driving T post

[Jimbrown]

Anyone found a good way or made some device to drive T post with a CUT

 

[Wannafish]

That's what they make a FEL bucket and a wife for!

Wife holds T post in upright condition; you load bucket 1/2 full of sand/dirt (for extra weight) then raise above the t post and "hammer" the post into the ground. Make sure the bucket isn't too close to the t post holder, and that the holder's hands are not near the top of the post.
If using this method, be extremely careful.

 

[JerryG]

If you will search the net for post driver, you will find several. I have a Danuser and really like it. When using a tractor mounted driver, you do have to be careful not to bend them. /forums/images/graemlins/blush.gif

 

[Richard]

Yet another "useless" job for a backhoe /forums/images/graemlins/grin.gif

County dropped off some "no parking" signs for me, as I told them I'd install them ... Had nephew hold up while I cupped them with backhoe bucket (then he moved). I used the hoe to push down. Slid into the earth neater than (insert a clever Wroughtn Harv saying here).

Best of all, since there was no hole dug with loose dirt around it, it was very tight from the beginning.

Some yahoos stole the prior ones that were out. I suppose they yanked them with vehicle, or worked back/forth by hand. The ones I put in using this method are currently bent up where same (?) yahoos TRIED to yank them out, but since they are stuck about 4' into the ground, they had a much more difficult time than when they were stuck 18" into the hand dug hole the county used.

Richard

 

[rockinmywaypa]

I don't like using the loader at all. If the post hits any kind of obstruction lioke a stone or hard pan the loader bends them into a boomerang. I made a pounder out of a piece of 3 inch pipe about four feet long with a chunck of real thick plate on top. The day I made it I just happened to find the round piece about two inches thick and knew immediately what I was going to use it for.

 

[Bird]

I watched a fellow just push t-posts into the ground with a pretty good sized TLB once, so I tried it with my little Kubota in my hard clay and couldn't push the post down even 1"; just raised the front wheels of the tractor off the ground. /forums/images/graemlins/laugh.gif

 

[jinman]

</font><font color="blue" class="small">( I tried it with my little Kubota in my hard clay and couldn't push the post down even 1"; )</font>

Bird, I've found that the ability to push T-posts into the ground is directly proportional to the moisture in the soil and the number of rocks in line with the insertion path. However, with a heavy tractor and the right conditions, it will bring tears to your eyes because it works so well it makes you realize all the wasted time you spent whacking posts with a post pounder. /forums/images/graemlins/tongue.gif /forums/images/graemlins/laugh.gif /forums/images/graemlins/grin.gif

I would caution anyone about using the bucket as a hammer. If you can't push the post in with smooth constant pressure, use the post driver. You do not want to take a chance on launching a post into your "holder" or smacking them with your bucket. /forums/images/graemlins/frown.gif

 

[wroughtn_harv]

I've found the best technique for me using the tractor to set t posts is to first fill the bucket with ballast. If ballast isn't available dirt or sand will do just fine. /forums/images/graemlins/grin.gif

I usually work by myself so I stab the post into the ground by hand first, just enough so it's plumb.

I also use the bottom of the bucket closest to me. It just seems to be more effective. I know there's a mechanical advantage. I just don't know the theory behind it. /forums/images/graemlins/confused.gif

I think that's the difference between clever and smart. Isn't clever the way you come and smart is what you can become?

 

[heehaw]

i watched some fellers settin T-post with a fel once, but they put a pipe over the post first?? they said it kept the post from bending so easy??
heehaw

 

[RobertN]

I'll have to get a couple pictures of mine. It is an old Speeco unit. It mounts on the 3pt. It is a weighted box that slides on rails. The box is raised with a hydraulic cylinder. When it is raised to the appropriate level, there is a trip lever to release it. It pounds down once on the post. The weight box itself is about 4' tall. It has a narrow door on it; you put the t-post inside the door before raising the box. The narrow door/channel keeps the t-post straight while being driven.

I have used it a couple times. Seemed to work ok. I had to "borrow" the cylinder from my TnT. This thing really needs a longer cylinder, and longer hoses than my TnT allows.

I'll see if I can get a picture this weekend...

