Frustrated with Shaver HD-8

[pacrofter]

My wife bought me a Shaver HD-8 for my birthday this year. We had it installed along with a hydraulic adapter (not sure what the right terminology is) and it worked great - I was able to drive 8' posts four feet into the ground in minutes, in spite of the rocks we have in south-central PA.

So I played around with this for a while and put in a couple of test posts here and there and a line of fencing, and then took the pounder off the 3-pt hitch so I could use other implements. When I put the pounder back on the 3-pt hitch a few months later, I found that I couldn't drive a post in more than a few inches, and even that took 10 minutes. Needless to say, something's not working right.

Any thoughts on how I can figure out what's wrong? The hookups all look right, and the thing moves the way I expect it to. It doesn't seem to generate any downward pressure, though. I called the store that sold it to me and installed it on the tractor, and they're puzzled. (They'd be happy to have me pay them to come out and take a look, of course.)

Their tech said all the downward force is generated by the springs, and not the hydraulics - does that sound right? It seems odd to me. Otherwise I can't for the life of me figure out what's going on.

Thanks in advance!

[Verticaltrx]

Yup, the driving force on those comes from the springs, and the weight of the hammer (the big red H-beam)

A few things to check:

-make sure both springs are connected
-no obstructions in the tracks that the hammer goes up and down on
-nothing obstructing the flow of oil in the return hose (big hose that goes into the tractor reservoir)

any of those could cause drag and slow the hammer down, which would greatly reduce its force.

Another thing to consider is the conditions. Even just slightly drier conditions can make driving posts more difficult. In the middle of summer, with rock hard ground it will be very very slow going with that rig. Best time to drive posts is spring or fall when the ground is good and moist. Also pointing the posts helps a lot.

[Jerry/MT]

My wife bought me a Shaver HD-8 for my birthday this year. We had it installed along with a hydraulic adapter (not sure what the right terminology is) and it worked great - I was able to drive 8' posts four feet into the ground in minutes, in spite of the rocks we have in south-central PA.

So I played around with this for a while and put in a couple of test posts here and there and a line of fencing, and then took the pounder off the 3-pt hitch so I could use other implements. When I put the pounder back on the 3-pt hitch a few months later, I found that I couldn't drive a post in more than a few inches, and even that took 10 minutes. Needless to say, something's not working right.

Any thoughts on how I can figure out what's wrong? The hookups all look right, and the thing moves the way I expect it to. It doesn't seem to generate any downward pressure, though. I called the store that sold it to me and installed it on the tractor, and they're puzzled. (They'd be happy to have me pay them to come out and take a look, of course.)

Their tech said all the downward force is generated by the springs, and not the hydraulics - does that sound right? It seems odd to me. Otherwise I can't for the life of me figure out what's going on.

Thanks in advance!

These type of post drivers use the weight of the driving section and the spring force to drive the post. They only use hydraullics to lift the driver into position to drive, stretching the springs in the lifting process. Make sure that the retun line on the hydraulics (it the big line that runs from the driver control valve to the reservior) is not restricted ot it will slow down the driver on the drop stroke.

If it's hitting the posts hard then it's possible your ground is too dry or it's frozen, etc

[JimRB]

When I borrowed a Shaver after a dry spell the posts bounced off the ground. I sharpened the post with no significant change. I ended up getting new springs and it rained. I had the return line going straight into my hydraulic fill plug. You want an unrestricted flow as the ram slams down.

There is not hydraulic ram action. The hydraulic is only for lifting. I vaguely recall 3 minutes a post including moving tractor.

[pacrofter]

Thank you, gentlemen - I was skeptical about the springs providing all the force so I'm glad to hear you all confirm it. I'll make sure the springs are connected and in working order. I don't recall seeing any obstructions in either the track or the main return line, but I'll check. I also had not pointed the posts so I'll try that as well. Maybe with the spring rains softening the soil somewhat I'll have better luck. If this old brain can remember, I'll try to post an update later this year!

[stub]

Rocks and roots obviously will be a problem, otherwise I think you have the right tool. I'm paying a guy right now to drive 4" and 6" round posts. There's a knack to it. He's using a homemade copy of a shaver that does not have springs. He says he had springs on it at first but took them off b/c they hit harder but it was also harder to keep the post going in straight. He feels it works better w/o the springs. He checks the post for plumb to a string line every few hits and if it gets out of whack, he jabs a pry bar in the ground at the post base and levers into the side of the post for the next few hits to get it back plumb. The trick is to go slow and don't let they get too far out before adjusting. The posts are going in amazingly straight and nice. I'm on clay, no rocks or big roots. No sharpening of the posts. They are real tight, tighter than you could auger them and fill I think. I'll take some pics if you want.

[Jerry/MT]

Thank you, gentlemen - I was skeptical about the springs providing all the force so I'm glad to hear you all confirm it. I'll make sure the springs are connected and in working order. I don't recall seeing any obstructions in either the track or the main return line, but I'll check. I also had not pointed the posts so I'll try that as well. Maybe with the spring rains softening the soil somewhat I'll have better luck. If this old brain can remember, I'll try to post an update later this year!

Make sure you use pointed posts. They're a lot easier to drive.

[johnnybar1]

Thank you, gentlemen - I was skeptical about the springs providing all the force so I'm glad to hear you all confirm it. I'll make sure the springs are connected and in working order. I don't recall seeing any obstructions in either the track or the main return line, but I'll check. I also had not pointed the posts so I'll try that as well. Maybe with the spring rains softening the soil somewhat I'll have better luck. If this old brain can remember, I'll try to post an update later this year!

How is your return hose connected to the tractor? It has to be open plumbed to the fill plug or othe open access plug on the hydraulics/transmission fluid section of the tractor. If you spun on a quick coupler and plugged it into the remote hydraulics, that's the issue....only the supply side goes on the remotes.