Here Comes the Dyna-Diggr!

By The Mother Earth News Editors
Published on November 1, 1984
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MOTHER EARTH NEWS Staff

What would you think of a power tool that digs trees and shrubs, cuts trenches, excavates holes and footings, slices sod, bores post holes (then tamps the soil after the posts are sunk), peels off old shingles and floor tile, drives stakes … and just might do one or two other things that simply haven’t been thought of yet?

Well, farfetched as it may sound, such a tool does exist, and it was designed (and is now being manufactured) nearly in MOTHER EARTH NEWS’ own backyard. The machine is called a Dyna-Diggr, and the simplest way to describe it is to say it’s a cross between a jackhammer and a barless chain saw!

A Backyard Brainstorm

Here’s the story: Not too long ago, one of our staffers attended a county agricultural extension service seminar on growing and harvesting Christmas trees. There he met a fellow named Ken Lanter, who represents a local manufacturing firm called Brisco, Inc. — and who was having a heck of a good time encouraging attendees to speculate on the nature of the mechanical gadget he was toting around.

Well, after stumping a good number of people, Ken had the heart to show them how it worked. In the process he aroused the curiosity of our amateur nurseryman, who persuaded Mr. Lanter to demonstrate it to some of MOTHER EARTH NEWS’ Eco-Village staffers.

We’ll admit that we were initially skeptical: At first glance, the digger looks like a top-heavy shovel with an engine for a handle. That, combined with its 47-pound weight, raised a few eyebrows among our small group … until Ken cranked ‘er up and freed a four-foot live pine, clean as a whistle, in a minute and ten seconds. (He apologized for the delay, explaining that “dyna” digging normally averages less than a minute, with the record standing at 15 seconds for nursery-size trees!)

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