I was wondering if anyone else ever put in fence posts (2" pipe) with either their loader bucket or backhoe pushing down? I need to run 350' of fence and am looking for an easy way out. I can get an auger, but it would be 18" which is kind of overkill for a 2" hole. Any suggestions appreciated. My pipes are schedule 40 and 10' long. I am putting up 7' fence.
I put in a property line marker with bout 10 round landscape timbers 6" round. Dug small hole so they would stand up and slammed my loader bucket on top, worked pretty good just have to line up bucket right,
I install t posts with the loader. they're only 7' long, so drop a 48" sched 40 PVC pipe over them, and push them down till you hit the pipe. Takes 2 people, but use a small level to keep them plumb and work to a string line, and go sloooow - works well.
thanks. think I will test with one before trying it out.
I just pushed some 4" wood posts in with my backhoe bucket. I sharpened the ends first with a chainsaw. It worked great, but the ground is still really wet and soft.
Be extremely careful!! I have a friend who lost a couple fingers this way. He was holding the pipe, it slipped, he grabbed at the same time the bucket was coming down and his fingers were gone. Make sure your helper knows that if he loses his grip to let it go, there's not trying to save anything.
I have driven in many pipe posts with a Bobcat and a S250 Stanley breaker with a post driving toolbit. Works fast in decently soft ground. Bends the pipe in hard ground.
I've had the idea of welding a short 2"- 4" long 4'-6" dia pipe to a steel plate and attaching it to the bottom of a Ho-pack, vibratory compactor for use as a post driver. It might work some of my ideas do.
We use a skid steer http://www.erskineattachments.com/attachments/compacttractor/post-driver/[/URL]
If I was the 2nd person in charge of keeping the post straight... I would want a long section of lightweigh pipe with a rope on the end to hold the pipe. Just ANY concept to keep my body away from an abnormal issue. This sounds like a reasonable use of the machine but a bit dangerous for the helper. Is the ground fairly soft?
I may try to make something from a larger size pipe to keep the holder away from the pipe. maybe a small section of 3" pipe with a bar on it.
I have put 10 foot EMT conduit in for chain link fence posts. I stood on a step ladder and started them in with a sledge hammer nice and plumb. Then I got in my back hoe and pushed them down to the height I wanted. As the post goes down lift the hoe off the pipe every foot or so and let it spring back to being plumb. Even if the pipe is off plumb a small amount it is real easy to bend it to perfectly plumb. Using a string line both top and bottom assures you of a nice straight line of posts
That's a good idea Leon, it sparked another one in my mind. If you were to make a snug sleeve that slides over your fencepost, and weld a handle say 5 feet long at 90 degrees to it, and put a T handle on the other end perpendicular to the sleeve, you could mount two bubble levels where your helper would know he was holding the pipe square. Pretty cool!