[Lardman]

I need to put a fence up a slope. Theres no way I can carry concrete posts up, so Im looking a wood in concrete or metapost.

Does anyone have any experience of a hand post hole auger like this http://www.screwfix.com/prods/56144 . Cheaper ones seem to get slated but this seems to be well liked.

The ground is sandy but there are plenty of stones !

[smud6ie]

I need to put a fence up a slope. Theres no way I can carry concrete posts up, so Im looking a wood in concrete or metapost.

Does anyone have any experience of a hand post hole auger like this http://www.screwfix.com/prods/56144 . Cheaper ones seem to get slated but this seems to be well liked.

The ground is sandy but there are plenty of stones !

Having dug many hundreds of post holes  using different  sorts of tools in all types of terrain I can only take an educated guess and think the auger would not be very good except in  the kindest of soil.
How many holes do you need to dig,what size posts and what type of fence do you intend fixing to the posts?
smud6ie

[ex-cavator]

I've had plenty of experience of hand augers when I used to sample soils for testing. As smud6ie suggests, they're fine in good quality soil or even clay, with it's smooth consistency, but one you get stones in the mix it won't be pretty! It will also be very hard work - the ones I used were a lot smaller diameter and they were difficult enough.

Wood in concrete is OK until, a few years down the line, the bases rot and your left with the problem of getting a large concrete block out of the ground, followed by a huge hole requiring even more concrete to replace it.

Metposts can be OK, but what about a good old fashioned sledge hammer to bang the posts well in? Or an easier option - a post hammer (like a heavy metal tube, closed at one end, with a long handle running down each side - you simply sit it over the top of the post, and bang it up & down) 

[rainie]

We use the good old post knocker which is like an open cylinder shape sealed at one end. (A tractor or small machine would be dangerous on the slopes in this field). The ground is clay in places but softer in others. There are often random stones but we mangage it quite well. We put wooden posts in the ground without concrete for the reasons already stated, but if we have what we call a post in dodgy ground, we add a bit of dry sand and cement to the hole too.

[arugula]

Or a good old mell...

[Gwiz]

I've used the stihl petrol auger for pretty much the same thing. Worked quite well in the sandy soil around here.
I reckon you could hire one near you....

[AndyRVTR]

Try one if these....  LINK
I use one of these at work daily and find it works on any terrain  

[Rangerkris]

We just done mile and a bit of fencing, we ended up using shove holers that Andy has posted spike and a grafting spade
LINK

small long spade head on a long bar i have used all sorts of things while at work and still end up with 3 tools mentioned above.  

[Lardman]

I have to be careful with impact tools, I damaged my wrist in a previous life and it doesn't react well to getting walloped.

How do you push the post hole digger into the soil after you've done more than the blades depth ?

I do keep forgetting you can hire these sorts of things - I'll take a look.

[Rich]

Whenever ive seen someone use them they tended to throw the shove holers into the hole once they'd dug the initial hole.

[Casey76]

I found metaposts and a 10lb sledgehammer OK for 3x3 (7cmx7cm) on stoney soil.  You have to be a bit careful that you're knocking them in straight (as in not twisted), but mine was for a wire fence, so not 100% straightness was required.

[Lardman]

Just a follow up to close this.

I've been using the auger in anger today and I have to say it was brilliant once I got the hang of it.   

Tore its way into the soil giving a nice clean hole 2ft deep in minutes.  Most stones could be worked free by changing direction a few times, and the mat of bindweed and nettle roots were cut easily. The whole brick caused a problem but you can't have everything 

[mumofstig]

I'm glad you got it sorted 

[Lardman]

I'm glad you got it sorted 

This was just a slight detour MoS, Im extending tier 3 back another 12 ft into the slope, I've been putting in a small run of concrete fencing to retain next doors "garden".