DIY: Bucket-mounted T-Post driver

[TXHF]

I made one that goes on the side of my bucket and it twist the loader a good bit when in hard ground. I'm going to move it so a hay spear I have and mount it in the center. View attachment 521827

Nice work! I suspect that hard ground will also tilt my FEL. Ones that won't drive in, I'll come back to with a full bucket of stone for added weight and as mentioned by someone else, sleeve the T-post with a galvanized steel pipe to prevent it from bending when driving it. If it is a large rock, what do you do? Dig it out or hammer drill it?

 

[Deere Dude]

I just put in 50 posts that were a bear to drive in. It got to where i could drive them in by hand about 4-5" and stop. I ordered a 16" concrete hammer drill bit but that didn't work for me.

I thought it was all rock so I called my neighbor over with his backhoe. He dug in a spot and it didn't seem so bad so I cut him loose. I tried again with the same crappy results.

Finally I drove them in by hand until they wouldn't jump around and were firm, about 6". Then I got a bucket of stone and centered the bucket over the post about 8-10" above it.

With mine I could release it and recover as quick as I could and the bucket would drop just enough to pile drive the post in 2-3". If I didn't recover fast enough and the bucket would drop farther that 2-3" past the post top the post would bend then would have to be replaced.

After dropping the bucket on them a few times the posts were set as deep as I wanted. But the bucket bent up in the bottom in a few spots from the force.

If I would have attached a driver or something else to keep the post centered to the bottom of the bucket I think that would have worked.

 

[STx]

Great idea in soft farm country. I don't believe this would work in South Texas. I could be wrong but I just don't see it working ..

I push posts in with my tractor all the time. I'm near Freer. Trick is to have some moisture in the ground. Right now, I'm running a 24GPM ag impact for about 12 hours in the area I need to work and then letting it soak for another day before working. We've only had 2" of rain at my place since May though. If I could get 3-4 inches of rain, I'd be able to get so much more done.