DIY: Bucket-mounted T-Post driver

[TXHF]

I know there's a guy who makes these in OK but It looks far too simple to spend $150 on one when I can do it for under $50 myself.

I bought a 16 lb T post driver and had a 5/8" receiver pin handy. Some 2" x 1/4" flat steel and a piece of strut channel was laying around. I had to buy the rod-end bearing, a bolt to fit it and two 1/2" bolts with washers and nuts.

I cut three pieces of the 2" stock and center drilled the 5" piece to receive the bolt for the rod-end. I bolted the rod-end to this steel then notched the other two pieces of steel to fit around the hex head. The thickness was needed to clear the bolt head on top of the post driver. I welded the rod-end to the plate as well. The bolt was to add strength to the rod-end to be sure it didn't collapse. I ground off the powder coating from the post driver and welded this to the top. The rod-end is rated for 10,000 lbs. I took a piece of strut channel and drilled two sets of holes through the sides to put the hitch pin through. I then added two gussets to be sure the strut channel doesn't fold or collapse. The second hole in the strut was for a long carriage bolt where I will attach a length of chain with a steel plate at the other end to mark the T Post depth. I'll have an updated photo of that once the paint dries. The strut will mount to the under-side of the bucket with two drilled 1/2" holes, the driver will suspend from the strut channel using the hitch pin. I'm quite certain this will be more than adequate for driving 300 posts. I will try and get a video if us in action when this does take place.

I know, my welding leaves a lot to be desired... I'm still learning!

 

[Duke460]

Can you show it attached ?

 

[TXHF]

Can you show it attached ?

My tractor isn't in yet. LOL! But, in the first photo, the two bolts you see will be securing this rig to the bottom of the bucket.

 

[BoylermanCT]

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.

 

[Cataclysm]

We just set the bucket on top of the T post and push them in. If tractor isn't heavy enough and the T post won't push in get a load of dirt in the bucket and it will push the T post in or bend it.

 

[TomSeller]

We just set the bucket on top of the T post and push them in. If tractor isn't heavy enough and the T post won't push in get a load of dirt in the bucket and it will push the T post in or bend it.

"or bend it". My soils are too hard except maybe in spring in some areas.

 

[TXHF]

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.

No concern since it is a slow push and a t post will give up and bend before the tractor is stressed. A smaller tractor than the 2538, I might be concerned though.

We thought of pushing bucket only but I wanted something less dangerous. One slip with the bucket can be serious. This allows us to set a post without someone holding it.

That is the guy and the video I watched. Great idea but easy to build your own. Just need to learn more about my welder. Lol! I am confident the ugly welds will hold though. You don't have to be perfect, just good with a grinder, right?

 

[KWentling]

What I have done is take about a 1" long piece of pipe big enough for the t-post to fit in and weld it to the bottom of the bucket. That's enough to keep the post from slipping. Our ground is pretty hard and I have had to get a partial bucket of dirt to help with the push, and this is with a 100hp tractor and 8' bucket. Depending on the size of your tractor and the visibility, you might want to weld that on one side or the other so you can see. The wife and I have done at least a hundred this way, and only bent a few. Our ground is clay and gets terribly hard in the dry summer, so we try to fence in the spring.

 

[Cavjock22]

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 ..

 

[treefarmerguy]

What I have done is take about a 1" long piece of pipe big enough for the t-post to fit in and weld it to the bottom of the bucket. That's enough to keep the post from slipping. Our ground is pretty hard and I have had to get a partial bucket of dirt to help with the push, and this is with a 100hp tractor and 8' bucket. Depending on the size of your tractor and the visibility, you might want to weld that on one side or the other so you can see. The wife and I have done at least a hundred this way, and only bent a few. Our ground is clay and gets terribly hard in the dry summer, so we try to fence in the spring.

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!

 

[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.