Wooden Fence Posts

   / Wooden Fence Posts #71  
I’m planning on buying a PTO auger anyway, but it seems like a bit of overkill to auger 200 holes. I look all around me and see posts on the marshes that have been there for a hundred years, and know that they were pounded in by hand and a heavy fencing maul. So now trying to put a 2022 spin on the chore.
Get the auger. You won’t regret it
 
   / Wooden Fence Posts #73  
I have been lurking and learning for several years, and finally may have some usefull advice. A couple years ago I discovered a very easy way to install wood posts. I pound it in an inch or so,enough to stabilize it, then use the front loader bottom to push it down. Or someone could hold the post in place while you push down with the loader. We have clay soil, buit I did it with the ground wet, and the biggest diameter I pushed was about 3 to 4 inch diameter, and it was so smooth, so easy. I have a pounding pipe that slips over the end of a round post, but have not used it since. The tractor is about 4000 pounds, so conceivably I could put over a ton of weight on the post.
 
   / Wooden Fence Posts #74  
Why you don't just try what you are thinking. If you are sharpening the end of the post and you have a heavy enough tractor it may work. It will take all of 5 minutes to find out. If your ground is dry and it doesn't work with dry ground, take a hose out there and wet if for an hour to see if it would work in wet conditions.

Every year when I put snow fence up I use the loader to drive the steel posts in. Not the same as wood but the same concept.
 
   / Wooden Fence Posts #75  
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 agree with post below about what type of ground you have. I live in East Texas and we have about 12-15” of sand and clay below that. I have a 2-cycle one man digger. I can dig a 6” diameter hole 3 to 3 1/2’ deep in about 30 seconds with. I’ve had it a while but it cost under $200. I think now they are about $250, last I saw. I think up north they are used for ice fishing also. I can get you the brand if you want,mits in the barn. 20 years old and still runs great. I also have an digger for my tractor. What I ran into with my tractor is my 6” auger for it has what I call a screw tip. Goes great through the sand but hits the clay and goes in so fast that it binds up and tractor will die. My 12” auger is very non-aggressive to the point that it will go through the sand and then spins on the clay. For larger holes I use the one man digger and drill a pilot hole, then go back and dig out with tractor.
 
   / Wooden Fence Posts #76  
We have several miles of horse fence built on Missouri clay and limestone. I’d borrow or rent a skid loader with an auger that’s just big enough for your posts. The 3-point hitch augers don’t have enough down force to work in out soil and they’re hard to line up by yourself. With our soil timing is everything. Our clay is like rock if it hasn’t rained in a week or two.
 
   / Wooden Fence Posts #77  
We put in 300 6" x 8' posts with a Countyline auger from TSC. Great unit for a 38-hp compact tractor. However, we broke dozens of shear pins and still destroyed 3 augers in the process. The neighbor tried driving them in with a mechanical post driver and every other one literally shattered. Morel of the story, Know your ground before deciding what method to use. Marshland & wood posts do not mix. I guess that's why they call this country the Rocky Mountains here in NW Montana.
 
   / Wooden Fence Posts #78  
Post hole augers are pretty cost effective. I always put in corner posts with the auger and line posts (T-posts) with down pressure from the tractor bucket. After the T-post gets started, back up a bit to keep it going in straight. You don't need any special appliance except for maybe a wife or girlfriend to hold the post upright when you get started. If the ground is a little hard you can actually pound with the bucket - that used to work really well with my old Ford 1700. However, I doubt a 6–8-inch wooden post will go in like T-posts do with only the bucket pressure unless the ground is so marshy that you risk getting the tractor stuck.
 
   / Wooden Fence Posts #79  
Are you talking those little 3" sharpened stakes? Those are meant to be pushed in. They go in easy but rot off quickly too.

https://www.farmandfleet.com/products/239365-hartbrand-7-drive-pine-wood-stake.html
In 1978, we bought a couple hundred of these for $1 each. Our fence alternated; wood and T-posts; corners, gates and pulls were old RR ties. Made a pounder from 6" pipe and 1" plate, no handles. Started a hole with a ditching shovel, plumbed post and pounded. Living along a busy highway, we used 5 barb with one hot. Today many of these wood ones are still there. The big problem was breaking off at ground level not rotting. Had to replace all the RR ties with used power poles.
 
   / Wooden Fence Posts #80  
A lot depends on how tight the ground is. Also, if the ground is too soft, you need to develop an additional mechanism to keep the wooden posts from falling. I used to have wooden posts in my yard too, but this summer, I got rid of them and replaced them with concrete posts. And between the posts, I installed special garden screens that I bought here luxuryscreens.co.uk. The concrete posts are much stronger and more resilient.
 
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