What to dig post holes with in rock?

[LouNY]

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Commonly referred to as a post bar, crowbar, digging bar, spud bar, fencing bar or a blister raising shoulder aching sob.

 

[MMC]

Commonly referred to as a post bar, crowbar, digging bar, spud bar, fencing bar or a blister raising shoulder aching sob.

And in Kentucky, just "Digger Bar," and probably why all of us in our seventies have arthritis in our hands...

 

[bdhsfz6]

How are you attaching the post to that base?

Galvanized carriage bolts thru a 4x4 treated post or metal T post, whichever I'm using.

 

[oosik]

About 1/4 of all my T-145 steel posts required a hole drilled in bedrock. That was 150 holes - +/-. My neighbor has a commercial air driven jack hammer. It bores 2" holes, very quickly, in the bedrock.

 

[Gomer pyle]

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Haven't heard it called that before. I have a couple of them and they have put a lot of post in the ground, both digging and tamping. They don't do anything in blue limestone.

 

[Gomer pyle]

I will and do use t-post but I still have to have some wood post for gates and corners. I typically do rent a compressor and drill to put t-post in.
I have thought about hiring it done but am normally of the mindset to do it myself and use that money to buy more tools.

 

[Hay Dude]

Haven't heard it called that before. I have a couple of them and they have put a lot of post in the ground, both digging and tamping. They don't do anything in blue limestone.

I just crack the rocks with the blade side, or pry them out if they’re small enough. Even had someone hold the bar like a chisel, and I hit the blunt end with a big sledge.

If it’s a BIG rock or boulder, it doesn’t matter what you use. No auger will got through it.

 

[2manyrocks]

I don’t think it’s practical to try busting through the thick layer of limestone in middle TN with any hand digger bar. Usually it’s 8 to 12 inches thick with another layer below it.

 

[oosik]

The old homesteader never fenced all 80 acres. There are areas where solid bedrock is close to the surface. Boring a hole in bedrock with a sledge hammer and bar would not be my idea of fun.

It's taken me and my neighbor - with his commercial jack hammer - many years to get all the fence tripods replaced with actual T-posts. We would do a few every year.

 

[oosik]

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Trust me Hay Dude - you NEVER want to find out either.

 

[Hay Dude]

And in Kentucky, just "Digger Bar," and probably why all of us in our seventies have arthritis in our hands...

Trust me Hay Dude - you NEVER want to find out either.

I have one on the back of my truck and use it all the time

 

[oosik]

It took ~ 660 T-145 steel posts to surround my 80 acres. It's a "pure" rectangle - 1320x2640. About 165 of my "posts" were wooden 2x4 angles. Due to bedrock. Slowly but surely - with the help of my neighbor and his commercial jack hammer - all my wooden "posts" have been replaced with T-145 steel posts.

My four wire - barbed wire - fence was, and still is, stretched tight. This allowed the wood "posts" to work pretty well.

These "posts" were simple. A 2x4 flat on the ground. A vertical 2x4 attached to the flat one. A 2x4 running at a 45 degree angle and attached to both the flat and vertical ones.

I would cut all the 2x4's to the correct length - transport them with the tractor. Assemble them - raise the barbed wire, one wire at a time and attach to the wooden "posts".

Many times the neighbors cows would be there to watch. I don't think they ever understood that they were being fenced OUT.

There is a new property owner - right across the county road from my driveway entrance. He came to talk to me the other week. He got an estimate on installation of a four strand barbed wire fence around his 20 acres. He was in a state of shock. I told him he could always due it like I did.

As I remember - all the rolls of barbed wire ( 26 or 28 ) and the 660 T-145 steel posts - cost a total of around $5800. Buy in bulk and save some money.