DIY: Bucket-mounted T-Post driver

[M5farms]

I just welded a short piece of angle to the top of a length of pipe a drilled a hole in top flange and FEL quick attach side because I use my forks to tote the Tpost . When using a FEL all you need is forward and backward motion to keep the post straight.

 

[KWentling]

Use caution when using a bucket as a sledge hammer! One of the hired hands at the farm I worked at started dropping the bucket on posts that were held by a helper to set them in the ground. The helper is ok but eventually one of the loader arms cracked almost all the way around. It was able to be fixed by a local welder. My L5030 bucket won't drop like the one at the farm did so I'm not sure if this would work on today's tractors. Good luck!

No sledge hammering. Just a nice slow push. It does tend to twist the bucket some though.

 

[KWentling]

Great idea in soft farm country. I don't believe this would work in South Texas. I could be wrong but I just don't see it working ..

If your ground gets harder than ours, I feel for you. Not much farming done in this area beyond grass hay and oats. Too dry and the ground is too poor.

 

[TXHF]

The land is in central Texas. We watched some fencers driving posts on the next property and they had no issues other than an occasional rock. Given the size and weight of my tractor, pushing these in slow and steady will be easy using this method. The property consists of mostly sand/clay mixture under the good topsoil. The bucket will be full of t-posts and obviously getting lighter as each post is driven. No, no hammering will be done with the new FEL. I expect a some rock interference but slow and steady will easily show when progress stops and we have to compensate for obstructions. Given the amount we have to do, this beats manual driving.

BTW, if the ground is too dry, tow a water tank with a hose and wet the area being driven first... no need to wait for Mother Nature to soften the gound for ya.

 

[TomSeller]

The land is in central Texas. We watched some fencers driving posts on the next property and they had no issues other than an occasional rock. Given the size and weight of my tractor, pushing these in slow and steady will be easy using this method. The property consists of mostly sand/clay mixture under the good topsoil. The bucket will be full of t-posts and obviously getting lighter as each post is driven. No, no hammering will be done with the new FEL. I expect a some rock interference but slow and steady will easily show when progress stops and we have to compensate for obstructions. Given the amount we have to do, this beats manual driving.

BTW, if the ground is too dry, tow a water tank with a hose and wet the area being driven first... no need to wait for Mother Nature to soften the gound for ya.

Sounds like it will work nicely in your soil. Please post more pictures if you can

 

[Gary Fowler]

I used my FEL bucket to just push some T post into the ground, no attachment needed. All went well until we hit a rock and doubled the T post. I had thought that a length of 2" pipe the full length of the T post minus the inserted depth would keep this from happening. A chain welded onto the pipe and then attached to the bucket would facilitate removing the pipe from the completed post. It would require a ground helper to stage everything though so the operator wouldn't have to leave the tractor.
I never got around to fabbing up my post pusher because we completed all the fencing.

 

[TXHF]

I will post some photos when I mount this device and plan on a video showing it in use, even if it goes south on me. I'd rather show mistakes and save folks hassle than hide them and cause someone harm.

Gary, I think I understand what you are describing and it sounds like it would work. This concept is much like your idea but I'm not sure a full length pipe would be needed... might even make the task harder with excess lifting of the FEL for each post.

The tractor arrived at the dealer yesterday with the backhoe attached... the bad news is Mahindra shipped it to the dealer without the backhoe bucket!?!? So, they are scrambling to locate a bucket for me so I can sign and haul it away. I'm going to check it over today regardless of the bucket.

 

[17 Oaks]

I will post some photos when I mount this device and plan on a video showing it in use, even if it goes south on me. I'd rather show mistakes and save folks hassle than hide them and cause someone harm.

Gary, I think I understand what you are describing and it sounds like it would work. This concept is much like your idea but I'm not sure a full length pipe would be needed... might even make the task harder with excess lifting of the FEL for each post.

The tractor arrived at the dealer yesterday with the backhoe attached... the bad news is Mahindra shipped it to the dealer without the backhoe bucket!?!? So, they are scrambling to locate a bucket for me so I can sign and haul it away. I'm going to check it over today regardless of the bucket.

I was up in your neck of the woods the other day and you are in the N part of the hill country and not sure what you ground is like up there but I am on the S edge of the Hill Country we mostly use hydraulic drills to set posts. I have had some of my workers set a few by hand and if I had anymore to do that 3 or maybe 4, cheaper to go rent a bobcat with the hydraulic drill on it.

Down here 4 in of soil would be deep, just nothing but limestone. Watching this to see if I can do it...bet I would just bend the T post.

 

[Slowpoke Slim]

Subbing as well. We just bought a new piece of land, small (relatively) acreage, 13 acres. But we have a lot of fence to relocate to put the house on and then re enclose the pasture again. Probably have to move at least 100 posts before we're done (some time next summer I think). Our soil here is pretty soft, so hoping this will work. Not really relishing the idea of sinking 100 T posts by hand.

 

[spursjingles]

I saw the youtube video of the guy in Oklahoma.

Tee post Driver System - YouTube

Any concern in driving the t post in at the side of the bucket - unbalanced force on the front end loader. I would take a blank quick attach plate and rig it up in the middle so you get even load on the loader arms.

When you're driving it into soft soil its not a problem. Try some rocky soil and then you have a problem.