Post Driver

[Trail_Time]

I am going to put in about 5500 feet of board fencing. That will require about 700 posts with gates etc. I really don't want to drill that many posts. Does anyone have any experience or suggestions on post drivers? How easy are they to use, and keep a straight line?

thanks

 

[MikePA]

They are very easy to use. How straight your line is is more a function of how good you marked the location for each post. The only issue with driving posts is if the post hits a rock, it can stop, but more often a rock will cause the post to go in at a slight angle. Some posts can still be used, others have to be slightly relocated in hopes of missing the rock. I put 187 4" x 4" x 8' PT posts and 40 T posts in last spring. Less than half a dozen went in a little off perpendicular, but were still usable as posts.

 

[seaplanepilot1]

We used a Danuser PTO driven post driver to drive 4 x 6 x 6' posts around an arena. We also drove railroad crossties with it on one side of my property. Please keep in mind that we are driving these posts in South Louisiana. The guy who loaned me the post driver wanted to sell it to me for $200.
At the time I didn't have $200 I missed a great deal.
SPP1

 

[Trail_Time]

Thanks. Any other brand suggestions? I have been looking at the Munro . It is a combo auger and post driver. You drill a 2/3 size pilot hole first. Seems like a good idea.

link

 

[MikePA]

<font color="blue"> Any other brand suggestions? </font>
Worksaver. I have an HPD-16 and it works well on my TC25D.

 

[tkcomer]

Try to get a driver that is no bigger than you need. I had the small Shaver driver and it did a good job with 5” posts. But, I sold it and got the large Shaver model so I could drive end posts. Now, driving small posts straight is tough. There is too much room inside the driver. It lets the posts move around too much. And the big model can break a small post with one good whack if it hits a rock. So keep your feet back.

 

[Tevi]

Depending on the ground a front end bucket loaded with rock will drive them in

 

[LBrown59]

</font><font color="blue" class="small">( Depending on the ground a front end bucket loaded with rock will drive them in )</font>

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how do you do it.?

 

[Trail_Time]

Mike, I got a good price on the Worksavers.... looking at the 20 series. What is the soil like where you are and how long did it take to drive the 4" posts?

 

[MikePA]

<font color="blue"> What is the soil like where you are and how long did it take to drive the 4" posts? </font>
I keep a 'tractor diary' in which I record Date, Hours and what I used the tractor for. For the fence, I not only did this, I maintained a separate spreadsheet. I tracked not only expenses, but tractor hours and the number of posts I put in. I also used the spreadsheet to calculate distances between posts (less than 8' and equally spaced) and the number of posts I'd need. On average, it took 13 minutes to drive a 4" x 4" x 8' PT post 3 feet into the ground. This includes setting up over the pre-marked post location, plumbing the post then driving it in.

Our soil is a layer of top soil over clay with the occasional rock to snag a post hole digger auger or send a post off course.