Fencing - how to fix the posts

Best get your pen knife out first to sharpen the ends up a little

 

depends on what the fence is for and how long you want it to last.
try a post knocker thingymajig...or kruntwisks head

 

Hi Slack H,

If you don't fancy cementing the posts in, i would suggest that you use the metal spike post fixings.

These will give added stability, and will slow down the rotting process at the base of the posts.

Regards

BTB

 

Posts knocked into the ground, or even put in dug holes and rammed, last much longer than in concrete. (Spreads the stress) With that number, maybe hire a JCB for the day, I'm told by a friend who's done this that they can knock them in like pushing pins in butter.

 

I would use a petrol auger fractionally larger than the post size in order to give a good tight fit every five posts I would concrete in to give strength. I have found that by the time you have banged a met post in and discovered tree roots etc you would have been just as fast concreting it.

Paul

 

Can recommend the type of post driver that is basically a heavy metal tube with a handle down each side. You slide the tube over the top of the post and then raise and lower it to drive in the posts.

It's much easier to keep the posts vertical as they go in compared to a sledgehammer and while still hard work is easier than digging holes or using the sledge.

Can't see one on the Screwfix site though, got mine from a local fencing contractors for around £20-£25 I think, but well worth it if you have a lot of posts to do.

 

For round or half round posts use a post driver. Machine Mart do one. No need to concrete in pointed posts


Paul

 

Just put in 60 posts (half round & round,) still got 90+ to do,
Have a farmer "mate" who has a post driver that fits on his tractor, this might be the way to go if > a, you can find the right sort of farmer if you have the room to run a tractor along the boundry, Posts tend to rot at ground level so try to get your creosote to above this,
If you have to do it by hand so to speak then use a bar to make a sort of pilot hole,
Best of luck cos it`s hard work !
TE

 

Having done a fair bit of this kinda stuff, take it from me- knocking em in with a sledge IS HARD WORK!!

Check out your local paper, probably an 'Agriculure' section, get a man and a JCB for the day!

 

Hi Harry,

I have done fencing in my paddock and used a post driver. It is f*** hard work and difficult to drive the post accurately to the right depth for matching rails to. You always find a buried stone to hit which means that the post might swing off or seat too high.

There is not an easy way to do it though and I would suggest using a combination of methods using an auger to start the post hole and then driving the last bit. You need to thump these in 18".

If you can borrow a tractor post driver but even then they can hit the same problems above. Do not use creosote as it pollutes the ground the pressure treatment works well enough. I pulled out a post that has been in 8 years and there was no sign of rot.

You better have four shredded wheats before you do this job

DWD

 

5 and half foot half rounds is going to give you a pretty wee fence. I would chap them in with a drive-all (big metal tube with handles) but it is a two man job to make sure you are driving straight. Never a huge fan of metpost fence spikes esp. if you arn't sure where the services are...oh yeah, use a pinch bar to get a head start on the holes...

 

With 5'6" posts you are only putting about 2 feet into the ground. As you said yourself the ground is soft/clay mix, with no rock problems.
Get a hold of a 28lb fencing mell and belt the barstards in. If the ground is what you say it is, it should only take around five minutes per post.
Use a pinch bar to "guddle" the holes first, set the posts in, and clout the beggers. If you can get a mate to help hold the post straight, all the better. Worked for years as a fencer for an agricultural contractor and into good soil the posts will go down like a ***** on paynight.

TT