FFWD to about 16 mins in. this guy is windier than the can, at Taco Bell...
I looked at em' a while back... haven't got one yet, his didn't look very powerful as to the pounding force... Every time I have an issue with the manual pounders I think about a powered one... have seen the pneumatic ones also but they are usually a lot more$$$ however they also hit harder so you don't spend all day on a dozen posts
I'll tell you one thing about the manual ones. Using a homemade extra heavy one. Don't lift it too high, off the post and get your finger between the post and handle as it comes down again. Blood will leak out and might stain your clothes.
Sort of reminds of the power shovel thing we used to dig nursery stock before we got the tree spades. It worked but it pounded itself and the user to death. Most of the parts ended up being held on by baling wire and bungee cords. Plastic things just broke. Carb bolts would never stay tight. Like I say it worked but I could pretty much use a shovel faster. I drive posts with a sledge. Drive them from a platform on the skid steer forks and just go at it. If I had to set hundreds at a time I,d get a driver for the machine but 3 or 4 dozen is no big deal with a sledge.
Yeh, been there - done that... About a year ago I was putting in a line of 30 or so 5 footers.. some with white painted tops - was only about two posts to go and getting in a hurry.... well sure enough I started lifting it nice and high to get maximum pounding force!!! and with about two good pounds to go it went up too high... came down smashing three fingers!!!! holy#@@# it hurt just for a second... plenty of blood too!!! wrapped it with a paper towel and black tape I had on me still can't bend my middle finger more than about 10 percent but at least I still have it!!! Lesson learned... paint all the tops white so you know how much post is still in the pounder!!!! Through the years have also got bonked on the head a few times when lifting the pounder a tad to high and it catches the post while tipping into your forehead!!!
While you young guys may laugh... I have a spring loaded Tee post pounder. Get it bouncing and it's a low effort task. Just pull it down, less lifting. Never get it too high either
Hey, anything that makes it easier is not a laughing mater Is this something you built or found elsewhere? would love to see it or at least a description of how it works... EDIT: just found this.... https://www.tractorsupply.com/tsc/product/speeco-spring-loaded-post-driver
guys I know its overkill but the best thing i have found for doing a lot of post`s is a telescoping forklift load ya posts on the forks set your first one push it in the ground back up and keep going using the heel for the driver
Mine is made by "spring-eze" By the reviews on the TSC site the speeco driver spring rate is too high or people just don't have any rhythm. The rhythm is important otherwise the spring absorbs your effort. Just like the TSC reviews say. My technique is to get the driver to oscillate with an extra push on the down stroke. You could build one yourself. It's a sliding cap with a spring between it and a striker that hits the cap through the center of the compressed spring coil. The cap has a cup to hold the end of tee post. A bit of weld bead keeps the cap & spring from coming out of the tube.
I'll have to look into it I read some of the reviews also... and saw the one where the guy mentions it jumped off the post and got his hand!!! At least you aren't as tired when it nails you just kidding... I need to try one of these out somewhere.... or I guess I could build one and go from there... decisions.. decisions....
I use track hoe or skid steer, or like someone said man basket and a manual pounder . that thing looks like to much work ! and standing on a ladder like that looks like an insurance claim looking for a place to LAND.
Unless one has a some sort of holder on the track-hoe, loader, etc... it's a two man job. And risks bending the tee post. And one still has dismount to load the holder with the post. That's assuming the equipment can access the post location. I've set tee posts in the woods so thick a horse couldn't get through much less a tractor. So the man handled post driver has its place. But after reading the TSC reviews... There's a lot of people with no sense of rhythm or finesse. I expect seasoned HE operators to have both, to work thousands of pounds of powerful machinery. PS … Side benefit of the Spring-eze over a sledge hammer. The top of the tee post is undamaged, protected by the internal cap. This is important when fitting a protective cap over the post. Darn, horses will kill themselves on a bare tee post.
We have an Australian made version of the Honda driver and have driven thousands of posts with it. We have a little jib crane mounted on the side of a 4wd with a drop side tray back. The driver hangs on a spring balance which is attached to the jib. The spring balance is essentially an adjustable counterweight and allows the driver to be easily lifted on to a 6ft post with one hand. Load the tray with a couple hundred posts and away you go.
Queenslander that is a nice setup you have set up