A quick and relatively cheap way to get the post driver to do more of the work is to weld on some weights on the top of the driver. You'd be surprised what an extra 5-10lbs of weight will do to those T posts even in hard ground. Dad built his own in the foundry out of schedule 80 cast pipe and a couple blocks of pig iron. He didn't add any handles, but that pipe was heavy enough to drive the posts without having to throw it down. However, it is harder to lift, especially with your 7' posts. We mostly used them to hold hog fence panels and so used shorter posts that ended up only about 4' out of the ground. We drove those posts in hard enough to curl the tops quite a bit. He also used the same driver to drive in a 2" diameter well pipe for Grandma, but that was before I was tall enough to lift it. To the many commenters below who suggest using the tractor bucket, many smaller tractors only have power to the lift cylinders, and depend on the bucket and arm weight to lower it. If the ground is as hard as described, it may not be any more efficient than the hand powered driver. I don't know if that's the case here, but it is common for both older and smaller loader tractors to have power in only one direction.
Don't know if you had thought of it but, you could drive the tractor down to the far end then roll off a bit of fence and hook it to the post ,then back the tractor back up to the other post unrolling the fence as you go. Saves having to pull it by hand. Also you can push the t-posts into the ground with the bucket on the front end loader. Put the bottom of the bucket on top of the post and just lower the bucket. Also you can remove old post with the loader too.
Evan, If you have double action cylinders on your front end loader, you may be able to use a home made bucket attachment or chain hook to push in the T posts.
If you have a bucket on your tractor secure a big block of wood to the underside of it and drill out a shallow 2" hole so you can lift the bucket and bring it down on top of the "T" post and center it in the hole so you can push the post into the ground. They hace a machine that does it but the tractor might work and save your muscles.
Good job Evan and Rebecca, the fencing looks good and the animals will love the extra areas to roam. It’s looking better around there every day.👍👍👏🏻👏🏻👏🏻👏🏻
If you weld some extra weight to your post driver, it will pound the posts faster. We have a homemade one that has been on the farm for 70 years. It has an extra 15 lb weight welded to the top. Can usually drive a post in 3 hits.
Best way to join 2 pieces of fence together is with a 1/2 inch piece of galvanized pipe. It's a lot stronger than just tying the fence onto itself. Plus if the fence is tight those gripple things wont hold it.
I'd like to think you may be able to use the tractor bucket to drive posts and when running out the ring-lock wire just tie it off at the beginning and reverse the tractor along the line, would save you dragging the wire by hand..love the show and think you are doing a great job..best wishes
Lol I often use the front loader bucket to drive the metal Tposts. I start the post in the ground enough to hold itself in place. I then place a cap on top of the post that I made to spread the surface area of applied pressure so the post wont press through my bucket. The cap is just a metal pipe cap with a piece of flat steel welded on top, It's aprox 8x8 inches. It was just a piece of scrap I found lying around. You can start several post so you can push alot at one time before stopping. Hope this helps
I am finally caught up. Excellent work! One tip that I use, when wrapping the ends of the field fence around a pole, use a small boxed end wrench to help wrap it. I keep a couple 8mm wrenches for just that purpose, it saves your fingers and hands from wearing out too fast.
Nice lookin fence, infrastructure is key to a successful homestead. Enjoyed watching your video, thanks for sharing. I just subscribed to your channel this morning. So thankful to be a part of the homesteading community. Pastor Lon Howle watching from South Carolina 👍🏻👍🏻🇺🇸🇺🇸 Harmony Acres Homestead
JudithB I used to put in steel posts like that, but now my son has to do it! I can put them in and pound them, but I cant get the pounder off the post anymore or have to get a ladder!! Oh well, I can still do part of it at least!! LOL Looks good except for the joint which is big enough for a goat to get through.
Yes if you have down pressure you could take a piece of pipe, bolt it to the bucket so post won't slip around. Or slot it on one side to put the post in , make it the length you want out of ground . Weld a strap to bolt to the loader bucket.it should hang straight down and give you a consistent depth .or just use the bottom of the bucket. My brother N law picked up a pneumatic driver at auction ,has to have a gas powered air compressor (rent one) but one person can use it just get it started straight then step back till correct depth!!! Slick !!. Posts are the hardest.
Pushing in posts with the tractor bucket bends them. The ground is too resistant to steady pressure. Impacting drivers overcome that resistance with sudden, rapid applications of force. It's like a magician pulling a tablecloth out from under a dinner setting, a steady pull (or push) ruins things but a rapid snatch (or impact) is like magic.
@@mwilliamshs yes but you don’t “push” them in if there is any resistance. You then use the bucket as a driver and tap them with the loader bucket. Sometimes they go in easy. Sometimes you get 1-2 inches each hit.
Fantastic looking job. You guys never cease to amaze me with the projects you take on. Before you take on a bigger fence project, I suggest a hand-held T-post driver that attaches to the hydraulic lines on your tractor. They are several hundreds of dollars, but you could get so much more done. You may even be able to rent something in your area. Keep up the great videos.
The fence looked great , I'm sure you appreciate that gripple tool. Nice to have an extra pair of hands. Thing about it with your wife taking part you both can appreciate the satisfaction of a job well done and the pride!
Tighter please More cost but tornado high tensile fence is king. The fixed knot it %100 better than the hinge joint. And will shine with the dips you have coming. If your all ready using gripples it's less work. But it's gotta be way tighter.
