Can anyone help me with my fence problem?

this machine is a big help but will not drive a t post in to ROCK. I have one and it will drive in very hard ground but I know it will not drive in to hard rock.

I have one of these and it will not drive through solid rock but it will drive in very rocky ground. I operate mine with a tow around diesel compressor.
Takes about 4 seconds to drive a 6 ft T post in very hard GA ground. Much less after a rain.
http://rhinotool.com/products/post-drivers/pd-45/

I also made a manual post driver that weighs 69 lbs. It is made from 6" pipe with a weight on top and full length handles. It will drive a wood post in pretty hard ground. I have used it to put in corners if I could not get my tractor with a hydraulic post driver in to do the job. (Trees and wet areas) it works real well on a 4-5 sharpened wood post.

Terri, that anchor idea is pretty awesome and might work. And/or standing the posts in 5-gallon buckets and filling with gravel and soil, like Hawgsquach mentioned above. I don't have many small rocks there, the smallest are about a foot wide and a lot of the boulders 3-4 feet wide. Too big to dig out by hand and they are all VERY close together, almost like a solid 2-3 foot thick layer of rock.

Ok, here is my idea, which is a combination of your ideas and you guys can tell me what you think. I'll anchor the corner posts to something heavy, like a tree or one of the giant boulders. Then I'll run tension wire around the perimeter, which will hopefully make the corner posts are tight and not move. Then I put a 5-gallon bucket with a post in it, filled with soil and rocks every 6 feet. Then run my fence material around the whole thing, fasten it down snug. Then I'll utilize all the boulders around my place by piling them along the bottom of fence (inside and out), which will hopefully stabilize the fence sufficiently and deter the dogs from digging under the fence. Any holes in this idea? Would it work? Then I wouldn't need any other equipment, just the materials I have on hand.

I'm not sure if the fabric I got is the chicken wire some of you are referring to, because this stuff is not flimsy or brittle. It's wire that I've seen on chicken coops, as well as other livestock fencing and is pretty rigid stuff. Not chain-link rigid, but still pretty tough feeling. The fencing material I have is 5 feet tall and I have two dogs, a 95-pound lab and an 80-pound pitbull. I thought about spreading concrete inside the fenced area for extra stability, but that wouldn't be too comfortable for my pooches so I'll skip that.

By the way, the ground at my place is more than just hard soil. It consists of 3-6 inches of actual top soil. Under that are 2-4 foot wide (1-3 feet thick) granite boulders, side by side, forming an actual layer of solid hard rock, with few gaps in between. It's as if someone strategically fit these giant rocks together like a jigsaw puzzle across my 2.3 acres and layered 4 inches of soil on top. There is really no getting through it. The only way to penetrate this ground would be to bring in a giant backhoe to dig it up, but we are still talking about DAYS of digging and clearing boulders, which is a lot of money in backhoe rental fees. Any solid fence option I can accomplish ABOVE ground is going to be best. Let me know what you guys think of my idea above. If you all think it might work I'll head down there and get crackin' on it. Thanks!

I would let er rip tater chip. Let us know how it works.

If the boulder is on the inside of the fence then the dogs can run up it and go over the top. IMHO

The "rock baskets" are used everywhere here because of our sandy volcanic soil. We have tons of rock everywhere so not only does it hold up fence posts, it gives you someplace to stick all of those darn rocks!!!!

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Eternal Optimist

YUP, baskets that is what I was meaning but couldn't figure out my terms. Tubes - baskets.... My Mazama threw all kinds of rocks in Klamath County.

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Always wear your invisible crown!

Your situations sounds a lot like my last place. I didn't even think about doing fencing in the summer. I waited until the ground had a few good rains and it made all the difference in the world. I also did as somebody on here already mentioned, and piled rocks and sometimes dirt along the base of my fence to make up for the areas that I couldn't get the t-posts in far enough. I know that you are just starting out but you will want to get away from chicken wire.

Good luck!

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Jason
http://stonehillfarm.blog.com

..........If , you lived in Califuny , you'd could just wait until an earthquake occurred to mix up your cement for your posts ! , fordy

32 years in "califunny" and I felt one earthquake. There is a lot more here than the bay area and L.A.

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Jason
http://stonehillfarm.blog.com

I use those rock baskets (I call them rock cribs) for corner and line posts. I roll two layers of 4 X 4 square fencing into a cylinder and fill with rocks. No anchoring needed as the finished crib weighs well over a ton.

Hang the fence - you find places where you can sink sturdy poles into the ground - lets say a corner post first then find a spot along the fence line where you can sink another post - you then run a strong wire between these two posts - near the top of the posts - you then hang a wire fence from the wire that you put between the two posts - run another strong wire at the bottom of the wire fence - you only needed two posts and you have a fence - if the fence needs to be long you put another post into the ground wherever possible and do the same thing - for such a fence you need only a few posts in the ground -

Here's a couple pix of our rock jacks. Our fields are hard pan and the garden extends onto them. You may be able to break up some your big rocks depending on what they are made of. Ours are lava. Don't spark a forest fire though Or figure out how to move them to be used as fencing. Around here you can also scrounge bucketfuls out in the woods. DH always has a bucket and shovel in the car, although he's usually hunting pumice.

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YUP that is what I was talking about. They are used a lot in areas that are rocky.

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Always wear your invisible crown!

I second the suggestion for a pneumatic t-post driver. We have a similar situation here, plus tree roots and hardpan clay. They work well -- they will fracture smaller rocks. Won't go through, say, solid granite but they'll drive a t-post through sandstone cobbles.

Our property has 10 foot t-posts sunk 3 feet into the ground to keep out elk.

What has worked for me in the past is buying a couple of used 10’ x 10’ chainlink dog kennels. They are usually 6 feet tall and clamp together at the corners. One can find them fairly cheap if you search around the “for sale” ads in the paper and check the bulletin boards at the grocery and feed stores.
While a 10’ by 10” is only 100 square feet, if you double it (20’ x 20’) using two, you get an enclosure that is 400 square feet. That is, combining two kennels gives you 4 times the room. It is not any great roaming acreage, but it is self standing and works fairly well.

If you by any chance have a tractor, you can rent a vibrating post driver that goes on the three point hitch. It will put a good T post through almost anything, including sandstone and soft rock. if you have small baseball and softball size rocks, they will simply vibrate them to the side as the post goes down. In southern Missouri they are a lifesaver. All that I have seen, though, do require hydraulics. If there is a decent size town close, I would check at their rental center. Since it would be a common problem in your area, they may have several different pieces of equipment that would work, including a vibrating hand driver. I have rented electric jack hammers, so maybe they make an electric model post driver that could be run directly off a generator (or an extension cord if you are somewhat close to an outlet) You could see if they have something that would work for you, and try it when you get the money.

I just read that the layer of rock under your soil was granite..... forget the vibrating driver

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