Wooden Fence Posts

[ford2110]

We have horses in CT. Wife would have no part of high tensile wire or livestock panels. We did wood board fencing at the barn for a secure area during bad weather and for new horses. All the rest of our fields are set up for rotationally grazing. All of that area is electrified woven rope or tape. All wood posts were augured in(75 or so) the main board fence paddock area and all the corners of the separate grazing fields. All the rest is two rows of electric fencing. We started at the barn and just plugged away a little at a time expanding as we went. It's lot of time consuming work though. It doesn't take long to auger holes, but back filling and leveling each one eats up a lot of time. If you're putting up any kind of wire fencing in soft ground you will have to reinforce your corners with diagonal bracing eventually also. If had to start again today and build new with 200 posts all at once, I would start by calling local fencing companies to get a quote on them pounding all the posts in.

 

[Gil A]

New member, & First Post. I’ve searched the forums, but it seems like I’ll need some time looking around before I know where to look. I’m looking to put in a couple hundred wooden fence posts, and am not interested in pounding them in by hand (I know, I’m lazy) , and feel that an auger is probably more then I need. What about a bale spear or a hollow piece of well casing pipe fastened to the FEL , would the down pressure of the loader (maybe some ballast weight in the bucket) be enough to push the spike or casing into the ground so I could then push a sharpened wooden post in?

Thanks in advance, and don’t worry about hurting my feelings…. I’m a total newbie to farming

Forget pounding in wood post unless post are small diameter and you have soft ground. Easy way is using a mechanical post hole digger, either tractor driven or a PTO or two man engine driven. You may rent, buy or borrow. And there's the old way which I have used for the past 50+ years is a long handled human driven "Post Hole digger". They may still be purchased new or found in an antique store or flea market. If using a tractor driven make sure there is a low tinsel bolt (shear bolt) that attaches the auger to the turning gear. Know by personal experience as some put a high tinsel bolt on mine and it results in over $100 repair on my tractor driven post hole digger.
Short answer on putting a fence is there is hard WORK involved thus use whatever is necessary to reduce the effort involved.
Regards, Gil

 

[frugalangler]

Use a tulip bulb auger in cordless drill

 

[Nikkorott]

New member, & First Post. I’ve searched the forums, but it seems like I’ll need some time looking around before I know where to look. I’m looking to put in a couple hundred wooden fence posts, and am not interested in pounding them in by hand (I know, I’m lazy) , and feel that an auger is probably more then I need. What about a bale spear or a hollow piece of well casing pipe fastened to the FEL , would the down pressure of the loader (maybe some ballast weight in the bucket) be enough to push the spike or casing into the ground so I could then push a sharpened wooden post in?

Thanks in advance, and don’t worry about hurting my feelings…. I’m a total newbie to farming

Welcome to the neighborhood!
I've gone to the Trail & Error School of Fencing. What I've learned is that as the soil/seasons/critters change so does everything else.

• An auger on a tractor, either PTO or hydraulic, can make a lot of holes fast. Once you get into a rhythm you'll be surprised how fast it goes.
• For a couple hundred bucks you can get one person gas powered auger at Home Depot or Harbor Freight. I have a couple of these for when I'm only sinking a few posts. If you go this route your back will be complaining the next day.
• I tried a gas powered post pounder. My experience was a complete clown show. Your results may differ.
• In wet marshy soil, cementing wooden posts in tends allow them to rot right at the soil line.

An added tip; Forget using string line. Small gauge electric fencing works best IMHO.

 

[bordercollie]

We are putting in T posts and using used creosote crosstie posts as bracing . Using Staytough wire and stretching with a DK40 se and a wire roller from Tractor Supply. We have a skid steer and auger and also a hyd t post pounder. ( Have a lot of falling over fence so have run miles so far.
We rebuilt a catch pin using guardrails and treated 5x5 treated posts from a big box store. The post rotted at the ground within 5 years and we did'nt use concrete- Not good... All that's holding it upnow are loose chains around trees. Loose chains so trees won't girdle.

 

[bgr]

New member, & First Post. I’ve searched the forums, but it seems like I’ll need some time looking around before I know where to look. I’m looking to put in a couple hundred wooden fence posts, and am not interested in pounding them in by hand (I know, I’m lazy) , and feel that an auger is probably more then I need. What about a bale spear or a hollow piece of well casing pipe fastened to the FEL , would the down pressure of the loader (maybe some ballast weight in the bucket) be enough to push the spike or casing into the ground so I could then push a sharpened wooden post in?

Thanks in advance, and don’t worry about hurting my feelings…. I’m a total newbie to farming

If you are in the Northeast, locus posts are the ones to use. They are like iron. Very long life.

 

[sailonner]

If I had my druthers, I'd use Tee-posts. They drive with a standard post driver into clay soil. The old cedar they used for fence posts a hundred years ago was likely first growth, and not the crappy third growth you get today. It won't last so long.

 

[bigtiller]

Use a tulip bulb auger in cordless drill

So do I. It makes lining up a t-post and pounding it in a little easier. Gotta use 2 hands on the drill though.

 

[marhar]

New member, & First Post. I’ve searched the forums, but it seems like I’ll need some time looking around before I know where to look. I’m looking to put in a couple hundred wooden fence posts, and am not interested in pounding them in by hand (I know, I’m lazy) , and feel that an auger is probably more then I need. What about a bale spear or a hollow piece of well casing pipe fastened to the FEL , would the down pressure of the loader (maybe some ballast weight in the bucket) be enough to push the spike or casing into the ground so I could then push a sharpened wooden post in?

Thanks in advance, and don’t worry about hurting my feelings…. I’m a total newbie to farming

I guess it would depend on how hard your ground is.

Can you rent a post pounder from any equipment rental shop nearby?

Can you push a 3/8 threaded rod in the ground by hand?

 

[shadowm77]

i would rent a mini excavator with hydraulic thumb that should pound them in soft ground should not be a problem