ASABE Approves Safety Standard for Post Hole Diggers

The American Society of Agricultural and Biological Engineers (ASABE) completed a new safety standard for post-hole diggers. ANSI/ASABE S619 DEC2013, Safety for Tractor-Mounted, Boom-Type Post Hole Diggers, establishes recommendations for the use and operation of boom-type post hole diggers designed for attachment to the three-point hitch of agricultural tractors.

The Post Hole Digger Council of the Farm Equipment Manufacturers Association brought forward the need for the standard and also provided valuable contributions to development of the document.

Previous ASABE standards applied to implements attached to and powered by agricultural tractors, but none pertained exclusively and specifically to boom-type post hole diggers. The new standard meets the needs of those who design, manufacture and use such implements.

Conformance to ASABE standards is voluntary, except where required by state, provincial, or other governmental requirements, and the documents are developed by consensus in accordance with procedures approved by the American National Standards Institute. For information on this or any other ASABE standard, contact Scott Cedarquist at 269-932-7031, cedarq@asabe.org.