The next few days are not going to be fun

[bdog]

I am sure it works in some places. Here it is painfully dry. Even at 3’ deep the dirt is so dry it is like powder. It is actually hard to get it out of the hole as it just runs off the auger like sand. I have heard of some people here who pour the dry mix in the hole and then add water but to me that just doesn’t seem as good. In the grand scheme of things and all the other costs involved mixing the concrete isn’t that hard to do. Plus I like knowing how quickly the posts will be set. If you pour dry mix in a hole and count on ground moisture to set it who knows how long that might take right? Premixing I can come back the next day and weld up the fence and know my post isn’t going to move.

We finished setting all the posts yesterday. Ended up using 8.5 pallets, or 360 80lb bags in three days. Today we start welding.

 

[Frankenkubota]

Yup

I致e set them in dry many times.

And in Oregon, Arizona, Wisconsin and North Carolina.

An old timer in Oregon caught me mixing bags for fence poles, I had maybe 75 to do.

He taught me about putting them in dry. I always add some water.

I bet him lunch it wouldn稚 work.

Lunch cost me maybe $20 in all.

Best lost bet in my life!

 

[ruffdog]

We finished setting all the posts yesterday. Ended up using 8.5 pallets, or 360 80lb bags in three days. Today we start welding.

Be sure to show pictures as you go. A nice new fence is a thing of beauty. :thumbsup:

 

[Texasmark]

In my neck of the woods, if you set wooden posts in concrete they rot off in about 3 years. Maybe the dry Texas climate causes different results.

In my N. Tx. Houston Black Clay, they wiggle up out of the ground. You pour with the crete even...at ground level. A year later, after a season of going from mud to rock to mud, you find the crete is 1" above gnd level. Next year 2"...all the while the line T posts drop an inch per year with the cracks that occur in the dry months. Only thing that keeps them from sinking completely is the bottom wire....sink down to it and stop.

 

[Jstpssng]

In my N. Tx. Houston Black Clay, they wiggle up out of the ground. You pour with the crete even...at ground level. A year later, after a season of going from mud to rock to mud, you find the crete is 1" above gnd level. Next year 2"...all the while the line T posts drop an inch per year with the cracks that occur in the dry months. Only thing that keeps them from sinking completely is the bottom wire....sink down to it and stop.

It sounds like rather than quicksand you have slowmud… with the same results over the long term.

 

[bdog]

Yup

I致e set them in dry many times.

And in Oregon, Arizona, Wisconsin and North Carolina.

An old timer in Oregon caught me mixing bags for fence poles, I had maybe 75 to do.

He taught me about putting them in dry. I always add some water.

I bet him lunch it wouldn稚 work.

Lunch cost me maybe $20 in all.

Best lost bet in my life!

We drill a lot of holes for explosives. 3.5” holes typically 10-20’ deep. One time we arrived at a job mid day and the dynamite wasn’t arriving until the next morning. We decided to drill some holes to get a head start and load them in the morning. This was not a low lying area and we were not digging in mud. The cuttings came out like fresh soil. Not dry powdery but definitely not wet. Anyway we drilled about twenty holes and the next morning when we went to load them they were all full of water up to within a foot or two of the surface. I can see where the dry mix would work fine in many places. Here is practically a desert. Maybe pouring water in the hole would work. I prefer having it mixed right. With my skid steer mixer it is probably easier than getting two bags to each hole.

 

[bdog]

Today we welded the top rail on one side of the five acres. I have three helpers but am the only one that can weld and run a torch so it was a slow process. My guys were cleaning the concrete off the posts and raking out the ground as we went along to get rid of the piles from the holes. I am pleased with how it turned out but it is going to take quite a bit more time to finish.

 

[Diggin It]

My guys were cleaning the concrete off the posts and raking out the ground as we went along to get rid of the piles from the holes.

Why? It's a fence, not a living room curio cabinet.

 

[grsthegreat]

Give them a break....why bother going thru all that hard work and not clean off spatter and dirt piles.

 

[bdog]

Because it is basically a fence around my house that borders two paved roads. I want it to look nice. It is not like it is a fence around a back 200 acre pasture or something.