Driving wood posts

[Mark T]

Has anyone used a tractor-mounted wooden post driver?

How well do they work?

I imagine they are a huge timesaver over manually digging and tamping postholes. How many posts canj a tractor-mounted driver push in an hour of work?

A couple books say that driven posts tend to stay solid longer than posts in dug holes. What is your experience?

Are used post drivers available? What would be a reasonable price?

[agmantoo]

Originally Posted by Mark T

Has anyone used a tractor-mounted wooden post driver?

I have a 3 point mount post driver and it works fine where there is not a lot of rocks.


I imagine they are a huge timesaver over manually digging and tamping postholes. How many posts canj a tractor-mounted driver push in an hour of work?

They pound instead of push. I can by myself put 6 to 8 an hour in. With help I can double that or more.


A couple books say that driven posts tend to stay solid longer than posts in dug holes. What is your experience?

You drive the small end of the post into the ground. The post stay tight but you still need to build corners. I use the H pattern on corners.


Are used post drivers available? What would be a reasonable price?

Used are available. I bought mine used for $600. A few weeks later I had access to a better one for $300.

You did not ask this but if you want the post to be really vertical/straight use a one man motorize hole digger with a small auger and make a pilot hole. If you get the post started crooked then you cannot straighten it with the post driver. My neighbor has a post driver that mounts to a skidsteer. It takes two people to use the setup but it works good.







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[genebo]

I've used one a couple of times. They're faster than any other way I've used to set wooden posts. They're terribly noisy! Ear protection required!

The posts stay firmly in place quite well. They will take a slant if they hit a rock. Then you either accept a crooked post or try to straighten it up by pushing it with the tractor, without breaking it. Once it's straightened, you have to tamp around it.

I never timed how long it took to set posts, but I'm sure it's less than 10 minutes per post. Most of that is positioning and alignment. Your soil will affect the time, too. It's harder with roots and rocks in it.

The one I used would cost about $3000 new, but my neighbor bought it old and used for $500 at an auction. A little oil and grease and one new hydraulic hose and we were in business.

They're not very rare. I've seen three of them in use near me.

Genebo
Paradise Farm

[Up North]

They work quite well. We had a Shaver Pounder mounted on the front end of an IH 560 diesel tractor. In heavy soils or for large diameter wood posts, one can sharpen the end of the post like a pencil using an axe to facilitate the operation. Click on link to view the Shaver Post Pounder: http://www.beavervalleysupply.com/sectioni/shaverpd.htm

[Ronney]

Yes, we have one (we call them post thumpers here) and they are quick and efficient but do have their limitations. They really do need two people to operate them if you want a good, straight fenceline and they're no good for posts that need foots on them i.e. post in dips and hollows. Nor are they any use for strainer posts as they need footed too. However, there is more than one way to foot a post and if you can be bothered to go to the trouble, a thumper can be a good investment if you have a lot of fencing to do.

Cheers,
Ronnie

[Old John]

If the post has any taper at all, with the bigger end pushed down, won't the top, smaller end have a little wiggle room? And won't it be a bit loose?
Do you have to put the smaller end Down??

[Jennifer L.]

Originally Posted by Old John

If the post has any taper at all, with the bigger end pushed down, won't the top, smaller end have a little wiggle room? And won't it be a bit loose?
Do you have to put the smaller end Down??

No. You are pounding into the ground with a lot of force and the ground springs back against the post. They are in there really tight.

I use the bucket on my Bobcat to pound posts. It pounds at a speed a little faster than you could pound with a maul by hand, but probably not as fast as a dedicated fence driver.

You set the post by slamming it into the ground a few inches, get back on the machine and then lower the bucket down onto the post and start the post down by just resting the bucket on it. This is the point you get it set straight, then when the post won't go down anymore with the bucket resting on it, start pounding.

I've done all my fencing this way for the past 30+ years.

Jennifer

[genebo]

I watched them pour the foundation for one of our big, multi-axis machines. They drove telephone poles in the ground first, to support the concrete slab. They always drove the telephone pole small end first. It got tighter as they went and if they couldn't get it in all the way, they cut the top off.

I drove fence posts the way they drove pilings.

Genebo
Paradise Farm

[agmantoo]

In the clay we have the smaller end down is the only way to install wood posts with the post driver. On fence post, if there is a track loader available it is the absolute best way to press the post into position. I can fill the bucket with dirt and I can push the post in with the down pressure created by the weight in the bucket and the hydraulic machine pressure about as fast as I can drive from post to post location and get positioned. The only delay is the assistant getting the post to be pushed into the ground in the correct place. I premark on the post the depth the post is to be pushed into the ground so I know when to stop pushing.