Unusual midwinter project

[Charlie_Iliff]

It had been warm for a while, and my wife had repeatedly pointed out areas where the fence was less than aqequate for the 2 and 3 yr old thoroughbred-cross future event horses. Fortunately the briers, vines and deadfalls still formed a barrier, but not acceptable to the horse owner. So, with the 4 n 1 bucket and 40 minutes of noise, I had a pile of brush with old posts and mesh wire, vines, and a couple of tree limbs that had been attached to the vines and made an impressive ringing noise on the ROPS.
Then, new 6" treated posts, driven with the post pounder, and a new run of small mesh horse fence, using the PT and boom to unroll and stretch..
We still can't get the posts exactly vertical by eyeball plumb bob, but are getting a little better. Unlike Wroughtn' Harv, we claim that a fence that waves at us like a poor relation is charming.
Much better winter project than plowing snow. None of that so far.

 

[MossRoad]

<font color="blue"> a fence that waves at us like a poor relation is charming. </font>

Hehehehee /forums/images/graemlins/grin.gif

Pretty good humor, there, Charlie.

So I have always wondered... with a post pounder, do you just eyeball it, or are there some levels on it that help out? Could you adapt some tilt meters or a cheap post leveler that has levels on two sides to the post pounder and would it be visible from the operator's point of view? Do you use two people when doing posts; one to load posts and the other to operate? Is it a pain to do it by your self, or still much easier than the auger and backfilling the holes manually? I ask, because in a few years I have to run about 3/4 to 1 mile of fence. Since the PT425 is so small and light, I figure it won't handle a pounder too well, anyway, so I'll go with an auger, but was just curious.

 

[Charlie_Iliff]

The poor relation wave is a quote from Wroughtn' Harv, whose fences are all straight and even., with posts usually set in concrete.
Although one person could set posts with the PT pounder, it's much easier with two. To do it by myself, I'd have to put a switch in the seat circuit or a block on the seat to keep the engine running.
I am sure that we could rig up levels to get the pounder vertical before setting the post. With a helper, however, we can get it very close without levels or plumb bobs. We're probably going to mount a hanging rod in a ring to make it easier for just the operator.
But, the posts don't go down perfectly aligned with the pounder. Even when you hold the post to a side and to the back of the channel, the base may walk a little when it hits a root or stone.
Keep in mind, I bought the pounder last Spring, but because of general laziness and a bad back, I have very little experience or skill, and my 3 or 4 spotter/helpers even less. The driver has to be positioned properly. Sometimes it seems steadiest with a little forward or reverse pressure on the treadle, but that doesn't seem likely to help the verticality.
I am sure that people like Ed Blackwell and his crew, who have driven thousands of posts, can set them very uniformly and vertically.
Driven posts are immediately firm. You don't need to tamp around them and wait for the dirt to settle. For a mile of fence, 500 or so posts, if you do one with a pounder, you'll curse the auger and tamper on every one of the rest.
Unfortunately, in the PT line, the 1845 is probably the smallest machine that handles the pounder. The 1430 can, but it requires a bit more care, because the pounder has a heavy weight, up high when raised, and can easily turn the tractor on its side if given the opportunity. If I were in the fencing business, I'd want a 1460. (Of course, I want a 1460 anyway - and a 425 /forums/images/graemlins/grin.gif /forums/images/graemlins/grin.gif)

 

[blackwell]

I agree it is much eaiser to set the PT post driver in position with two people. We have one guy that can hit the correct position on the first try almost every time, I can't. When it is necessary to get accurate, we use rotating horizonal laser with a reciever on the driver frame and can line up exact up to 1500 ft. from the laser.
Like you, I drove some on the back forty that looks like drunken Sailor laid out the line, but you know the horses have not complained once. /forums/images/graemlins/smile.gif /forums/images/graemlins/smile.gif
EB

 

[Charlie_Iliff]

<font color="red"> the horses have not complained once. </font>

Nor have ours. Nor have they remembered that jumping things the height of the fences is a piece of cake.

Did so well over the weekend that I decided to use the last day of decent ground to sink two posts and put a little aluminum gate in where the horse owner has been climbing over the fence. Connecting the post pounder - 2 minutes. Setting 2 posts - three minutes. reattaching the fence wire and hanging the gate took a bit longer. When I set the last staple, temp was 23 and fingers didn't want to pick any more out of the bucket. Horse owner wondered what the rattling noise was when she climbed the fence two panels away with a flake of hay under her arm. This year, when it snows, she won't have to throw the sled over the fence to take the hay across the field to the shed for the poor underprivileged animals. /forums/images/graemlins/tongue.gif