Fence Post Driver Question

[317140]

I am about to finish clearing off and burning about five acres that I am going to fence in. I was talking to a buddy about buying some fence posts that he had and he told me he had a fence post driver that I could borrow. I had figured to use my brothers PHD since we swap equipment anyway. He borrows my stuff breaks it and then brings it back for me to fix so he can borrow it again but thats another post. The idea of a post driver is right up my alley. No tamping no cleaning out holes. As we talked about driving posts my buddy asked if my tractor had rear hyd outlets. After that he asked if it had a place on the rear to add hyd oil. Seems the driver uses one side of the remote outlet and dumps fluid back into the hyd reservoir on the rear of the tractor. I havent seen it yet and I was wondering if anyone had used one like this and could offer advise. My tractor is a 3520 and I was wondering if it had the horsepower and hyd capacity to operate this unit and not do damage to my tractor. He claims this driver will drive a 6" post 18 to 24" every stroke. This I"ll have to see to believe.

 

[Jim_Fisher]

I am about to finish clearing off and burning about five acres that I am going to fence in. I was talking to a buddy about buying some fence posts that he had and he told me he had a fence post driver that I could borrow. I had figured to use my brothers PHD since we swap equipment anyway. He borrows my stuff breaks it and then brings it back for me to fix so he can borrow it again but thats another post. The idea of a post driver is right up my alley. No tamping no cleaning out holes. As we talked about driving posts my buddy asked if my tractor had rear hyd outlets. After that he asked if it had a place on the rear to add hyd oil. Seems the driver uses one side of the remote outlet and dumps fluid back into the hyd reservoir on the rear of the tractor. I havent seen it yet and I was wondering if anyone had used one like this and could offer advise. My tractor is a 3520 and I was wondering if it had the horsepower and hyd capacity to operate this unit and not do damage to my tractor. He claims this driver will drive a 6" post 18 to 24" every stroke. This I"ll have to see to believe.

I've had a Shaver HD-8 for about seven years. For all practical purposes, it's just a heavy, hydraulically lifted hammer. Like driving a nail but on a much larger scale.

Mine connects to the power beyond that I use for the backhoe and returns the fluid directly to the hydraulic oil fill on the back of the tractor.

It requires about four gpm flow to operate. Larger models require more hydraulic flow and will allow you to drive a post faster.

18 to 24 inches per stroke seems a bit optimistic to me, but it is much easier and simpler than drilling a hole, then filling and tamping around the post. The first strokes will only drive the post a very small distance, but as the distance between the raised driver and the post increases, so does the amount of depth per stroke.

Here's a link to Shaver's web site in case you want to see some pictures. Drivers Specs

 

[CATMAN]

My Dad has a Shaver HD-8 front mount post driver. We have more than 30 years experience with it. It uses one normal size hyd. hose going to the hyd. control lever, then goes to the tall,skinny hydraulic cylinder that raises the heavy mast where the post sits underneath. There is also a big hydraulic drainback/dump return hose that goes to the hydraulic filler cap. Probably 1 1/2" diameter. The return needs to large enough to QUICKLY dump the hyd. oil that was used to raise the heavy mast. This is why it goes to the filler hole for the hyd system. This way, the heavy mast drops quickly and pounds in the post. About 1/2"-1.0" per pound in average Iowa soils on a 6" diameter post with a flat bottom. It could do steel T-posts at 18"-24" per pound, but I haven't seen a farm-sized post driver ever do that with a wood post! It doesn't take much oil to raise the Shaver HD-8 mast. HP really isn't an issue, even low Hyd. flow would only mean a little more time for the mast to go upward. Dad"s post driver happens to be on a 1964 JD 4020(95 HP) with a wide front end. You will notice that it does bounce the tractor a little as you get in a rhythm with the mast going up and down. Wear ear protection and Dad uses a 12-16" level to align the post driver to the vertical position so all post remain vertical regardless of the ground contour. Hope this helps. Note: You will have to tie your tractor's hyd. control lever to the "raise" or "lower" position when you want operate the driver. This supplies hyd. pressure up to the post driver's control valve/handle which is up beside the mast. This allows one person to hold the post inward with one "gloved" hand on the outward side of the post at shoulder height, then the other hand operates the hyd. control lever for "hyd. up" and "gravity down" on the mast.

 

[317140]

Thanks for the good info. I haven't picked up the driver yet but now I have a much better ideas of how it works. One thing I have some treated 6 by 6's to use beside my gates and I was wondering if it would drive them.

 

[Jim_Fisher]

Thanks for the good info. I haven't picked up the driver yet but now I have a much better ideas of how it works. One thing I have some treated 6 by 6's to use beside my gates and I was wondering if it would drive them.

I used treated eight foot 6x6's for a 14 foot fiberglass gate. I drove them in August of 1999, when the ground was dry and hard. It was a slow process, but I got them both in about four feet and both plumb. Some of the bigger drivers are said to be able to drive railroad ties. Mine is only wide enough to accept a seven inch diameter post.

You might want to invest in a cheap plastic two foot level and a roll of self adhesive magnetic strip. Apply the magnetic strip to one side of the level and the level will stick to the driver while you crank the adjustment.

If you can get the driver plumb, it's a lot easier to drive a gate post plumb.

 

[CATMAN]

I'll mention one other thing my Dad does to help drive posts, he uses a tile spade to dig out any sod that would be under the post before he sets the post in that exact position(2"-3" deep). This does two things: helps keep the bottom of the post in place during the first intial "pounds"; gives just a little extra clearance between top of post and underside a driver mast for a little more downward stroke during those first "pounds". I might have been a little optimistic too on distance per pound, probably 1/4" to 1/2" is a better estimate. Hard, dry soils take a LOT of pounding per post.

 

[drssg]

I have some treated 6 by 6's to use beside my gates and I was wondering if it would drive them.

If you do this, I'll be interested to see how it works for you. I spoke with a guy that drives posts for a fencing company, and he said the posts can twist as you drive them, so it wouldn't be appropriate for square posts. He said if they want faced posts, they drive them round and then face them with a chainsaw.

I've had a Shaver HD-12H for a few years. I find it to be a fast way to put in a lot of posts, but the end result is not as straight as digging holes.

For the crooked ones, this same guy taught me a way to straighten them. Start with a scrap 4x4, and cut diagonal wedges about 2' long. Take the FEL and carefully pull the post a little past straight, then drive the wedge with a sledge hammer along the edge of the post to hold it in place. I tried this when the ground wasn't too hard and it worked pretty well.