I need to drive 40 or so t-posts into some really crappy hard pan gumbo clay. I could do it with a normal hand held t-post driver, but let's face reality: I"m old, fat and lazy and the thought of doing this when it's about 500 degrees outside isn't appealing at all.

Unfortunately I don't have a FEL for my tractor, otherwise I'd rig up a pipe and use it, so that option is out. Anybody have any tools they have used to make life easier for something like this? I have a generator, did a search for an electric driver but came up empty - kind of thought maybe there would be something out there. I see pneumatic operated drivers and gas operated drivers, but that's it.

Any advice, tips, etc. from the wise and knowing (and significantly more knowledgeable than me on this) OB?

$15/Hr at Home Depot.

It's only 250 degrees if you work nights.

Offspring work

Pray for some heavy rain to soften up the ground a bit?

Call the rental places and get rates on their t post drivers.

schmellba99 said:

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Unfortunately I don't have a FEL for my tractor, otherwise I'd rig up a pipe and use it, so that option is out. Anybody have any tools they have used to make life easier for something like this?

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A son in his mid to late 20s. That's what my dad uses anyways and supposedly that makes driving t-posts significantly easier.

I wouldn't know anything about it being easier, but in a totally unrelated sense, i can say that after driving t-posts by hand all day, you need to be careful that your tired arms don't let that pipe slip because thumping yourself on top of the head with that hurts.

$$$$$$$$$$

txags92 said:

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Pray for some heavy rain to soften up the ground a bit?

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We got some the other day. 5" at the jobsite, about 1" or so where I will be doing this work. If it rains any more, impossible to really get any equipment back there unless you have a hydrofoil. This area is either nearly liquid and you can't get there or you can get there and it's friggin dry and hard. Very little in between, I'm convinced it is all a plot to get me.

Wait a dang minute here. You mean to tell me there's a tractor implement that will drive t-posts, a FRIGGIN' TRACTOR IMPLEMENT THAT IS NOT ME?!?!?! DAMMIT, DAD LIED TO ME.

We use a pneumatic driver at our ranch. Should be able to find one, but might not be worth it for 40 posts.

BrazosDog02 said:

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We use a pneumatic driver at our ranch. Should be able to find one, but might not be worth it for 40 posts.

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I've seen those, would have to get an air compressor to go along with it. And whether or not it is worth it for 40 posts is debatable, pretty sure doing it by hand invites death along for the ride as well.

It's only 40 posts. Do 10 each evening for 4 evenings.

Edit to add, if you have a few thousand you can attach a pipe driver to the back of your tractor assuming it has hydraulics & a 3 point hitch. Those are handy.

i'll do it for 100 bucks a post. let me know if interested

will.mcg said:

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It's only 40 posts. Do 10 each evening for 4 evenings.

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It's not at my place, and by the time I get home it's somewhat close to dark. But that is a thought.

Stupid question: Has anybody ever used an electric jackhammer for something like this? I can buy a cheapo one off of Amazon for about $130. It weighs 46 lbs, runs on 110 volt so I can run it off the generator without any issue. Fabricating a cup to fit over the top of the post and welding it to the tool tip that comes with it shouldn't be much of an issue.

Would this work? I cannot see why it wouldn't, outside of the weight. But hand driving a post is going to get about that much downward force anyway. And if I get more than this use out of it, it's money well spent.

Thoughts?

40 posts isn't that hard. Get an old school heavy post driver, and go do it after a 3" rain. I did 50 posts in about 3 hours with my mother helping to insure vertical on a fence with the neighbor who is just a hair particular when it comes to small details the day after the rain. Went back 3 days later to do another 50 posts, and could tell it was much harder.

Suck it up a little and be done with it in less time than you think.

3" rain and I'm not getting back to where I need to be, very low river bottom country and nothing is making it back there. Tracked vehicles won't make it through some of the areas.

