Post Driver

[Luremaker]

Hi,
I picked up an older HD-8 last week. Cost me $250.00. I thought it was a fair deal. The guy claims it works. It's to cold up here now to test it. There are no springs on it. He did weld a bunch of thick plates on it for extra weight. Said it works fine like that. I was going to order some springs from Kencove. It has the 3 pt hitch. I plan on running a line to the hydraulic fill hole on my JD 4310. I have never used one. Any hints from anyone that has used one. Most our soil is a sandy loam.

Thanks Paul

The 3 pt hitch was home made. Fairly heavy duty but the factory one looks cleaner.

The original owner of your used driver must have known the guy I bought mine from. Mine had a huge 100lb chunk of steel welded on the top of the driver. Not fun attaching to my Kubota, the driver was too tipsy. The owner also told me no springs required because of the weight. My advice is to purchase a new set of springs and remove the extra weight. The driver will work great in sandy loam without the weight and will be safer to use.

Shaver Operator Manual
http://www.shavermfg.com/downloads/HD8-Operator-Manual.pdf

 

[Luremaker]

If the driver came off a John Deere tractor, The valve will not work on any other brand without modification or changing. It will work again on John Deere. (open and closed hydraulics) Ken Sweet

Ken, are you talking about the valve on the driver or the valve on the tractor?

 

[sweettractors]

Ken, are you talking about the valve on the driver or the valve on the tractor?

Valve on the driver. Ken Sweet

 

[Luremaker]

Valve on the driver. Ken Sweet

Looking in Shaver's manual I see no mention of a specific JD valve. Is this still the case or only on early models. My driver was built in the seventies and has the original valve. I though the original owner of my driver had a JD. All had to do was change the quick connects.

 

[disco]

Thanks for all of the replies.

Last week it warmed up. Hooked up the driver to my 4310. Seemed to work OK. I just raised it up a little. I did not have it mounted to the tractor. Has anyone ever hooked up the return line to a JD 4310? I was going to put a short extension on the fill hole to make it easier to hook the return line to. As far as the added weight goes. If I removed the plates I would'nt have anything left. They are all over it. I did find the springs. Plan on ordering them. My soil is pretty sandy so i'm hoping they should drive right in.

I wish I lived down south right now.Lots of snow the last couple of days. Come on April.

Thanks Paul

 

[955Lincoln]

I'm curious how these things work. Does the hydraulic cylinder lift a heavy weight and then drop it in a free fall? Latch on, lift, do it again?

 

[Luremaker]

I'm curious how these things work. Does the hydraulic cylinder lift a heavy weight and then drop it in a free fall? Latch on, lift, do it again?

Watch the video... you'll see how nice they work.

YouTube - Post Driver Tractor Attachment

 

[turbo466]

Has anyone ever hooked up the return line to a JD 4310?

I used a shaver on my 4020. I rigged something up with a tarp strap to hold the hose in place. Beware the return line will jump around like a snake when the oil comes rushing through it, hence the mess of oil all over my 4020 platform.

 

[DJ54]

After watching my neighbor use his HD-8 with the cranks, I decided one would be better than hand digging, but if I could find a hydraulic tilt one, that would be the berries... As luck would have it, one showed up on ebay about a month later. Pretty decent shape, and I ended up buyng it for 1/3 the price of a new one. Sure am glad I got the hydraulic tilt, as it's a one man job driving the posts.

I did break one of the springs, after driving about 50 posts. Kencove was the least expensive. Local dealers wanted $10.00 more per spring + shipping from the regional warehouse. I figured that one broke, might as well get a spare. I ended up getting some fence splices, and the tool, which I needed anyway, because I believe anything over $80.00 or $100.00 (can't remember..) was free shipping. Real nice lady I spoke to on the phone there...

It's not nearly as fast on my little Ford 2000, as it would be on one of the higher gpm pump tractors I have, but it's a lot closer to the ground, since I'd be getting off at least 2 to 3 times, getting things lined up, for the 200 + posts that needed driven. Sure beats spuddin' them in by hand..!!

I had heard before that you should not sharpen the larger posts. I did sharpen a few of the 6" corner/end posts. A pretty sharp point, of at least a 60ｺ angle. They may drive easier, but they have a tendency to drift sideways, if they hit a rock. And usually it wasn't until I got down about 3'. I tried one without sharpening, and it went in straight as a die. So did the rest of them that way, and they too drove straight.

To each his own, but for the right money, a full hydraulic driver is well worth the money in my book...