Fence Posts

[Soundguy]

</font><font color="blue" class="small">( Drivers are time savers )</font>

I get a kick out of reading a quote like that.. only to see the following info also specified:

</font><font color="blue" class="small">( I use a 2 in. pilot drill and go down about 2 1/2 feet for a guide hole )</font>

or

</font><font color="blue" class="small">( If it's real dry I water those holes for 5 days before driving the post )</font>

I like this one too.. sounds like a real time saver..

</font><font color="blue" class="small">( I also sharpen the post )</font>

Keeps goin....

</font><font color="blue" class="small">( I keep a level in my pocket to set the driver up at each hole.
)</font>


I know some people like these things.. but.. seems to me I could have just hand dug the hole by the time I've gone thru the 5 days of prep work.. to pound the post in? /forums/images/graemlins/confused.gif Seems like a manual or tractor PHD would um.. just be faster and cheaper, unless I'm really missing something.

For what it's worth.. I don't think I've ever seen apost pounder in fl.. None of the 20 or so fence people that we do business with has ever used one either. Keep in mind that this may be a regional issue.. as florida soil contains a good amount of limerock.. Our main fence contractor is a older fellow with a ford 3000 and phd, and a younger fellow helping him. The older guy runs the tractor and the younger guy is the 'ground' man and drops posts and backfills. These guys put up hundreds of feet of 3 board fence a day. ( wire fencing seems to slow them down a tad.. )

Soundguy

 

[MikePA]

<font color="blue">...unless I'm really missing something. </font>
You are. /forums/images/graemlins/smile.gif The things that Charolais mentions are for unique conditions, i.e., very dry soil. In normal soil, there's no need to drill a pilot hole, no need to water the hole and no need to sharpen the post.

The set up time over where a post is to be placed is the same for both a phd and a driver. I don't care how fast the 2 man phd team is, they can not set a post as fast as using a driver.

 

[ShaleniFarm]

All,
This is what some fellows used to pound 86 posts in about 5 hours .

Have a good one,
Neil.

 

[Charolais]

Soundguy, I'm happy I made your day. In my opinion you took my reply, picked it apart to suit your needs. Kinda reminds me of election 2004. But that's OK. /forums/images/graemlins/cool.gif

When you highlighted my words the first one should have been DROUGHT. I'd sure like to see you run a fence your way in those conditions in this soil.

In normal soil conditions I don't sharpen post or predrill holes. I hit the post 12-15 times and it's set.

I'll give you one more thing to laugh at. In 1999 it got so dry here I couldn't drill the pilot hole. I used a 55 gal. drum (filled with water) and a pressure washer to blast a hole in the ground. Once I was down about 2 feet I'd let the pressure washer wet the soil by injecting it with the water. It worked.

I ran fence the way you do for 25 years. When I have to use that method again I'll sell all the cows and sit on my butt.

If you haven't tried it don't knock it.

And thanks Mike. /forums/images/graemlins/cool.gif

 

[DocHeb]

I haven't found anybody renting drivers in Michigan - and that's after a lot of Googling and calling.

 

[cowboydoc]

Dan,

You can easily do it with one person. I usually have a person move the tractor for me and then I run the pounder. All of the post pounding is done with a little lever on the side of the post pounder. Then you have controls to move the top of the pounder right and left and forward and backward. All you have to do is move the tractor and then get off, square up your pounder, level your post, pound, level, pound, level and pound. It's extremely easy to do.

Mike and I both have the worksaver. I've put in thousands of posts with mine without hardly a problem.

I use square posts as they are much easier to get level and pound better.

 

[cowboydoc]

I don't do any of those things. Never had to but I have no idea the conditions charolais had. I'm sure what he was quoting was just for extreme conditions. I don't think he would do that for every post. If I have someone on the tractor I can put a post in every 3-5 minutes. We do miles of fence and there's no way I could do it without a pounder. You could take away any of my implements but the post pounder would be the last one I would let go of hands down.

