you may risk bending the bit and once that does, it will never work smoothly again and force a wobble when the drill runs. Go into Harbor Freight and see the sturdiness of their budget tools at the same, or lower, price points and you'll see how less of a good deal this is.

We've been digging 18x18x24 post holes in Bay Area hard clay. If we strike it dry with a post digger or shovel, we only go in about 1/4 inch into the dirt, so we have to wet the dirt and wait hours so that a post digger can go in about 2-3 inches deep with the hardest blow, and I'm a really big guy.With this device we were able to break up 2-3 inches of the top layer of dirt with little effort, and then we used a Bully Tools 92323 8", also purchased on Amazon, to lift the dirt out of the deep hole. Although we need to patiently and slowly break up the dirt, we are moving way faster and with tons less effort. Word of caution, hold the drill tight and set the speed so that when it gets stuck on a rock, harder dirt spot, or a root the drill doesn't spin your wrist.

This worked well for drilling holes in the yard. I have some clay areas in the yard where grass struggles to grow so I used this to dig a hole and then add in some better dirt. I used a handheld battery powered drill and it worked well for me. If you have dirt/clay that’s super compacted this may not work, but if you can stick a screwdriver in the ground this should work for you.A helpful tip is to dig down some and then pull up that dirt and then go down again vs digging super deep and expecting all that dirt to come out at once.