Post hole boring / knocking with a little MF35?

[Chris Wilson]

Hi, new here, and to tractors in genearl. I am in the UK, with a beautifully restored MF35, looking to bore or knock some posts for a corral. I know you can run a PTO driven geared borer off the back linkage, but we are in amongst a lot of trees here, and I believe they can be a PITA if they snag roots and wind themselves in on the root system, as you can't reverse the PTO to wind them out. I was wondering if you could run a controlled weight type post knocker on a 35, or isn't it heavy / big enough? Something like a small Parmiter type, where the weight is raised with a chain and a small ram, then drops down a column onto the top of the post.

Alternatively, would it be feasible to run a hydraulic post hole borer, either off the tractors on board hydraulics, or even off a PTO driven pump, which I believe exists, hanging the hydraulic borer on the front end loader frame? The type of borer I am thinking of is most often seen on diggers or Bobcats. I beleive they need at least 35 litres / min flow, and I &THINK* the tractors hydraulics only muster 12.5 litres / minute.

Any tips most welcome, thanks.

 

[Farmwithjunk]

I'm sticking with the opinion I gave in the hydraulics forum. A hydraulic driven auger would overtax the internal pump on that MF35. Just not enough flow. (GPM's) The pump would provide enough PSI, just not enough volume of flow. Hanging the auger on a loader would increase the problem. That same pump would be marginal to operate the loader and far short of big enough for BOTH needs. A "stinger" pump on the front (crankshaft driven) is one option. Even easier to install would be the PTO driven pump.

A post driver (knocker as you call it) as I know them, would be a real workout for a tractor of the age and size of a MF35. Not saying it won't handle it, just that I'd probably lean towards the pto pump driven hydraulic OR an auger driven directly from the PTO.

Does your MF35 have a "ground speed" pto setting? If so, you can reverse a stuck pto auger by putting the pto in ground speed, jacking a rear wheel off the ground, put the transmission in reverse, and with the engine running, ease the clutch out and the pto will run in reverse. That's a lot of trouble, but so is digging out a stuck auger.

 

[ben5500]

my father used to use a cable post driver on his 135.no probs and you don't have to fill the holes in..how many posts? is it cost effective to use a contractor