T-Post installation

[flusher]

Ok great brain trust....

We are putting in horse pasture. T-posts and then string wire on them which will be electrified.

I am a tractor newbie. I have a New Holland Boomer 24. I have read up and watched video on using the bucket to push the T-Posts into the ground.

Soil is sandy loam and pretty soft.

The corners will be wood posts and I have a buddy with a 3 point post hole auger that we will use for those. Those will also be cemented in place, as will the posts needed for the gates.

How reasonable is it for a newbie to think I will push the posts in with the bucket? Also any tips?

Trying to push T-posts into the ground with the FEL and one person is like trying to push a rope.

There's an easier way that I learned from my electrical contractor who has to drive 6-ft or longer 3/4 inch copper-coated steel ground rods into the soil.
He uses a 120 volt electric impact hammer run off a 5000 watt gasoline powered generator in the bed of his truck. You can rent these things. One person can drive T-posts this way without screwing up your shoulders or back.

Good luck

Good luck

 

[oldballs]

James KOUA,

Thanks, that video looks like a good way to do it with the FEL. Looking around at old fenced farms, one sees all sorts of crooked line posts cut from available trees. They are still standing and serving the purpose. In their own way they are works of art, as opposed to a laser straight line of T-posts. Often seen, around here are Osage Orange corner post designs set in the dirt, that will last "forever".

 

[Jerry/MT]

Ok great brain trust....

We are putting in horse pasture. T-posts and then string wire on them which will be electrified.

I am a tractor newbie. I have a New Holland Boomer 24. I have read up and watched video on using the bucket to push the T-Posts into the ground.

Soil is sandy loam and pretty soft.

The corners will be wood posts and I have a buddy with a 3 point post hole auger that we will use for those. Those will also be cemented in place, as will the posts needed for the gates.

How reasonable is it for a newbie to think I will push the posts in with the bucket? Also any tips?

In the soil you describe, a hand post pounder is the easiest way to install "T" posts. I have installed miles of them in our rocky ground with no real difficulty. I used a digging bar to "drill" a pilot home and then drove the post by hand. In your ground, it should be a piece of cake! No pilot hole required. If your are confining horses, consider putting plastic caps on the fence posts t prevent serious injuries to horses.

 

[Argonne]

I always use a FEL when driving tee posts. It takes some practice and finesse, but it is oh so much easier than pounding them in. A couple of caveats though.

a) Have the bucket full of something heavy. In any soil I've ever worked in (admittedly limited), a full bucket will drive them in smoothly with little chance of bending if you are lined up right. With an empty bucket, the necessary downforce can lift the tractor front end and risk falling off side-to-side, mis-aligning the post.

b) A hydrostatic tractor that will allow you to inch forward and back during the drive helps alot. Since buckets travel in an arc, the only way to drive the post precisely straight is to move the tractor during the drive. A hydrostat will allow you to do this. I use my JD 2210 for post driving and it works great.

c) A helper with a passing grasp of physics and an understanding of where not to have body parts if the bucket slips off the post is a big plus.

 

[wawajake]

A few years ago I spent an hour and put together a t rail post holder so I could install t rail posts by myself using the bucket to push them down.
Sorry no picture but found a 4 foot section of used pipe (it actually was the lower half of a teleposts you use for basement beam supports common at every hardware store ) but any pipe bigger than t rail will work, then a made a wooden teepee with hole thru the base (four pices of wood for verticals and a wooden base 16 " x 16' with hole for t rail to go thru. Place it on ground where I want t rail to go, level if need be with scrap wood quickly, put t rail into the pipe , and jump on tractor and push down with bucket, you get used to the bucket push down within a few posts . I use this often in spring and fall because I have clay, but would easy work in most soils , if one does go in crooked by a bit, you can easily bend them straight . Put the sledge hammer away you don't need it..........I see Argonne describe it above well while I was typing this

 

[Ford850]

wawajake - Sledge hammer? Yikes! Yeah I would be using a FEL before I would drive many posts with a sledge. But a good manual post driver is hard to beat.

 

[Ford850]

I keep thinking of driving posts where I have had to install fences, and not thinking of wide open flat pastures. Flat fields would work fine for a tractor, but I usually have hills, trees, etc to consider too. There are a few nice air assist drive options too:
Striker TS Air Operated Post Driver - YouTube
http://www.rohrermfg.com/post-drivers/98e-basic-t-post-driver/

 

[holeycow]

In the soil you describe, a hand post pounder is the easiest way to install "T" posts. I have installed miles of them in our rocky ground with no real difficulty. I used a digging bar to "drill" a pilot home and then drove the post by hand. In your ground, it should be a piece of cake! No pilot hole required. If your are confining horses, consider putting plastic caps on the fence posts t prevent serious injuries to horses.

I agree, and just noticed the "horse fence" detail.

I really don't like those t-posts around horses. I would use treated wood for all the posts. They will cost the same or less and are way more horse friendly, imo.

Good, sturdy caps would be a must on those sharp t-post tops. And still the horses will probably remove many.

rent a hydraulic post pounder for wood posts. Pound t-posts by hand with a sliding, capped-pipe type pounder

Pounded posts below frost stay way better than any augered-and-tamped post.

You only need 3 big posts for a good corner. With two horizontal rails (10 foot landscape ties work well) and two brace wires.

Make sure your fencewire is visible! Don't move horses to a new pasture just before dark. Oh gawd! Horses. We used to have over 30 of them. Loved them all, but kinda glad in a way that they are no longer here. Spectacular animals. Requiring lots of TLC.

