I found this on FB by G$$GLE search,
January 12, 2017 ·
Rare Garden Tractor Post Hole Digger
Karl Moritz skipped his high school prom to pick up a rare Danuser post hole digger designed for garden tractors. An avid lawn and garden equipment collector, the high school student knew how rare it was. Only 289 were made from 1966 to 1977.
“I had an email from Glenn Danuser, vice president of Danuser Machine Co., saying that he had been contacted by someone wanting to possibly get rid of a CD1,” says Moritz.
Moritz promptly called the number. Ronnie Collins, Altus, Okla., had a CD1 that was used on his father’s Deere 140 to do custom fencing until 1980. After retiring it, it had been kept inside until 20 years ago, when needing the room, Collins set it outside.
“He told me it was all original except for hydraulic cylinders used to replace the original turnbuckles for adjusting the pitch,” recalls Moritz. “He sent me a picture showing all the parts, and everything seemed to be in good shape.”
Built to fit a wide variety of garden tractors, the CD1 (called the A-10 by Allis) Compact Tractor Digger has a lasting reputation.
According to the website
www.cubcadetman.com, the CD1 was made for at least 10 different garden tractor brands. Only the sub frame mount and pto drives differed from one brand to another.
The CD1’s auger head is connected to a hydraulic cylinder by cable for raising and lowering. A dual V-belt drive, powered by a jackshaft from the tractor, powers the auger rotation. Hydraulic power is provided by the tractor or a separate pump.
The John Deere model had a belt and pulley drive pump and reservoir mounted to the front of the subframe. The CD1 has a maximum 30 in. depth and had 4, 6, 8, 10, 12 or 14-in. dia. augers.
Moritz made the deal and, travelling with his father and a friend, made the trip from Pennsylvania to Oklahoma to pick it up. Once he got it home, the fun began.
“I took the shafts, bearings and pulleys out of the subframe to replace them,” says Moritz. “A local machine shop built new shafts and put in new U-joints on the driveshaft. Another shop had the pulleys and belts I needed.”
Once everything was reassembled, Moritz mounted the subframe under his own Deere 140. Mounting the heavy mast to the subframe was the tough part. With the hydraulic pump and weight box mounted to the front of the subframe and everything hooked up, Moritz fired up the tractor and the digger.
“With a small cloud of dirt and dust, the auger turned over for the first time in over 35 years,” he says. “Later, I tried it out. Everything ran flawlessly, and it dug a perfect hole.”
Moritz is now in college, but still actively searching for garden tractor attachments. “Right now we are looking for a Viking Roller/Seeder and a set of adjustable back wheels for the back of a garden tractor,” says Moritz.
You can see the Compact Tractor Digger in action at
www.farmshow.com
The one in New Jersey? That one sold recently and was missing a lot of correct cub specific parts.
Possibly it was machinery pete or equipment finder... I think? It could have been on the government auctions govplanet. it was during covid so I had nothing better to do than search for rusty gold. the one I saw was was on a Allis Chalmers tractor (917 maybe?). it had so many attachments with it, belly mower, sickle bar, tiller, snow blower, posthole digger, trailer, clippings collector, it was real a real nice setup. I think it was an auction where they were auctioning it separate and together and whatever brought the most money was the way it was sold. I did not follow the results but the starting bid was 10,000 on the posthole digger. it was a danuser but I dont know the model. it was likely the A-C specific version.
