Bests & Worsts Reviews from Amazon

The Southland SEA438 auger works well. For a while. But the auger blade and the fishtail point wear out, and when they do, the auger is as good a useless. I purchased the SEA483 last year and dug 20 post holes for a new fence into Colorado front-range clay and decomposed shale. First several holes angered swimmingly. But after that -- and after the fishtail point and blade have worn down to nothing -- anything below about 12 to 18 inches required me to dig to my desired 30 inches with a 16 point steel digging and tamping bar. The auger was useful only for removing the earth and rock I had chipped loose. This wouldn't have been a problem had there been replacement parts available. Amazon does not sell Southland replacement parts. One must contact Southland directly, but when I did, I was told that they were out of stock. Southland had no idea when they might be back in stock. I have checked back several times without success. eReplacementParts.com and Fix.com both sell the parts, but they are backordered with no ETA. Fortunately, the replacement blades for the Earthquake EA8F auger fit the Southland model. However, the Earthquake 8958HD replacement fishtail point has a different threading and will NOT fit the Southland. This is unacceptable. I suppose I could purchase a new auger bit. It's just $60 or so, and the fishtail point (were it available) is $40, but it seems silly to purchase an entire auger bit if you only need the point. Come on, Southland and Amazon! Get some replacement parts in stock!