Yes, the post hole digger is the tool I told my mom I would use to bury her.

Burying Mom

Here's the deal. My dad passed on about ten years ago and is buried in a lovely spot in a local cemetery. My mom has told her three children, that she would like to be cremated and then buried with my father. I'm the oldest son and told her I really would like to save money and not have to pay the cemetery workers to dig up the grave, place her in and then have to fill the dirt back in and wait for new grass to grow again. You see I'm cheap. I told her that instead, I would go into the cemetery under the cover of darkness with my Ames DigEzy Post Hole Digger and do the job neater, cleaner and with a lot less expense. I could dig a hole perhaps four feet deep with effort, drop her in and cover it up. Except for a one foot or so round hole on top, that I would fill with a piece of turf, no one would be the wiser. My mom and dad would be together, the plot would remain basically undisturbed and I would have that much more money from their huge estate to live the "High Life".

Using the Tool

The post hole digger is a fine tool for digging into soil that is not overly rocky. The 44" handle with opposing "spades" is held perpendicular to the ground and in a pile driver like fashion "hammered" into the soil. The handles are then pulled apart which then pinches the blades together holding the dirt. A pull up using shoulder muscles and moving to one side of the hole, the dirt is released. A hole to about three and a half feet can easily be done in softer soil with this tool.

I usually place a large trash bag on the grass or whatever to catch the dirt. Some of it may go back into the hole if digging posts. The rest can then easily be moved elsewhere. In the case of burying moms most of the dirt will be reused, that is, unless mom was real big and left a lot of ashes. Doing the same repetitive action using the shoulders can get tiresome. Fortunately most of my post hole digger days are over. Well of course there's mom I still have to take care of one day.

This post hole digger is made by the Ames company who also happens make the True Temper line. This particular post hole digger has northern white ash handles that have stayed in good shape even when left out over the winter. The handles have two bolts that attach it to the blades. It's good to know that new handles can be purchased but quite frankly, proper use of the handles has kept the couple of post hole diggers I owned over the years in fine shape. My only losses of post hole diggers was lending them out and not getting them back.

A Few Specs

The steel blades measure 8" x 5-1/2" with a spread point of another 5-1/2" between them. This is a good size for most posts that may be 4" square like the stockade fencing around my yard. I recently put up two pieces of white plastic white fencing blocking some trash cans from street view. I used the post hole digger and except for hitting some roots that I was able to "cut through" by slamming the digger into them time and again, all went well. These are not an easy tool to use if large rocks are in the soil. It's fine for sandy and clay soils.

The truth is, though there are different quality post hole diggers, with larger blades, longer handles, fiberglass handles, and cushioned handles, this one does the job just fine and unless working professionally or being a polygamist with many wives ergo many mother-in-laws to be buried, it should fit the needs of most home owners.

Alas, Bad News!

Mmm, it seems my mom, after some thought, has decided she does not want me using a clandestine approach to burying her. I suppose I'll have to pay to have her properly buried, that is if I'm not gone first. You know these ol' Italian great-grandmas, they can go on for years and years drinkin' wine and killin' time. There was always the possibility, even though this tool is pretty easy to use, I wouldn't be in physical shape to "post her in" by the time she's gone, anyway.

Still the Ames post hole digger is a fine tool. The right tool for many straight down diggin'jobs, but not for mom. Mmm, perhaps my mother-in-law might want...

This is an entry into the Kingfish, First-Ever, "Let's Go
Database Diving" Write-Off

Sorry, I didn't go diving. I thought I would go digging instead.











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