T-Post installation

[TheMan419]

Ok great brain trust....

We are putting in horse pasture. T-posts and then string wire on them which will be electrified.

I am a tractor newbie. I have a New Holland Boomer 24. I have read up and watched video on using the bucket to push the T-Posts into the ground.

Soil is sandy loam and pretty soft.

The corners will be wood posts and I have a buddy with a 3 point post hole auger that we will use for those. Those will also be cemented in place, as will the posts needed for the gates.

How reasonable is it for a newbie to think I will push the posts in with the bucket? Also any tips?

 

[fidowanttobe]

String a tight wire FIRST, then pound posts otherwise it is crooked. We have done the loader push thing but only in the spring when the ground is damp. Almost a horse apiece to post pound or to loader push on the speed to do it so, .....

 

[hawkeye08]

I've put some in, pay attention to any angles due to uneven ground. Off just a bit is usually ok, but if off very much, you can easily bend posts.

 

[TheMan419]

String a tight wire FIRST, then pound posts otherwise it is crooked. We have done the loader push thing but only in the spring when the ground is damp. Almost a horse apiece to post pound or to loader push on the speed to do it so, .....

Oh yes we will run a string first to tell us where the line is to go. I just want to use the loader to push them in rather than pound them in. Also fall here is damp so we are good on that score.

 

[bcp]

If the ground is not hard, one person could probably do it faster manually than with a tractor pushing.

Here are some video ideas. Using the bucket down force on a guide pipe may work almost as well as the hydraulic pusher style. If you make the guide pipe as long as the desired above ground post length, it becomes an automatic depth gauge.


Putting in fence posts with the tractor - YouTube

How To set a T post with a tractor - YouTube

Tee post Driver System - YouTube

Hydraulic Post Pusher - Post Driver - YouTube

Bruce

 

[TheMan419]

If the ground is not hard, one person could probably do it faster manually than with a tractor pushing.

Here are some video ideas. Using the bucket down force on a guide pipe may work almost as well as the hydraulic pusher style. If you make the guide pipe as long as the desired above ground post length, it becomes an automatic depth gauge.


Putting in fence posts with the tractor - YouTube

How To set a T post with a tractor - YouTube

Tee post Driver System - YouTube

Hydraulic Post Pusher - Post Driver - YouTube

Bruce

Problem with one person doing it is I need to set like 100 of them and the physical labor involved I think would destroy my shoulders.

The first two videos are how I envision it, but with a pipe as a depth gauge as well as helping the post not bend. It looks to be a combination of downward curl plus pushing down on bucket. It might appear that having some weight in the bucket would help too.

 

[CDN Farm Boy]

If the ground is wet enough and you don't have a bunch of rocks in that sandy loam it could work. I'd do it more like the 3rd video so that you could drive essentially parallel with the new fence to push them in rather than having to turn in 90 deg for each one if you used the center of the bucket. The downside to using the side of the bucket is the twisting force on the loader which you'd have to be careful of.

I'm pretty sure that first video has the bucket curled down just to provide a flat spot of the bucket to sit on the top of the post. I wouldn't want to do 100 of them with a driver but I wouldn't want to do it alone with the tractor either. It's still 10x more productive to have a helper that can position the post while you push it down

 

[tcreeley]

When I use my bucket to drive them, I have the bucket flat and perpendicular to the post. Otherwise it wants to drive the post at an angle. I don't use the curl except to level the bucket first.

The pain is if you hit a rock and have to pull the post. Wrap chain around the post a couple of times, hitch to bucket and lift. Comes right out.

I'll start the post by hand - jamming it then lower the bucket on it. A helper is nice. With a helper you'll find that you have a better view on levelness than they do, from your seat. Of course a magnetic level makes sense.

I use the 6' steel t posts from the feed store.

You could do the reinforced corners with the t posts and skip the wood + cement. I like steel with white (2-3) 6' fiberglass posts in between. In my area the frost heaves everything even set 4' down. Using steel t posts, and fiberglass posts, every summer I can use the bucket on the steel and a hammer on the fiberglass posts to push them back down. I use 3/4" or 1" electric tape. Lasts for years and has good visibility.

I order my 6' fiberglass posts from these guys : 3⁄8" FiberRod SunGuard 6'

 

[Militoy]

I guess you guys have a lot more skill with a loader bucket than I do - I found both driving T posts with a bucket and digging holes for chain link with a 3 point auger to be harder with the tractor than without. I guess I should watch the videos when I get the time. When I have more than 20 or so to set, I hire a few local boys to help.

 

[holeycow]

Rent a post pounder for a day. Pound all your posts, including the corners. Concreted posts heave worse than not. I have never had much success pushing posts with the bucket. Break/bend posts and when you are done a fenceline everything is crooked. For occasional single posts it can work well. If you want a nice line of posts, forget it.

 

[oldballs]

If I had a hundred T-posts to set.....even now, at my age, I'd do 10/15 per day by hand......and "Ta-Da" ...done....and nicely set and in a straight line.
And being only 5'4" (using 6 1/2 ft posts) and working by myself, I have to use a ladder and a 12 lb maul to get them started before using the pounder and a level.

I use 6" treated corner posts, set in dirt 30" deep....hand auger dug of course. Then I use T-posts for the corner bracing using some special post hardware.

 

[gwdixon]

Have to agree with all the others that caution against using the bucket. It seems more work and time than it is worth.