In that soil, an electric jackhammer should work just fine. I bet if you check somewhere like tractor supply or online you can even find a fitting you can buy instead of having to build your own. The main problem you will face is getting high enough to put the hammer over the post to get started. Probably will want to just back a truck up and stand on the tailgate. We used an electric jackhammer to do a bunch of soil sampling in areas we couldn't get a drill rig into out at Reese AFB in Lubbock. We were able to drive to 15' with one we bought at Harbor Freight.

Somebody ran over our t-post driver with the shredder and slightly deformed the end where the t-post is inserted. Driving a t-post isn't fun in the best conditions but when you are driving one in the ground and go to pick it up and it hangs up on the little knob on the post, it is the most aggravating experience in the world. I have to orientate it just perfectly for it to work but after about 3 hits it always hangs up.

CE Lounge Lizzard said:

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Wait a dang minute here. You mean to tell me there's a tractor implement that will drive t-posts, a FRIGGIN' TRACTOR IMPLEMENT THAT IS NOT ME?!?!?! DAMMIT, DAD LIED TO ME.

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That was a LONG time ago. Let it go. Lol

Get a large hammer drill with a 2' long by 1 1/2" bit and predrill the holes

We use them to start bracing for concrete forms. Works great.

txags92 said:

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In that soil, an electric jackhammer should work just fine. I bet if you check somewhere like tractor supply or online you can even find a fitting you can buy instead of having to build your own. The main problem you will face is getting high enough to put the hammer over the post to get started. Probably will want to just back a truck up and stand on the tailgate. We used an electric jackhammer to do a bunch of soil sampling in areas we couldn't get a drill rig into out at Reese AFB in Lubbock. We were able to drive to 15' with one we bought at Harbor Freight.

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If i go this route, I'll be standing in the bed of the mule. Still, i'm 3/4 midget so I'll probably have to reach above my head even then.

It's an option, my buddy at the lease just called me a poon for this suggestion to him, so i will probably end up doing it the old fashioned way just because. But the thought of the "need" for a new tool is intriguing, plus I can probably find an excuse to use it at the house for something or other to justify the cost.

Basically i'm looking at a way to be even lazier doing something I absolutely despise doing. Which means i'll likely expend 3x the effort versus just doing it by hand anyway.

CE Lounge Lizzard said:

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Wait a dang minute here. You mean to tell me there's a tractor implement that will drive t-posts, a FRIGGIN' TRACTOR IMPLEMENT THAT IS NOT ME?!?!?! DAMMIT, DAD LIED TO ME.

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Why would he spend money on a new tractor implement when he has already spent so much on you, and you work just fine?



That's how a dad would respond right? Got a one month old son so I figure I need to start working on these types of responses now.

gwellis said:

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Get a large hammer drill with a 2' long by 1 1/2" bit and predrill the holes

We use them to start bracing for concrete forms. Works great.

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Interesting - I have a hammer drill already. Oustanding idea, and this is why I ask stupid questions.

gwellis said:

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CE Lounge Lizzard said:

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Wait a dang minute here. You mean to tell me there's a tractor implement that will drive t-posts, a FRIGGIN' TRACTOR IMPLEMENT THAT IS NOT ME?!?!?! DAMMIT, DAD LIED TO ME.

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That was a LONG time ago. Let it go. Lol

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What? Next your going to tell me there's something better than a good heavy set of these.

Google Image Search.........post hole digger


DAMMIT!!!!!

schmellba99 said:

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txags92 said:

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In that soil, an electric jackhammer should work just fine. I bet if you check somewhere like tractor supply or online you can even find a fitting you can buy instead of having to build your own. The main problem you will face is getting high enough to put the hammer over the post to get started. Probably will want to just back a truck up and stand on the tailgate. We used an electric jackhammer to do a bunch of soil sampling in areas we couldn't get a drill rig into out at Reese AFB in Lubbock. We were able to drive to 15' with one we bought at Harbor Freight.

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If i go this route, I'll be standing in the bed of the mule. Still, i'm 3/4 midget so I'll probably have to reach above my head even then.

