ponytug
Super Member
Hmmm. Send some snow my way please. It is 50F, so I was out rebuilding our cattle sweep. When I first installed the sweep, I was dumb enough to use 5" pressure treated peeler cores for some posts, and five years later they are all rotten at ground level. Them seem to have only rotted at the first four inches below ground level. Clay soil effect? For some reason most of my round pressure treated peeler cores have rotted out.
I used the Power-Trac post driver to put the new 8x8" posts in. It is normally a breeze to pound the posts in, but one of the posts had to go in exactly where one of the peeler cores was. That meant basically driving a post in six feet, (three feet of new post driving three feet of old post three feet farther into the ground). That took awhile. Normally, it takes less than a minute to get a post put in. Then hanging the gate hinges, my drill bit hit something inside the post that was strong enough to first jam the bit and then when I tried to back it out, shear off the drill bit. I had to haul out my grandfather's brace and bit, which is at least eighty years old, to finish the job.
The real fun is that the post driver weighs what feels like a 1000lbs. Terry warned me about not putting in up to the vertical and driving around on slopes, as some owner did that and rolled his 1445. I believe it. Maneuvering the 1445 with this huge weight way out front on a slope is pucker inducing, and I was trying to beat the rain which would make the clay soil like ice. Even so, I broke through the dry upper surface to clay soup in a few places which made it interesting...
I also used the PT to lift one of the metal sweep panels out of the way, so I could dig out the hillside behind it with the LMB as the soil had slumped and was pushing the panel into the sweep, jamming it. A 1445 with the LMB just fits in half of a sweep if you park along the curve. Just. That made digging the hillside out much easier. I love not having to manhandle heavy objects because I can use the PT to lift and nudge heavy items to exactly where I need them.
If we get the rain that is forecast, I will be off the slopes for awhile. Fingers crossed, as it is all drinking water for us.
All the best,
Peter
I used the Power-Trac post driver to put the new 8x8" posts in. It is normally a breeze to pound the posts in, but one of the posts had to go in exactly where one of the peeler cores was. That meant basically driving a post in six feet, (three feet of new post driving three feet of old post three feet farther into the ground). That took awhile. Normally, it takes less than a minute to get a post put in. Then hanging the gate hinges, my drill bit hit something inside the post that was strong enough to first jam the bit and then when I tried to back it out, shear off the drill bit. I had to haul out my grandfather's brace and bit, which is at least eighty years old, to finish the job.
The real fun is that the post driver weighs what feels like a 1000lbs. Terry warned me about not putting in up to the vertical and driving around on slopes, as some owner did that and rolled his 1445. I believe it. Maneuvering the 1445 with this huge weight way out front on a slope is pucker inducing, and I was trying to beat the rain which would make the clay soil like ice. Even so, I broke through the dry upper surface to clay soup in a few places which made it interesting...
I also used the PT to lift one of the metal sweep panels out of the way, so I could dig out the hillside behind it with the LMB as the soil had slumped and was pushing the panel into the sweep, jamming it. A 1445 with the LMB just fits in half of a sweep if you park along the curve. Just. That made digging the hillside out much easier. I love not having to manhandle heavy objects because I can use the PT to lift and nudge heavy items to exactly where I need them.
If we get the rain that is forecast, I will be off the slopes for awhile. Fingers crossed, as it is all drinking water for us.
All the best,
Peter
