JJB-9 Bulb Planter, 1-3/4-Inch by 9-Inch Length

The Jisco JJB-9 is advertised as a bulb planter and in prepared soil will do what it is advertised to do right out of the packaging. If you do not have a prepared bed with soft soil you may need to make a modification to the shaft.What I used the Jisco for was to auger holes in the soil around trees to make using fertilizer stakes easier. Getting down on hands and knees to pound a stake into the ground isn't my idea of a good time. I put the bulb planter into my  Skil 2260-01 18-Volt 3/8-Inch Drill/Driver Kit , tightended the keyless chuck as tightly as I could and went to work. The Jisco went down about 2 inches into the ground then stopped. I wasn't able to tighten the keyless chuck enough to keep the Jisco turning in my lawn. However, that isn't the fault of the Jisco...or is it? I took the drill and planter back to my workshop, put it in a drill with a keyed chuck and stepped outside to try again. Same results.The Jisco will work well in prepared, garden soil with nearly any type of drill. To make it work for my purpose or in soil that isn't well prepared and soft a modification needs to be made. I had to grind a flat side into the shaft so the chuck could grip it. Not a big deal unless you don't own a grinder. Augering into unprepared dirt is a higher torque job than augering into soft dirt. I would suggest to Jiscco that they make a design change as follows. Go to a hex shaft instead of round. This would allow the drill it is being used with to grip the shaft firmly without spinning uselessly on the shaft, additionally, that will allow it to be used with smaller drill/drivers and a few more powerful power screwdrivers.Overall the construction seems good and I expect the Jisco bulb planter to last a long time.

My wife and I put this tool to the test big time. Actually got one of my Dewalt batteries too hot and it wouldn't charge anymore. This auger bit can really dig. We have rocky clay soil here and it really loosened it up good so we could plant new bushes and flowers. The only thing I wished it had was about 4 inches more stem for the planting we were doing. But if you are just planting smaller flowers or bulbs it will do the job easily. We dug big holes for really big bushes etc. and the drill was almost buried in the hole. I used my 1/2 inch DeWalt 18V drill with a 20V adaptor battery. All my 18V batteries are going south, so I thought I would try the 20V adaptor since my other stuff is 20V now. So, if you are going to drill deep I would recommend at least a 1/2 inch drill motor.

Absolutely perfect, and what a time saver! I’m someone who’s planted a LOT of bulbs: my yard has a couple of thousand of them. If you have an unused space the fastest way to put in a lot of bulbs is to remove all the dirt to the right depth, lay out the bulbs, and shovel the dirt back over. But if you want to ADD bulbs to an existing bed, one with perennials and/or other bulbs, or you simply hate to dig, a bulb auger is the way to go. It’s much more precise than stabbing away with a trowel (or using one of those AWFUL bulb planting tools), it gets deep enough, I’ve not inadvertently killed any worms with it, and it’s fast. I added 75 bulbs to an existing flowerbed of perennials in about an hour. When shopping I noticed that you can spend a lot, or a little for an auger. I chose this one as a reasonable medium price that would fit any drill, and got something that’s clearly going to last forever. VERY HAPPY.

Great for planting crocus and bluebell bulbs! I planted over 400 bulbs this past fall and it took sooooo much less time than the year before with a trowel. I highly recommend. My only recommendations are to be careful of the grass because it will wrap up in it (doesn't hurt the auger, but it's annoying and you have to pull it off), and use a corded drill. A nice cordless would do fine, but my cordless is getting up there in age and if you have an old cheap drill, it will use up a lot of power depending on your soil type. Drilling into rocky areas can be tricky, so be prepared for un-uniform holes and digging those out when needed. All in all, this has become a coveted piece of my gardening collection.

Not bad at all! In fact, surprisingly good given that the reviews about bulb planters tend to be rather dismal. The ground was already too cold when i attempted to plant my bulbs, so I was expecting a challenge, however I was actually able to get some in using this tool. I look forward to trying it out when the weather conditions are better. My advice is to take it slow and only use in spots that make sense to attempt (I write this because so many reviews include disappointment over not being able to buzz through rocky soil or tough roots):

I've used this with about 100 bulb transplants and it's worked great. Used it with a cheap Black & Decker 20V cordless drill with no problem. The only things that stopped it were tree roots and that has to be expected. I live in Arkansas and our land is covered with rocks (it's our main crop down here!). It worked its way around 'em with no trouble. Very pleased. Highly recommended.

This does an ok job, but would be much better if the base that inserts into the drill opening were notched like a real drill bit. I’ve included 2 pictures showing the silver bulb tool. The indent at the base was created by spinning in the drill and the metal being eaten away in the process. The 3rd picture is of a gold colored drill bit. Notice the flat edge where the item inserts into a drill. This is necessary to keep it from spinning. The bulb tool is perfectly cylindrical, which means it just spins in the drill when it runs into any force underground such as a root.

I used it to dig a hole in rocky ground and it still was able to !