Some horses will find a way to hurt themselves in a room full of pillows, some never hurt themselves.

Good luck with your fencing project. Lots of good advice here...

 

[quicksandfarmer]

you might want to look at this video and see if this interests you.

Two and a half minutes -- less whatever time they edited out -- with two guys, to drive one post? I could drive five by hand in that time. Two of me could drive ten.

 

[PILOON]

Some other observations.
Using a sledge is a no no as each blow sets up a vibration and the next swing often misses the T bar resulting in a seriously sore leg.
Besides you need a step ladder and if you miss the T bar you end up on your azz. LOL

 

[TheMan419]

The video of the "pounder" attached to the bucket is interesting. However the only ones I can find on line require you to drill a hole in your bucket. No dice here.

As far as the advice regarding horses around t-posts..... my wife trains them for a living. So SWMBO says we are using t-posts. The wire will be electrified and highly visibly. Yes we will be using caps on the posts. Not stupid. Just trying to figure out how to drive them efficiently.

I will check with local rental places. The air driven driver looks even easier than using the bucket.

As for using the bucket I will have help, so it will be a two man job for sure.

Thanks for all the advice!

 

[Argonne]

So SWMBO says we are using t-posts.

Level headed boss you have there. In 3 rail mine would have cost 200 grand. That argument was thankfully brief.

 

[TheMan419]

Level headed boss you have there. In 3 rail mine would have cost 200 grand. That argument was thankfully brief.

Yeah we would both LOVE 3 rail..... but oooof the cost would be crazy even if you did all the labor yourself. Maybe some day we will get there. Just do not want the high tensile wire. We are going with something that looks like a rope, but it is braided with copper wire inside and can be electrified. Highly visible as well.

 

[gwdixon]

OK, just an ugly, ugly story to go with this thread re: horses and T-posts.

After driving the T-posts on my neighbor's fence line the tops mushroom out a bit and are sharp. A young girl was visiting and playing with a young colt.

The colt was spooked by my dog and a T-post tore a hole in his neck skin. He was stuck on the post thrashing about and bleeding heavily. The girl was screaming in panic. The colt finally got loose but was in need of serious vet care.

So, protect those T-post tops. Electric works but a spooked horse is unpredictable (as you know).

Don't know why I added this. Guess it got to me to see that happen.

 

[Al 2]

Check out the videos for the Ski Drill and the Rhino GPD 30. post drivers. Very portable.
Al

 

[powerscol]

T-posts and horses do not mix, even with the safety caps, which become brittle and fall off with age. I know after going through a large laceration and a big vet bill. Do yourself a favor and use wood posts with wood or plastic fence stays between. I run a 5 smooth wire fence for the horses and no electric. It can be electrified if needed with stand offs.

Just my 02, but been there.

Hope this helps

 

[CDN Farm Boy]

Saw this video on the sidebar when looking at the Striker video Fence Post Driver - Self-Propelled Extreme Driver - YouTube Why do all the videos advertising driving wood posts show them driving posts with flat ends? Am I the only one that thinks it's silly to do it that way? A few seconds with the chain saw to sharpen the end would make driving the post SOOOOOO much easier. No more or less susceptible to frost heave and far easier to drive back down if/when they do heave.

 

[TheMan419]

T-posts and horses do not mix, even with the safety caps, which become brittle and fall off with age. I know after going through a large laceration and a big vet bill. Do yourself a favor and use wood posts with wood or plastic fence stays between. I run a 5 smooth wire fence for the horses and no electric. It can be electrified if needed with stand offs.

Just my 02, but been there.

Hope this helps

Yeah and we have had horses get tangled up in the wire and cut tendons and have to be put down as a result. No matter what fencing you use there are dangers and draw backs. Wood post etc that you talk about are safer. They are also way more money. We can only do what we can do.

 

[holeycow]

Around here the local farm stores have tow-behind hydraulic post pounders for rent. They are branded "heavy hitter". They have their own gas motor so you can even run them off a pickup truck, depending on terrain and such. They work very well and are worth every penny. It is the way its done when you want to put in miles of wire.

They may exist, but I've never seen a decent insulator for a t-post.

The electric rope i have used was unsatisfactory as it degraded in only a few years. I have had much better luck with Galagher "turbo wire", which lasts a long time and is still very visible even if quite thin. Ymmv. Had a little tape too (a little is 1/2 mile or so to me). Didn't like the tape much at all. We hung flagging on lots of sections of fence when we had our herd of horses. It helps them see the fence at night.

High tensile wire with no power in it is dangerous, IMO. Horses don't need much voltage to gain respect. Many of them learn when the fence is on or off. Keep it on, always.

I still think T-posts are not acceptable for horse fence.

 

[powerscol]

Yeah and we have had horses get tangled up in the wire and cut tendons and have to be put down as a result. No matter what fencing you use there are dangers and draw backs. Wood post etc that you talk about are safer. They are also way more money. We can only do what we can do.

No worries - I understand. Just wanted to pass on my experience. I had to replace 300' of fence this year around my equipment yard which is next to the horse pasture. I had used a combination woven fence with T-posts that was supposedly horse rated. One of the mares got a hoof caught while kicking at another horse - I was very lucky I was right there. At least it came off the T posts easily when she struggled. I was able to get her untangled with only a badly bruise hock. I replaced the T posts with wood, and full wood top rail and chain link fabric (Was cheaper then tight weave horse fence) I wish you the best. If I may ask what kind of horses do you have. Mine are a 1/2 paint and 1/2 Arab and a full registered paint - the one that got tangled.