Pack of 6 - Duckbill 88-DB1 Earth Anchor - Includes 1 Drive Steel Tool

These seem expensive because the pictures do not do justice to the quality of construction and absolute robustness. I have used several other types of earth anchors attached to steel cables and the duckbill anchor ends on these are nothing short of massive by comparison. Not to mention that the drive rod that comes with them is a 3/4” thick bar of steel 3 feet long!I needed to drive these into soil that is frequently wet and that has a moderate clay content. I was initially concerned that it would be hard to pull the drive rod up out of the ground after sinking it 36+” deep, esp because there is no side or T handle at the top. I considered putting a short length of rope around the top of the bar (under the welded on nut) to make a pull strap but this was completely unnecessary.Even in thick soil, the size of the duckbill anchor makes a hole that’s about 1/2” bigger in diameter than the rod. As a result, it was very easy to just pull the rod right up and out of the hole. This gave me added confidence to drive the anchors all the way so that the tops of the cable loops were actually an inch or two below ground. If you attach a quick link and the anchor chain while the cable loop is still a few inches above ground, this is easy to do and even makes setting the anchor easier as you have more to pull on. The cable loops then end up being right at or just slightly above ground level after the anchor is set.one small word of warning/caution:After several anchors were driven and the merry sledging that went with it, I slightly mushroomed the top of the welded on nut. This unfortunately created a sharp edge and a metal sliver that ended up in my finger when I went to pull the rod up after driving it. Just watch out for that possibility.Everything was packed well and shipped very quickly. If I ever needed more, I would buy these again.

So at almost $200 these are not cheap. But they are not cheap. I was amazed at the size of the Duckbills. I was worried that the tamping bar might get stuck in the ground, but a little we-40 later and removal was too simple. These things are not going anywhere. A great alternative to anchor down about anything.

The product was recieved in good condition and on time. I got these to install in glacial ice dam deposite soil. The model is listed as "Ideal for rocky or hard soils, or for use with power installation equipment." This is some sort of hand-waving euphamism which does not apply to reality. You can't install this in anything other than sand and loam with what is provided (regardless of what you use to push the bar). My soil has rocks ranging from potato to bowling ball size - nothing bigger - and is probably classified as a gravel (more than 50% larger than 1/8"). The 3s4" smooth bar which is supposed to act as a installation device fit the anchor nicely, stool up pretty in the sun, then bent like a warm string cheese. The bar held up to the sledge, the vibration of a jack hammer, and moved not at all in the gravel. It bent under axial pressure from the bucket of an excavator without moving into the soil at all. We bent it straight and tried a few more times, but it was hopeless without improving the installer. If you need to push that head into gravel, sleeve the bar with a few pipes to get it up to more than 1-1/4" diameter before you really try. I'd start with a 3/4" pipe and some JB weld, then sleeve that 3/4" with a 1" pipe or similar, getting the outside diameter to 1-1/4".... that might be able to push the head with the 5k or whatever to get it to go in.

I had a sea wall that after Hurricane Florence started to lean out. Did not want to dig up yard to redo deadmen. Found these any figured can’t hurt to try. So far so good seawall has not leaned any further. Very easy to use and strong bite into earth. Was able to tighten up enough that I had to go back and forth to keep tension on wall as the were strong enough to start to pull wall back in. Very impressed with product and would recommend to anyone needing a strong and secure anchor point.

Great invention and perfect for my after market application of holding back walls at driveway entrance.

These were easy to install using a sledgehammer to tap them in and then pulled on the cable to set the duckbil with the provided rod

The duckbill anchors themselves are excellent. Very thick aluminum castings with 1/4" galvanized steel cable with end-loops swaged to each end.The steel drive tool does the job but it lacks refinement. It's just a bar of mild steel with a large bolt welded to one end to use as a hammer-striking surface. Shortcomings of the drive steel: It is not tapered at all. It is not forged or tempered so it is fairly easy to bend the tool.In the slightly-damp medium clay-loam soil I was working in I needed about 30-40 blows with a 12-pound sledge hammer to drive the anchor all the way down. At that point the drive steel was very solidly stuck in the ground. No possibility to remove it except with major leverage, as illustrated in photo above, provided by a *stout* 3 foot crow-bar. Once the crowbar overcame the initial (first 6" or so) friction, the bar then slid freely and easily out of the ground. But the first 6" needed at least a quarter-ton of up-force from crowbar...