Bring on the spring fencing!

[SFM in KY]

The resident design engineer has just completed the manufactureb of his newest 'tractor gadget' and as soon as it QUITS RAINING an the ground dries out enough the spring fencing will begin!

Whee! no more post hole digging ... and the next 'gadget' ... in the design process now ... is a steel post driver that will attach to the bucket!

[luvrulz]

Engineering at it's best! Bad storm coming our way on Monday pm with hail and high winds - might wait till later in the week - be careful!

[Beeman]

Why not just a PTO auger? Pushing down on that digger with hydraulics might be interesting. How big is that auger? I always had problems with a small auger as far as getting the post straight and inline.

[salmonslayer]

Nice job. After fencing for the last month and digging corner posts by hand we have a friend coming over tomorrow to dig 24 12" holes with his Bobcat. We will give him a couple hundred bucks and man is it worth it. We finished the perimeter fence but we bought another peice of property and have to fence that in along with some cross fencing. We are very sore but once the ground dries out we are done until next year. Even driving a T-post is like pounding into concrete.

[SFM in KY]

Originally Posted by Beeman

Why not just a PTO auger? Pushing down on that digger with hydraulics might be interesting. How big is that auger? I always had problems with a small auger as far as getting the post straight and inline.

If I am repeating what he said correctly, he didn't want to take off the blade that works off the PTO because he uses it almost daily. He's doing quite a lot of roadwork, leveling a place for a shed, grading for a waterline, etc., all of which requires the blade so wanted something that could be easily and quickly attached and detached. This one is a 6" ... he's getting an 8" ... the auger bits are ... I'm told ... fairly easy to change out.

And while I will not admit to saying it ... I think he also likes to design 'stuff'. During the bad weather when he can't work much outside, he spends a LOT of time with a small drafting board and graph paper designing new projects!

[fordson major]

does the tractor push down or does a person? looks like a stand in the back that sits on the ground then you push on the handels to lower the auger? have one for the skidsteer, (hydraulic) have to make up a bracket still! may just fit it too the fork lift forks!

[SFM in KY]

Originally Posted by ford major

does the tractor push down or does a person? looks like a stand in the back that sits on the ground then you push on the handels to lower the auger? have one for the skidsteer, (hydraulic) have to make up a bracket still! may just fit it too the fork lift forks!

Okay ... I'll have to get some more information after I see it work! I'm not mechanically minded enough to understand all of what I was told.

It does have handles, but that is because it was originally a hand-held motor drive auger. It is too heavy/ awkward for us to deal with now and really hard on arthritic shoulders when it hits a rock, so we haven't used it for several years now ... I'll be 70, DH is 82. He built the frame to mount it on the tractor and there is a counterweight/ pulley system that is what pushes it down (I think).

[fordson major]

Originally Posted by SFM in KY

Okay ... I'll have to get some more information after I see it work! I'm not mechanically minded enough to understand all of what I was told.

It does have handles, but that is because it was originally a hand-held motor drive auger. It is too heavy/ awkward for us to deal with now and really hard on arthritic shoulders when it hits a rock, so we haven't used it for several years now ... I'll be 70, DH is 82. He built the frame to mount it on the tractor and there is a counterweight/ pulley system that is what pushes it down (I think).

cool!! i can understand the getting thrown around by hitting a rock!! put up many miles of fence as a teen and often times had to jump on the frame of the post auger to get it to go down!! how we survived to get into adulthood i sometimes wonder!! if i saw my kids doing that they would not sit for a week!! (if i survived the heart attack!!)

[Bearfootfarm]

You don't have to push an auger down.
It will pull itself into the ground.

It has to be raised periodically to clear the dirt from the hole

If it's set up to pivot, it will align itself as it goes down

[Beeman]

Mine aligns itself, until it hits a rock and then it realigns itself.

[barnyardgal]

a little off track here but fencing is getting very expensive!! so i try to make repairs on what i have to work with...

[SFM in KY]

Originally Posted by barnyardgal

a little off track here but fencing is getting very expensive!! so i try to make repairs on what i have to work with...

Very expensive. Fortunately, we've got a lot of steel posts so that isn't going to be one of the major expenses. However, we are going to have to 'hard wire' two of the outside perimeter fences this year ... two strands of twisted smooth wire and a top strand of barbed wire. There's a cornfield behind our pasture and if it isn't the deer tearing down the hotwire, it's the horses leaning over when the deer have broken something and shorted it out, so are going to try that.

The wire isn't cheap either!