 

[rockinmywaypa]

In our area 90% of posts are pushed and pounded in using attachments on backhoes. A buddy owns a fencing business and there are probably a half dozen more in the area. Anyhow He has a peeler/sharpener that leaves a pencil point on the post as it peels off the bark. I purchase the posts from him and he can then push them in with the backhoe. This part is a heavy tube about 10 in id made out of 2 in thick steel that replaces the bucket on the hoe. Strech a wire out for a straight line or eyeball the post as you hold it until he sets the tube over then he sets it in the ground as I'am walking to the next post. We have put in as many as 80 posts in an hour, so for usually a 2 or 3 hour charge he,ll put in all the posts needed and then i can put on the wire later. Yes sometimes rocks are hit and splinters the post but he's pretty crafty at straightening them up and knows how much force to give it. I have no investment in this stuff that I wouldn't need to often. He has a 3 or 4 man crew that He uses to do a complete job and they are even faster but I've never hired them to do a complete start to finish job.

 

[Egon]

Good gosh - how things change. The last time I put in a fence post one used a crowbar and 15 Pound sledge or a posthole digger that had a handle on it.

Egon /forums/images/graemlins/grin.gif /forums/images/graemlins/grin.gif

 

[ALBALD1]

I used cement on the last fencing I did. Only been a year, so I just hope it last after reading some of these responses. I put old nails or steeples in the bottom of the poles sticking out about an inch to prevent the poles from lifting & braced about every 40-50 ft w/ diagonal braces on each side. I don't know how long it will last, but all the poles are solid as heck. This may not apply to you, but I wasn't concerned w/ the look of the fence. I just wanted something to stay strong for field fence w/ a strand of electric on top, so my father-in-law found where the local utility companies dump there old poles. We cut them 8' & split the bigger ones. It was a lot of work, but they were free.

 

[weedsportpete]

I used a similar method that worked well. Maybe I didn't have to sharpen the posts, but our soil is very dense clay. We were having other excavation work done, so we borrowed the excavator. The operator stayed in it and moved from post to post. Two people were working at the pickup truck, shaving the posts and marking a line at 3', and handing the posts to me. I'd hold it up at the correct spot, and the excavator would push the post down. As fast as the posts were ready, we had them pushed into the ground.

It would be expensive to get the excavator out just for that purpose, but as it was already on site, it was a good deal. If I had known then, what I know now, I would have bit the bullet, bought a few hundred posts and have the entire set of pastures fenced over two or three days. Now I'm not sure I can get the excavator in everywhere with all the fences I've put up.

 

[dmccarty]

Charollais,

What model Shaver do you have?

I just got the quote from the dealer for $2,600 for an HD8 with me doing the assembly. $200 more if they dealer puts it togather.

The HD10 has more power but it looks like it needs more GPM than my JD 4700 can provide...

Later,
Dan

 

[RockRapidsDeere]

In my area everyone uses a phd. Also, all the residential fences are put in with 4x4 in concrete. I worked for the county for 2 summers replacing rural street signs, and we used a boom arm with a phd to put all our posts in (usually about 4' down). We then back filled with pea gravel, tamped it, and threw a small bucket of quick crete in with the gravel. 10 years later most of the poles we set are still standing straight unless the wing of a snow plow hit it.

 

[varmint]

A couple of weeks ago, I watched some "professional" fencers putting in about 4000' of pasture fencing for a bison farm up the lane. Since I am in the middle of replacing some of our wood fencing, I asked some questions. They were using two bobcats, one with a hydralic phd, and treated 4x6 posts, 7'-10" on center. They backfilled with crushed stone- pretty fine stuff. Then 1 x 6 white oak boards. I'm using locust posts, most of which should outlast me, and nothing fancy like crushed rock- just dirt. Speaking as an old architect, I can say that good drainage is the key, no matter what kind of wood, and the stone seems like a good choice. Conc. just holds the moisture in the wood.

What they did made for a tight, strong fence. Since the bison weigh 1000-1500 pounds, you'd want a stout fence. I only have to worry about the deer- they'll skip over it, and two cats, who'll run under it.

 

[MikePA]

<font color="blue"> The HD10 has more power but it looks like it needs more GPM than my JD 4700 can provide... </font>
The GPM determines how fast the driver rises.

I also noticed that the HD10 needs a Cat 2 3ph. Does your 4700 have a Cat 2?

 

[dmccarty]

Mike,

Yep, I only have a Cat 1 hitch so I guess I'm "stuck" with the HD8. /forums/images/graemlins/grin.gif

Thanks for point out the hitch difference.

Later,
Dan