How much to pay to pound wood posts?

[ufo_chris]

I will be making a new 5 acre or so pasture(hi tensile). I'm thinking about having the wooden posts pounded in by someone. I have seen ads in the local farm and dairy.
I'd like to know before I call someone what a fair price would be. Is it usually per post?
(I understand I have to provide the posts)
Also any tips what to look for or avoid?
Do you still have to do the corners yourself?
Can you use locust posts?
Thanks for any info!
Chris

 

[Bez+]

Good ground?

Tough ground?

Rocks?

Hard pan?

You helping or just watching?

Good access?

And a bunch more.

I would not do it by the post.

Too many unknowns under those weeds and grass.

Depending on the the tractor - I use a 5250 with FEL - and a Wheatheart pounder - you get me and the pounder for 65 bucks an hour if you help - add my cost for a helper if you do not. I know the tractor is over kill - but you would be surprized at what some folks think of as good access and good ground.

Time starts when I hit the field. If I am coming from less then 15 miles away I do it for free - otherwise you will pay my float as well.

Such a small field - just dig in the corners and do it with good steel posts - you can do it all in less than a day if you work at it with a couple of friends.

Cheers

Bez+

 

[ufo_chris]

Hey Bez ,thanks for your reply.
Sorry didn't realize you need a helper. I mean I figure you have to mark where you want them, what else do you need to help with? Make sure they go in straight and stuff?
The ground is good,easy to drill holes,at least when it's not bone dry, not rocky at all.
I guess I was thinking by the post because that's how I had them drilled before.
So if they go in easy ,how long for 1, I hear like 1 minute or less but how many can you really do in 1 hr?
The access is great too,right off the road and not hilly.
Yeah, my hubby is the one that wants wood posts every 30 feet or so, he's afraid they'll get out with less or t-posts.
I tried to explain to him ,I use 1 wire cross fencing for rotational grazing inside my other pasture and they stay put.

 

[Aaron]

With a pounder or by hand? If you were closer, you supply the 16 lb. sledge and I'll do them for $5 a post. :cowboy:

 

[Bez+]

With a pounder or by hand? If you were closer, you supply the 16 lb. sledge and I'll do them for $5 a post. :cowboy:

If you want to come over here and put them in for 5 bucks a post Aaron you would be quite welcome - the ground is so tough that it takes about 7 hits with the pounder to break the first hard pan - and then it will take from 15 -17 hits to go down - we will often lose the post if we hit rocks which are at the 16-20 inch level - augers cannot handle it - so we often are forced use a backhoe to dig them in. Unless I pull out the 12 inch scoop tram (the long handled spade) and dig them in by hand but I need a bar to break the ground all the way down - and I am getting too old to do that.

You must have primo ground or be a guy I want on my side in a brawl!

Cheers

Bez+

 

[marksmu]

We have a M9000 series Kubota (only 92hp) and we use a large grapple on our front end loader to pound our posts....works well when the ground is soft...I found its best to do in the fall or winter, or after heavy rains. Doesnt work at all in hard ground. Even without a grapple, a regular buck on your FEL will work...just scoop up sound dirt or sand to add weight, have someone hold the post in place, and give it a few taps to get started, then hammer away. We can do a post about every 45 seconds or so this way (when the ground is soft)

Right now with the droughts we wouldnt be able to budge a post in the ground....normally we use our FEL to push in our t-posts as well, but the ground is so hard that even with a sleeve over the posts, they are bending...had to hand pound them in last weekend. Miserable! After 1900 ft of hand pounding T-posts in 100 degree weather, I swore up and down if we ever have another hurricane ruin all our fence, we will just tie the cows together.

Long story short - your FEL can do alot, if you have some weight in it. If not, I would not pay more than $5/post, those bobcats with the hyraulic PHD can fly through a fence line...Ive seen them blow through the holes in 20 seconds or less...they have the ability to reverse them, so they never get stuck...You may even check into renting one. May be worth it.

 

[Aaron]

With a pounder or by hand? If you were closer, you supply the 16 lb. sledge and I'll do them for $5 a post. :cowboy:

If you want to come over here and put them in for 5 bucks a post Aaron you would be quite welcome - the ground is so tough that it takes about 7 hits with the pounder to break the first hard pan - and then it will take from 15 -17 hits to go down - we will often lose the post if we hit rocks which are at the 16-20 inch level - augers cannot handle it - so we often are forced use a backhoe to dig them in. Unless I pull out the 12 inch scoop tram (the long handled spade) and dig them in by hand but I need a bar to break the ground all the way down - and I am getting too old to do that.

