Post driver - what do you use?

Rooster336 · May 9, 2021

Good morning,

To set the stage here, I am not an experienced tractor owner. I've been working on clearing fence lines for the past few months and with that now complete I have to put in a perimeter fence then do the pastures.

I will be stretching a 49" high woven wire fence and using 6" posts across ~70 acres then pastures and stall paddocks. I'm in Central NC with red clay.

Has anyone tackled a project like this, what type of post driver did you use?

Is it worth it to buy new or can I count on a used unit, like the HD-10, to get the job done without issues?

Thanks.

RalphVa · May 9, 2021

What kind of posts? For metal posts, I have one of those very heavy inverted coffee-cup type with 2 handles on the sides. You pick up and slam down on the metal post. Bought at Lowes.

ruffdog · May 9, 2021

OP said he is using 6" posts so I assume they are wood posts. Neighbor co-owns a old Farmall tractor that has a old post pounder mounted on the front. I have driven the tractor for him while he adjusts the angle and runs the pounder. Some of the posts were about 9" and it was hard/dry ground and still pounded good. The OP is talking 70 acres+ so that is way more than just a few horse pastures. It sounds like a job for a team using modern equipment and skid steer to me.

AWSubie · May 9, 2021

An HD 10 requires 12 GPM hydraulic flow for optimal performance. The DK4510 I believe, only produces 9.6 GPM on the implement side of the pump at 2600 engine rpm.

Before you start buying or renting equipment, it may be beneficial to put on paper a cost-benefit analysis of doing the work yourself vs hiring it out.

bigtiller · May 9, 2021

For 70 acres with pastures and stall paddocks to fence in, the only tool I would need is the check book.

r porter · May 9, 2021

buy new

and get to work. you are on borrowed time to get this done before you cant drive a post. when it dries out wood will splinter and steel will bend.

the best time to drive posts is right after the ground thaws.

with a post driver you can drive 30 or 40 wood posts in an hour then take a break, when the ground is right.

Rooster336 · May 10, 2021

Thanks all. Answering questions below...

Yes, wooden posts.

GPM on the tractor is 14.5.

To include the clearing that I just finished, the cost to hire a crew was 3x doing it myself. I already had the grapple, fence stretcher and Rotary Cutter so those items didn't get factored in. The only implement I need to purchase is the post driver.

Best quote I can find for the fencing alone comes out to roughly materials cost x 2.

houser52 · May 10, 2021

I was in a similar situation with about 120 acres of fence to replace which includes the perimeter, cross fences and barn lots.

I researched post drivers quite a bit and decided on the Danuser Hammer LM40 with the extra weight, tilt and grapple. ($6500) The grapple feature allows me to drive posts alone and the tilt feature comes in handy if the land is not flat. The Hammer drives posts as big as will fit, 9" or maybe a little bigger. I've driven 10"-11" posts after beveling the top of the posts so they'll fit.

My land is red clay with a few rocks and the only problem I've had driving posts was down near the creek and hitting bed rock. Luckily it was only a few posts and I used 12", hand dug the holes wide and concreted them in. If it's really dry I knock off the edges of the posts with the chainsaw, not pointy, just the edges tapered a little. It's amazing to me that it will easily drive a flat bottom post into red clay. I drive 8' long posts 42" deep with it.

I don't put in all wooded posts. Corners and braces are wood. Line posts are 4-5 tee posts in between a wood line post. All posts are spaced at 12' or 15'.

So far I've built over 10,000 feet of either 6 strand HT barbed wire or 9 49 12 fixed knot HT net wire by myself with the exception of my 40 year old daughter helping a few days.

Overall, I really like the Danuser Hammer. The only problem I have is keeping the posts perfectly plumb but people haven't even noticed. I use it on a Kubota M7060 tractor and it's probably easier to keep the the posts plumb if using a skid steer.

I still have about 3500 feet yet to build, probably this fall.

Birdhunter1 · May 11, 2021

A Shaver HD 8 is what I use and has been on the farm for almost 50 years. Don't get too hung upon the GPM required, all that will help with is the cycle times to raise the driver the drop is all gravity and spring pressure. One thing to keep in mind is that most post drivers require a return line back to the hydraulic reservoir and not through the remotes.

My Mahindra 2638 is capable for hydraulic specs for an HD8 but I have done many posts at idle which is about 1/2 the spec 'required' and it just raises slower, still drives them in the same.