It's an option, my buddy at the lease just called me a poon for this suggestion to him, so i will probably end up doing it the old fashioned way just because. But the thought of the "need" for a new tool is intriguing, plus I can probably find an excuse to use it at the house for something or other to justify the cost.

Basically i'm looking at a way to be even lazier doing something I absolutely despise doing. Which means i'll likely expend 3x the effort versus just doing it by hand anyway.

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You don't actually need to be above it to do the hammering. You just need to be tall enough to lift the hammer up on top of it and still reach the handles. We were using 4' sampling rods, so the height to the hammer handles once you include the drive bit was about 7'. With two guys, one could lift the hammer and the other could guide the drive cap onto the top of the rod. Once we had it on the sampling rods, it was actually easier to run the hammer pulling down on it. In your case, I assume you are talking about 6' T-posts, so you would be talking about the hammer handles being 8.5-9' above the ground.

They do make gas powered post drivers that have a sleeve for T-Posts. I wouldn't be surprised if you could find a Home Depot or United rental place that had them for rent. Might be easier than trying to come up with something else.

Lifting it won't be much of a problem. Doing it out of the back of the mule or even bringing a short stepladder isn't an issue either. Would be using 5' t-posts, only using it to install hog panels to keep pigs and cows out.

Right now I'll probably do it by hand, but want to know what options there are in case I find this as awful as I know it will be or I nearly die in the process. Plus, it's always fun to fabricate new single use tools.

https://www.walmart.com/ip/Yescom-2-Stroke-32-7cc-Gas-Powered-T-Post-Driver-1-2HP-Gasoline-Petrol-Pile-Driver-Portable-Lightweight-w-EPA-Certificated/113056258?wmlspartner=wlpa&selectedSellerId=1913&adid=22222222227090094557&wmlspartner=wmtlabs&wl0=&wl1=g&wl2=c&wl3=203425584843&wl4=pla-521976748032&wl5=9027891&wl6=&wl7=&wl8=&wl9=pla&wl10=113510113&wl11=online&wl12=113056258&wl13=&veh=sem

BlackGoldAg2011 said:

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CE Lounge Lizzard said:

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Wait a dang minute here. You mean to tell me there's a tractor implement that will drive t-posts, a FRIGGIN' TRACTOR IMPLEMENT THAT IS NOT ME?!?!?! DAMMIT, DAD LIED TO ME.

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Why would he spend money on a new tractor implement when he has already spent so much on you, and you work just fine?



That's how a dad would respond right? Got a one month old son so I figure I need to start working on these types of responses now.

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You'll be a fine Dad.

On a side note, when I was born my Dad was in the service (stateside) so my folks got me for rock bottom prices in the beginning. Feeding me thru my high school years is another matter entirely.

gwellis said:

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Get a large hammer drill with a 2' long by 1 1/2" bit and predrill the holes

We use them to start bracing for concrete forms. Works great.

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This is what we do in rocky areas of our lease. Works great.

schmell..I live in hill country and have hard caliche besides the rocks. I built about 3 miles of fence. I rented a Bosch rotary hammer drill with a 11/8" SDS MAX bit 18" long to put in the T-Post. It would run off my small Honda 2000 watt generator in the back of my utv. Cost was just $40.00 a day. It is not heavy and worked like a dream and very fast. Worked great in the hardpan and the rocks and just dirt as well. I would drill the hole first and then it would only take about 4-5 good hits with a post driver to get the post in. It worked so well I went and purchased my own drill and bit. Takes about 2-3 minutes to drill hole or less.

This is sounding like a job worth bribing a friend with booze or a hunt and just knocking it out in a day or two.

Third for the hammer drill idea. I bought one along with bits at Harbor Freight because I got tired of hogs knocking over feeders out near Rocksprings where the soil lives up to the first part of the name. Drill, sledge steel stakes in at each feeder leg and attach with hose clamps. Haven't lost a feeder yet.

It should work for drilling deeper pilot holes into softer soil for your t-post project.

I'll do it all
50 bucks per t post

Where are you located at?

I'll do it for $40/post