Can you drive in a post with a FEL?

[LBrown59]

I think the tractor would get in deeper than the post

Ken

Good one: ~~~ :thumbsup: ~~~

 

[warhammer]

I have used the FEL on my Kioti DK45 to push in almost 100 metal t-posts. I made a spacer from PVC and a pool drain so that it was easy to gauge how far to push the posts in. Once the end posts and snap line is in I could put 20-30 posts in the ground in a couple of hours.
Not sure how well this would work with wood posts. I would think the ground would need to be fairly soft and the point on the post end pretty well centered. Might be worthwhile to fab up some kind of metal cap to slip on to the post top to keep from damaging the post.

I am thinking of driving in some 6" wooden posts for a variety of projects around the yard. The local Co-op store sells them 5'-8' long and pointed on one end. Do you think I'll be able to set the FEL on top and shove down enough to get it to go into the ground a couple of feet? The soil is still moist here. There's a lot of "it depends" here, but what's your feeling? Or maybe I'll just have to go buy one first and try it? I don't have access to any post hole diggers.

 

[Obed]

On my Dad's farm, we used a manual post driver for 4" wooden creosote posts with points on the end. The soil there was sandy, not hard clay. We could pound in 4" posts by hand into the sandy soil. We had two post drivers, one for metal T-posts and a larger one for wood posts.



For 6" posts, we always dug a hole with post hole diggers and tamped in the dirt around the post. I cannot imagine pounding in a 6" post by hand.
Since I was cheaper than renting equipment, everything was done the old-fashioned manual way; Dad never rented any equipment while I lived there. I dug post holes by hand and set the posts and got to eat for my efforts.

Obed

 

[buckeyefarmer]

My dad drives posts in with a large sledge, by hand. you use a digging bar to make a hole, round it out some, put in a sharpened post, and then you beat the heck out of it with a large heavy sledge. Most of his posts are put in this way, as his land is hilly and a lot of his fences you can't even get a tractor to. I don't think the pine posts would hold up to the beating, he uses locusts that he cuts. He has pushed some in with the loader, when the ground was soft, and then finished with a sledge.

 

[quicksandfarmer]

My dad drives posts in with a large sledge, by hand. you use a digging bar to make a hole, round it out some, put in a sharpened post, and then you beat the heck out of it with a large heavy sledge. Most of his posts are put in this way, as his land is hilly and a lot of his fences you can't even get a tractor to. I don't think the pine posts would hold up to the beating, he uses locusts that he cuts. He has pushed some in with the loader, when the ground was soft, and then finished with a sledge.

In New England they call that a "post maul," it's the traditional way of putting in fence posts.

 

[buckeyefarmer]

In New England they call that a "post maul," it's the traditional way of putting in fence posts.

Your right, I thought of Maul later. It's one heavy chunk to be swinging over your head. My dad is in his 80's and still does it.

 

[Chilly807]

Ian,

We've done it, but usually in an existing hole. I doubt you'll get 6 inchers to go in well, but it's worth a try. Make a hole with a bar first, set the point in and give 'er a tap or two with the back bottom edge of the bucket.

I picked up a used PHD in New Brunswick about a month ago, there wasn't much for sale here at all. Stick a want ad on Kijiji and see what comes up.

Sean

 

[NSBound]

Ian,

////
I picked up a used PHD in New Brunswick about a month ago, there wasn't much for sale here at all. Stick a want ad on Kijiji and see what comes up.

Sean

That's a thought, thanks Sean. In the meantime I may be able to borrow a PHD. The guy who poured my cement floor for the new steel building just bought one! I haven't called him yet, just learned that news today .

 

[Chilly807]

We spent most of Sunday replacing parts of post-and-rail horse fence. I find that even with existing holes they're never straight anymore, so the PHD was a blessing.

We used to dig everything by hand, I'm still on a machinery high from watching a hole appear while I'm sitting in the seat

How rocky is your ground? Our's isn't too bad, we're near Windsor. Some clay but no really big rocks. Yet.

Sean

 

[NSBound]

...............How rocky is your ground? Our's isn't too bad, we're near Windsor. Some clay but no really big rocks. Yet.

Sean

The soil is generally good, the odd basketball-sized rock pops up but otherwise this used to be farmland 50-75 years ago so it mostly just good red Nova Scotia dirt.