Auger and drive posts

[rd_macgregor]

My parents took me to PEI when I was 5 or 6 and I still remember the red soil.
I'm assuming that's what you will be working in?
Sandy loam with high clay content and very few stones?

It depends on how you define "stones"! This whole island is sandstone (and its disintegration products), so our stones are pretty fragile. Having said that, there isn't a real deep layer of topsoil, so we turn up a lot of cobbly sandstone bits when drilling a hole. On our land, at least, there isn't a lot of clay.
The fence is in, now. We actually ended up having a utility-pole truck come in and do most of the holes, because my poor auger just wouldn't punch into/through the solid sandstone (bedrock??) along one edge of the arena.
I thank everybody for their feedback/suggetions.
BOB
BOB

 

[Botabill]

Folks often mistakenly think rocks or gravel around a post will allow drainage and prevent a post from rotting. Anyone who has observed an old rotted post will see the rot is worst where the post gets wet and then dries frequently. That is usually at the point where the post enters the soil. Wood does not rot well underground where it does not dry and then get wet again. Where I live folks still haul up logs that sank in the river a hundred years ago to saw up. The logs show no sign of rot. Point is... wood back filled with clay or dirt (not rock or gravel) and kept constantly moist will be less likely to rot as it doesn't dry and wet. I'd apply rot proofing really well at the entry point to the ground and accept the fact that wood will not last forever. Concrete on the bottom of a post will help to anchor it however someday you may have to dig up that concrete anchor.

 

[JoeBuyer]

I believe it is the lack of insects and fungi that are the primary reasons wood deep underground or under water does not decay as fast. Fungi need oxygen and moisture to rot the wood and insects generally are at the surface where they can eat away at the wood.