 

[missourihick]

I pushed a few hundred T posts in with an old TLB using the loader full of dirt. And I slid a piece of 2" pipe over the post down to the spade.. I pointed the 8" corner posts with a chainsaw and hammered them in the drilled 6" holes 3 feet deep. I figure anything you can do with a machine is one thing you don't have to do by hand. And I like machines.

 

[MF1455v]

I am like Harv, I tend to work alone. I just completed setting T posts on about 1000 ft of fence. I have got pipe stretch post about every 125 to 150 ft. Pulled a string line for the stretch posts and got the T posts started, streight and plumb by hand. Then after all were started I move the string to the top of the stretch post. Then took the FEL and aligned all T posts to the string. This put all off my posts the same hight on slightly uneven ground and never put anyone in harms way under the bucket.

 

[Dave___in___CT]

Hi...


Anyone try driving wood posts with the TLB ?

Diameter?
Length? In ground ?


Thanks...


Dave...

 

[patrickg]

First my experiences with T-posts then comments related to wood posts.

I find that my Kubota 4610HSTC with FEL will shove t-posts into the ground just fine with no ballast in the busket if the ground isn't too hard or rocky. If it is hard or rocky you can bend a post too easy and adding weight isn't the only answer. A pipe cut to the length of how much post you want left out of the ground will help keep the post from bending and gives you a gauge so the posts are uniform.

There are two ways to use this that beats starting them by hand: 1. weld a handle 3-4 ft or whatever length you like sticking out to the side so your helper doesn't get too close to the action or 2. weld on tripod legs (one adjustable) to hold the post up with no helper. You can attach a couple strings with weights (like a plumb bob) at right angles to each other to give you or the helper a "gauge" to indicate when post is vertical on the handle version or the tripod version. The bottom of the tripod legs need "feet" so they aren't shoved into the ground too easily. the pipe itself is suspended off the ground in the tripod version so there is clearance for the "barbed spade thingy."

A removable pocket that attaches to the FEL bucket (an inch or so of pipe in length and 3 in or so in diameter) will safely hold the top of the post from slipping from under the bucket. If you use too small a diameter of pocket it takes too much fussing to get it over the post. Previously I have raised the front of the tractor well off the ground many times in hard ground just before the post bends. This is why I like the pipe thingy. It helps prevent disasters.

Based on my experience with T-posts, I'd say for wood posts you need a larger tractor than my Kubota 4610HSTC and most likely a fair amount of ballast weight in the bucket. If you can get a 3PH auger a bit less in diameter than your wooden posts to drill pilot holes then you could likely drive the post with a FEL bucket a whole lot easier and still have a snug fit for the post. This I feel confident I cold do with my tractor or a considerably smaller one. I don't think I could drive a 6 inch round post even if sharpened with my FEL unless the ground was dead soft, nearly mud. LIkewise a 4x4 post would be a challenge. If there were no rocks and the ground wasn't too hard AND I had a holding fixture to ensure no helper in danger and so forth, I'd still prefer to predrill the holes. I have had the tractor front up in the air many times with T-posts and the force required for a decent wooden post (4x4 or larger) is way more than a T-post.

Just had an idea for a safer way to drive posts with FEL. A holding fixture that attaches to the forks with a chain or strap that runs up to the top of the post. This pulls the post towad the ground instead of pushing it, can't slip off, and you get an automatic depth gauge since you definitely will stop sinking the post when the forks hit the ground.

/forums/images/graemlins/smile.gifPat /forums/images/graemlins/smile.gif

 

[higgy]

I have used an FEL to push t posts in with great success. On wooden posts I have used a pile driver mounted to the FEL. This equipment was old when i got it and I can not find another one. I will keep looking as it was a great piece of equipment.

 

[herdfan]

What about bigger posts? I need to drive in some for about 500 feet of guadrail. Any suggestions on planting posts in a bank made of rock-fill (starting about a foot beneath the surface of the soil) - if it's even possible?

 

[wroughtn_harv]

You might have to have someone with a Texoma come in and drill it for you. /forums/images/graemlins/frown.gif Locally, north texas, they go for about a hundred and fifty and hour. But they can dig when most other methods can't.

It isn't unusual here to find oneself digging into fill. The stuff you come up with often surprises you.

 

[kn6md]

I found this URL somewhere on TractorByNet a few months ago:
Rohrer Manufacturing

They make post drivers and seem reasonably priced.

Regards,

Bill Vorhies