You must have primo ground or be a guy I want on my side in a brawl!

Cheers

Bez+

In your case, I may have to dig a small hole and fill it with water before I pound. I would prefer to pound in swamp or moist ground...although I can adapt. ;-) :cowboy:

 

[jcummins]

Has anyone used a pressure washer to hydro-drill a hole before pounding in post. I needed to fence in a small place in my back year on kind of an emergency basis several years back. The ground was rock hard and we could not get t-post in the ground. On a whim, we tried the pressure washer to soften up the ground. It not only soften, it literally made a hole that was too good, and if we used it to much, the tpost just dropped in. But on those have to, just gotta get it done, I could see this being a method of making things work.

 

[dyates]

Has anyone used a pressure washer to hydro-drill a hole before pounding in post. I needed to fence in a small place in my back year on kind of an emergency basis several years back. The ground was rock hard and we could not get t-post in the ground. On a whim, we tried the pressure washer to soften up the ground. It not only soften, it literally made a hole that was too good, and if we used it to much, the tpost just dropped in. But on those have to, just gotta get it done, I could see this being a method of making things work.

:nod: Works good for wood posts also. Doesn't do anything for rock, of course. In dry, hard dirt, however, I can drive posts about as fast as you can stand 'em up if they have been "pre-drilled" with a pressure washer.

 

[tytower]

With us its $80 ph for the Tractor and guy , you place the posts out where you want them and then you drive the tractor forward on the line and hewalks behind and lifts and places the post and pounds it in . Then you move on. Took us 2 hours to place 60 odd posts last time so with $10ph for my time I would say $180 gets you 60 posts or $3 /post . That would be $2.40USD.

About half of what you are quoted but I reckon I need a raise.

 

[EAT BEEF]

I charged five dollars a post.Most guys sell posts,I made a little over a dollar on posts.Still cheaper than most people could get them.When I was building fence I liked useing our posts as they are better than the crap posts places like tsc sell,a good post will also drive faster and straighter.Locust will last forever,but alot of them are a bit&% to drive,and some guys won't mess with them.

If you have the area mowed and things are marked out for them things will go alot better for everyone.You might be surprised how many places I showed up at and people had no idea where they wanted things and weeds 4 feet tall. What part of Farm & Dairy land are you in?

 

[lavacarancher]

"Pounding" wooden post in the ground is a new one to me. I know such equipment is available but I've never seen it or heard of anyone in my part of the country use them. Why would you chose a pounder to put wooden posts in the ground over an auger type post hole digger? What's are the advantages? Just trying to get a little edumication.

 

[marksmu]

Its much faster to pound them, and the post is in complete contact with the hole...you dont have to worry about the rain washing your dirt away and then there being a big sink hole around the post and it being all wobbly.

When we have to drill them with the post hole digger, its dry dirt, and then clay for us....the clay is awful - it can take 5-7 minutes per post to drill them...if its damp soil, it takes us 40 seconds tops to put the post in, its more sturdy, and I can pound them in without having to worry about picking up the barb wire already in place and wrapping it around the bit if your replacing a post.

I think its all around better...but its just my opinion.

 

[ufo_chris]

I think the worst part is having to fill and tamp the hole back in.
We have an auger but we're not getting any younger and time is in short supply, so the pounding sounds really good!
By the way ,forgot to ask....are the corner posts ok ponded in? I always like to concrete those in so they don't pull out in time.

To Eat Beef:
I'm outside of Lisbon ,about 15 miles from Salem ,where the Farm & Dairy paper is published.
Where are you at?
Chris

 

[EAT BEEF]

By the way ,forgot to ask....are the corner posts ok ponded in? I always like to concrete those in so they don't pull out in time.

It's fine to drive the corners,they will not pull up if you build your brace right.Concrete can rot the post off sometimes if the water can't drain away from the post.

I live in south central Oklahoma,but I from the Mt.Vernon Ohio area.

 

[Fred]

You can drive posts with one of these. They work good on soft ground. It helps if you sharpen the posts with an axe. Works best with 2 people.