# Driving wood posts



## Mark T (Jan 7, 2003)

Has anyone used a tractor-mounted wooden post driver?

How well do they work?

I imagine they are a huge timesaver over manually digging and tamping postholes. How many posts canj a tractor-mounted driver push in an hour of work?

A couple books say that driven posts tend to stay solid longer than posts in dug holes. What is your experience?

Are used post drivers available? What would be a reasonable price?


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## agmantoo (May 23, 2003)

Mark T said:


> Has anyone used a tractor-mounted wooden post driver?
> 
> I have a 3 point mount post driver and it works fine where there is not a lot of rocks.
> 
> ...


Used are available. I bought mine used for $600. A few weeks later I had access to a better one for $300.

You did not ask this but if you want the post to be really vertical/straight use a one man motorize hole digger with a small auger and make a pilot hole. If you get the post started crooked then you cannot straighten it with the post driver. My neighbor has a post driver that mounts to a skidsteer. It takes two people to use the setup but it works good.







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## genebo (Sep 12, 2004)

I've used one a couple of times. They're faster than any other way I've used to set wooden posts. They're terribly noisy! Ear protection required!

The posts stay firmly in place quite well. They will take a slant if they hit a rock. Then you either accept a crooked post or try to straighten it up by pushing it with the tractor, without breaking it. Once it's straightened, you have to tamp around it.

I never timed how long it took to set posts, but I'm sure it's less than 10 minutes per post. Most of that is positioning and alignment. Your soil will affect the time, too. It's harder with roots and rocks in it. 

The one I used would cost about $3000 new, but my neighbor bought it old and used for $500 at an auction. A little oil and grease and one new hydraulic hose and we were in business.

They're not very rare. I've seen three of them in use near me.

Genebo
Paradise Farm


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## Up North (Nov 29, 2005)

They work quite well. We had a Shaver Pounder mounted on the front end of an IH 560 diesel tractor. In heavy soils or for large diameter wood posts, one can sharpen the end of the post like a pencil using an axe to facilitate the operation. Click on link to view the Shaver Post Pounder: http://www.beavervalleysupply.com/sectioni/shaverpd.htm


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## Ronney (Nov 26, 2004)

Yes, we have one (we call them post thumpers here) and they are quick and efficient but do have their limitations. They really do need two people to operate them if you want a good, straight fenceline and they're no good for posts that need foots on them i.e. post in dips and hollows. Nor are they any use for strainer posts as they need footed too. However, there is more than one way to foot a post and if you can be bothered to go to the trouble, a thumper can be a good investment if you have a lot of fencing to do.

Cheers,
Ronnie


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## Old John (May 27, 2004)

If the post has any taper at all, with the bigger end pushed down, won't the top, smaller end have a little wiggle room? And won't it be a bit loose?
Do you have to put the smaller end Down??


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## Jennifer L. (May 10, 2002)

Old John said:


> If the post has any taper at all, with the bigger end pushed down, won't the top, smaller end have a little wiggle room? And won't it be a bit loose?
> Do you have to put the smaller end Down??


No. You are pounding into the ground with a lot of force and the ground springs back against the post. They are in there really tight.

I use the bucket on my Bobcat to pound posts. It pounds at a speed a little faster than you could pound with a maul by hand, but probably not as fast as a dedicated fence driver.

You set the post by slamming it into the ground a few inches, get back on the machine and then lower the bucket down onto the post and start the post down by just resting the bucket on it. This is the point you get it set straight, then when the post won't go down anymore with the bucket resting on it, start pounding.

I've done all my fencing this way for the past 30+ years.

Jennifer


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## genebo (Sep 12, 2004)

I watched them pour the foundation for one of our big, multi-axis machines. They drove telephone poles in the ground first, to support the concrete slab. They always drove the telephone pole small end first. It got tighter as they went and if they couldn't get it in all the way, they cut the top off.

I drove fence posts the way they drove pilings.

Genebo
Paradise Farm


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## agmantoo (May 23, 2003)

In the clay we have the smaller end down is the only way to install wood posts with the post driver. On fence post, if there is a track loader available it is the absolute best way to press the post into position. I can fill the bucket with dirt and I can push the post in with the down pressure created by the weight in the bucket and the hydraulic machine pressure about as fast as I can drive from post to post location and get positioned. The only delay is the assistant getting the post to be pushed into the ground in the correct place. I premark on the post the depth the post is to be pushed into the ground so I know when to stop pushing.


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## Biffle Construction (Mar 2, 2020)

I used to live in Montana. I now live in Texas. I have a small fence co. here. One of the main fences I constructed in Montana was a three and four rail wood fence. We drove 5 to 8” wood pointed post in the ground and nailed half round 16’ rails to them. I can’t find a whole sealer here. Does anyone know of anyone in Tex.,Louisiana, or Arkansas that makes a pointed post


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## Bearfootfarm (Jul 13, 2006)

https://www.bing.com/search?q=woode...4E94F07B4C33B802197AA49BD20E&FORM=CHRDEF&sp=4


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## Biffle Construction (Mar 2, 2020)

Bearfootfarm said:


> https://www.bing.com/search?q=woode...4E94F07B4C33B802197AA49BD20E&FORM=CHRDEF&sp=4


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## Biffle Construction (Mar 2, 2020)

Yes; I know of many in Montana. But the trucking would be astronomical. There has got to be someone in the south that peels and points there post.


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## hiddensprings (Aug 6, 2009)

Our neighbor let us borrow their's when we first started out farm. Worked great, very noisy but a true time saver.


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## Alice In TX/MO (May 10, 2002)

I have a post pounder for sale. I brought it from Missouri, but I discovered there is too much rock here.


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## wkndwrnch (Oct 7, 2012)

My very experienced neighbor "Leroy"in his upper years and been farming all his life,has used his Ford 5000 tractor bucket to "push" (poosh) the poles.We are is SW Ohio and mostly clay, soft when wet.


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## GTX63 (Dec 13, 2016)

I've used my tractor to push T posts but it seems you would need some loose soil and a lot of force to do wood posts with a loader.


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