Pipe is hard to come by here as well in East Tennessee. We are a long way from Texas and Pennsylvania.
JMJ Farms said:I just recently bought a Worksaver HPD 22Q driver. Good for up to 8 3/4" posts. Wish it had hydraulic adjustments but it didn't. Brand new. Been sitting under mans shelter but he never used. We are building a 3 rail fence for a customer with 6x6 and a few 8x8 square posts on 8' centers. What is working for us is this
1) We place a 2x4 90 1/4" long, horizontally on the ground between the post we just finished and the post we are starting.
2) We dig a 6" deep "pilot hole" with hole diggers.
3) Helper sets post in hole, levels manually with a 2' handheld level, and makes sure it's on the string.
4) I back the tractor up to the post.
5) My oldest son levels the driver with a magnetic torpedo level bc the little bubble on the machine sucks.
6) Helper then hits the post with the driver. Checks post with 2' level. Makes any adjustments and then hits again. During the first foot, adjustments are pretty simple. Then pound it on down.
Tips from limited experience:
1) Start straight, finish straight.
2) Learn to adjust driver and tractor. Don't fight it.
3) Be real observant and be safe.
We started the job with a 3 point PTO auger and tamping. We were averaging 3 posts per hour. After the first day learning curve, we've been averaging 10 posts per hour and nothing has been more than 3/4" off in any direction. I'm fairly impressed. I will say that we have good moisture and good soil to work with in this particular location. Hope my experience helps someone.
SmokinM said:JmJ that is not bad.when I build board fence I auger and set everything by hand and probably average 6 posts an hour but try to keep everything within a 1/4. Board fence is my bread and butter and what I have a reputation for. I drill with a skid steer though which makes a huge difference in drill time. I would say in good ground with extra weight you might get 10 an hour with the Hammer. They are averaging about 35 an hour with the Montana driver. Some straight stretches in softer ground they have done 50. That's a 5-6x7' posts driven 30" with a few 8' driven to 42" for braces thrown in. I wouldn't have/ didn't believe it til I saw it. Your not going to drive a sq. post straight here with anything. They spiral as they go down and break usually after about 18". With the big driver I had before I drove a few really solid railroad ties to about 3' but it had a 750# weight and a 16' mast so you could put a lot of stroke on it.
SmokinM said:Nice looking fence JMJ. It should be there awhile. Why put the carriage bolts thru it? Is he putting mini donkeys in it? Don't laugh those things are hard on some fence. Are you going to let it cure before you paint it? Also instead of paint I highly recommend a quality opaque stain. Paint will actually make a wood fence rot by trapping moisture against the wood and is hard to recoat. A stain seals the wood by soaking in and can be redone without as much prep work when the time comes. JMO.