When I put in my T-posts I used a big electric drill with a 2" wood auger, a 5-gallon bucket of water, and my truck wired to put out 120V (some kind of inverter thing). Drilled about five holes filling them with water as I went along. By the time the last hole was done the water had soaked in enough on the first hole to soften the soil a bit.

Pounding the post in took only four or five strikes. Without the holes it was 25+ hit. Yes, hard dry ground in the hot summer. But the fence turned out perfectly straight.

As far as the wooden corner posts go you should use 7 posts on each corner. An "H" with an angle support post...sort of like this /H (imagine 4 posts). And then the reverse in the other fence direction for a total of 7. Also, about every hundred yards put in a wooden "H" using three posts.

Anyway, that is how I did it 35 years ago when I did my place and the neighbors place by myself. But I was also 35 years younger as well.

The fence is still going strong despite cattle, pigs, and horses trying their best to destroy it. I think horse "cribbing" has been the most damaging. It is wise to use electric fence as you have planned.

 

[Ford850]

There's no way I'd mess with the bucket to drive them with only 100. Especially with the soft soil you talked about, a good hand driver would make the job manageable. You'll end up with better results too since you can control the drive of each.
But I won't discourage the use of a tractor on a tractor site.

 

[PILOON]

I made a post pounder using a 3' length of HD pipe to which I welded a heavy slug of steed at one end to serve as the 'hammer'.(5 lbs or so is about just right)
2 lengths of rebar were welded to 2 opposite sides of the pipe to serve as grips.
Process is simple, slide the pounder over the T bar, lift and let it drop thus pounding the T bar in.
If the T bar strikes a rack and tilts sideways you simply keep driving it in 'til desired depth is attained and then simply bend the T bar straight using the pounder tube as the lever.
Works very well and cheap to make from scraps, for my tube I used the outer tube from a scrapped hydraulic cylinder.
Opted for rebar as the ribbing provided good hand grip.

Works so well that all the neighbors borrow it.

 

[mcfarmall]

Perhaps a bit off topic but the OP mentioned pouring concrete around the gate posts. I would not recommend that. Concrete will hold moisture around the post and the post will rot quickly...treated or not. Set the gate posts on some crushed rock or a few cobble stones for drainage and use tamped soil around the posts with a deadman post arrangement and diagonal tension wires to help support the cantilevered weight of the gate. As for the t-posts, see if a local tool rental outfit has a gas powered t-post driver to rent. You can buy one on-line for between $400 and $900 but that's a bit pricey for a one-off job.

 

[DieselBound]

Here's a great resource for fencing:

http://www.staytuff.com/PDF/Stay-Tuff Installation Guide final Oct 13.pdf

It's stated for fixed knot woven wire, not sure what the OP is going to use, but in general is applicable to non-fixed knot.

I've got a planned fencing project, about 2,000' (almost 500' on each side), and will be using fixed knot woven wire. Line posts will be wood on a couple sides, and metal (T-posts) on the other two. For end post bracing I'm going with single "H"s, setting (8') corner and brace posts to a depth of 3 1/2' - 4'. As noted in the above document, you don't need braces in-line unless you've got a long run of fence or a significant change in direction (up/down or otherwise).

I'll be renting a skid steer with augurs to do my end/corner and wooden line posts. I was going to pound the wooden line posts (fence pounder) but I've got rocks lurking, and hitting a good sized rock will skew the post: shifting wooden line posts is more significant than shifting T-posts. I figure I've got about 600' of fence line that will get T-posts- I'll do this by hand: with fixed knot fencing I can cut the number of line posts by 1/2; of course, this fencing is more expensive; I don't like twisting clips on T-posts, so a reduction here is a win for me. Somewhere around 30 T-posts will be hand-pounded: I've got an area (about 200') that I cannot get equipment to (unless I want to get it stuck).

 

[oosik]

My 80 acres is a perfect rectangle - 1320 x 2640. Its exactly one and one-half miles around. I set all the T-posts by hand using a home made pounder. I tried using the bucket on my tractor and it turned into a PITA immediately. #1 - since I did this all by myself, there was nobody to hold the T-post as I lowered the bucket & #2 - this operation invariably just bent the T-post & #3 - trying to get the tractor into many of the areas where the fence went was simply impossible.

Its just a lot quicker, easier and results in a much straighter fence line to do it by hand. Either buy or make a good heavy manual pounder and go at it.

However - I did use the tractor to transport the hundreds of T-posts around the property as I pounded them in.

It took me two years, working evenings & weekends to complete this fence AND it was done 34 years ago when I was a whole lot younger.

 

[MF283]

I wish i had a nickel for every T i've pounded over the years on my place & other's, a dollar would be even better. The FEL is great if you have a helping set of hands, which most of us don't it seems.
I 've got a homemade pounder & one of those springy ones i got cheap, the homemade one is used the majority of the time.
Fortunately, i only replace them if i get careless with the bush hog these days:ashamed:

Ronnie

 

[k0ua]

you might want to look at this video and see if this interests you.

 

[Birdhunter1]

I've yet to see where concrete on a post makes it more stable than properly packing the dirt back in. I've also noticed I have replaced more posts that have concrete around them than ones without. Another tip is make dern sure your posts are ground contact rated, preferably a utility pole. Putting a few hundred T posts in by hand isn't horrible, do about 10 in the morning and 10 later in the day if your shoulders can take it.