Post Driver

57JD320S · Jan 29, 2011

Ran across this locally today. It is for sale for 700.00. It is a front mount and will not match up with my JD 4300. Was thinking of building a 3pt hitch bracket but not sure if it would be worth the work. Anyone can weigh in.

simonds · Jan 30, 2011

That is something that I have been thinking about. A fence post driver for my 3 pt hitch. In my area there is gov. money available to people for fencing. It has to be pressure treated posts and have to be driven in. I have augers and backhoe, but they won't allow them. I wonder who sells them. I'll have to check on it. I have my name on the list of preferred contractors. May be able to pick up a few of these jobs this summer. Can't make a good living doing carpenter work around here anymore.
Clayton

Zebrafive · Jan 30, 2011

Have you checked with the manufacturer for the availbility of a 3pt mount kit? Might be cheaper than fabbing your own.

Does your tractor have the gpm required to run it? Is it open center or closed hydraulics? Can it be changed if it needs to for your tractor?

Luremaker · Jan 30, 2011

57JD320S said:
Ran across this locally today. It is for sale for 700.00. It is a front mount and will not match up with my JD 4300. Was thinking of building a 3pt hitch bracket but not sure if it would be worth the work. Anyone can weigh in.

That looks to be a shaver HD8, like mine. The price may be a little high if the hydraulic valve and cylinder need work or replacing. A brand new HD8 is $1495 plus $342 for the 3pt mount kit. You might find one for less somewhere else not sure. I have both the new parts manual and new Owner's Manual in pdf. PM me if you want a copy.

My neighbor has the same driver mounted on the front of his tractor and prefers it there. I have mine on the 3pt.

Shaver Manufacturer
Shaver Post Drivers

Most Parts Still Available
Shaver Parts

57JD320S · Jan 30, 2011

Luremaker, thanks for the info. I have been researching these for a bit and was aware of the HD8. This is much older than that but was rebuilt about two years ago (owner said it cost 1200 for the rebuild).

Thanks
Forrest

disco · Feb 9, 2011

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.

sweettractors · Feb 9, 2011

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

disco · Feb 9, 2011

Ken thanks for the reply. It was on a JD 4020. I have a 4020 but wanted to use it on a smaller tractor. I guess I don't the difference between closed and open system.

Thanks Paul

Mounted Madness · Feb 9, 2011

I own a Shaver HD-8 and it works great. Rigging it to work on my BX24 was a real hassle and doubled the cost...learned a lot though. I'm getting a new B3030HSDC, so I suspect the unit will work far better on the new machine.

With the heavy clay we have here, pounding posts is rather easy, it's more like pushing posts into the ground.

Does the unit have the power - yeah. Is the price a little high, yeah. I'd go new for the difference, particularly if there's government money to help the process along.

:thumbsup:

sweettractors · Feb 10, 2011

disco said:
Ken thanks for the reply. It was on a JD 4020. I have a 4020 but wanted to use it on a smaller tractor. I guess I don't the difference between closed and open system.

Thanks Paul

If you are putting it back on a older smaller Deere, you will be fine. The newer Deere, I don't know? The valves were usually made by Cross and some were convertable (with a kit) and some were not. If you need to buy a new valve, they are not cheap. Ken Sweet

Luremaker · Feb 10, 2011

disco said:
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 · Feb 10, 2011

sweettractors said:
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 · Feb 10, 2011

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

Valve on the driver. Ken Sweet

Luremaker · Feb 10, 2011

sweettractors said:
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 · Feb 22, 2011

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 · Feb 22, 2011

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 · Feb 22, 2011

OldandWorn said:
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 · Feb 22, 2011

disco said:
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 · Feb 22, 2011

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...