Those clips on the bottom needed to be clamped on tighter. Do you tie off each corner? Thats not really necessary - you can roll fence around the outside, then come back to the inside for the rest of the fence. Thats how we did ours. I had to teach the crew how to do that- they had never seen it before, but it saves time and splicing.
Why not try using the tractor bucket to push the t-posts into the ground. It would be cheaper than renting a powered one and you wouldn't have so much physical work with your hands hurting from the blisters. My brother use to do it all the time. It works really well. You have to go slow as the post can be tricky to keep straight sometimes, but it is a whole lot better than pounding them in by hand. Thanks for the great video. I have really enjoyed all your videos. I am really glad that I found your channel.
Have you tried to push posts into the ground with bucket of your loader? I do it everytime and it works fine, but I use wooden posts. Just an idea. Btw I love your videos. Greetings from Slovakia :D
I like your idea with the conduit and chain through the roll of fence. I was trying to think of a cheap solution and now I believe I’ll just borrow yours.
Couple of things I would recommend for you; First thing would save your Gripples on that splice by simply connecting the fencing together before hand with a hand splice and then stretching from there. It controls the gap, would save the cost of the Gripples and probably reduce a little waste. I would also recommend a fence twisting tool. Doesn't sound all the necessary, but besides how tightly they can twist a wire (looks good!) they can help save your hands when you get a few more miles under your belt and start getting arthritis in your hands. They are cheap too. My first thought when you started with the t-posts was wondering how much things had softened up. I guess not much. Lol. Looks good.
@@corydriver7634 My stretcher consists of two 48" long 2x4's, a half doz. bolts, a couple of chains, a come-along and my tractor bumper. I am not sure what I would do if I had a dedicated stretcher for field fencing. Lol
@@chrism.2231 if you had a steel fence stretcher bar with the drive in wedges to hold the wire in place you would throw those 2x4's in the scrap pile.....thats what i done when i got mine, one of the best investments for fencing i have made...
Great job on the fences. Love that spool dispenser thingy that you and Rebecca used tp roll our the barb wire. That was a great way to handle the scratchy stuff. The goats seemed to be happy with their expanded surroundings. Have a Blessed day. Hope the next set of posts won't be so difficult'
Nice Job Evan and Rebecca! That fencing looks like fun lol. We are getting ready to start fencing 10 acres separated into 2 acre paddocks for the horses it’s gonna be interesting!
Look up Redbrand videos on fence installs. Those Gripples are nice, but Redbrand shows you how to dead head the H brace to build tension in the fence run. Resist the urge to stretch runs with the tractor. This does not build tension in one of your H braces and the fence will be loose . Of course that was learned on my farm the hard way😁! Great video. Oh and goats are tough on ANY fence!!😁
Most definitely. We usually have a few thousand feet to do when we put down post so that is soooo much faster and easier. We also run our top strand of wire so you have the top to keep the post level (sight wise)
Last time we made a new fence at the farm, it was after a lot of rain, it took 2 bands with the donger and the pegs were in too LOW. had TO LFT THEM UP A BIT
I never realised how complicated building a fence is! It definitely is a 2 person job! I know you would have, but I hope you picked up all the pieces of wire. Seeing an animal die slowly because it ate a piece of wire is really bad. I guess the goats appreciate the bigger area. look forward to seeing the next project!
I am going to try to rig up my T post driver to my loader attachment on my tractor to try and push the T post into the ground. Mine is hard as well. We will see.
Tip: put a broom handle through the centre of your field fence roll and then the two of you can walk with it, one on each end of the broom handle, to unroll it.
Watching another one of ur videos on the tv...where u talking about ur back and the er dr didn't give you anything for pain. The way you work, you need a good firm swedish massage on especially ur back...arms, legs and back are connected....those bales of hay weigh about 100 lbs....but the way you work, you need a massage at least twice a month...massage relenghtens muscles, increase circulation, flush toxins, etc....
You would swear that the two of you are professionals. The fence should last for many years.
That griple tool is a real game changer......😎
You can use the tractor loader to push the Tee post in the ground easier if you have someone to hold the post.
Hi..... Evan nice to see you, thank you for sharing your video homestead chicken farmer garden 👋 bye 👋 bye 👋 bye 👋 👕🐔🐓🐥🐕🐖🐈🌱🐐🎥👍👍👍
Grand job!
Looks like the animals like it too...😉👍🏻
Looks to be horse high and pig tight!!! Good enough!!! Good Job!!! Thanks...Peace!!!
Bill
Powered T post driver rental. Usually rent on Friday return on Monday only charge 1 day rental. Be able to install all the posts in a few hours.
A quick and relatively cheap way to get the post driver to do more of the work is to weld on some weights on the top of the driver. You'd be surprised what an extra 5-10lbs of weight will do to those T posts even in hard ground. Dad built his own in the foundry out of schedule 80 cast pipe and a couple blocks of pig iron. He didn't add any handles, but that pipe was heavy enough to drive the posts without having to throw it down. However, it is harder to lift, especially with your 7' posts. We mostly used them to hold hog fence panels and so used shorter posts that ended up only about 4' out of the ground. We drove those posts in hard enough to curl the tops quite a bit. He also used the same driver to drive in a 2" diameter well pipe for Grandma, but that was before I was tall enough to lift it. To the many commenters below who suggest using the tractor bucket, many smaller tractors only have power to the lift cylinders, and depend on the bucket and arm weight to lower it. If the ground is as hard as described, it may not be any more efficient than the hand powered driver. I don't know if that's the case here, but it is common for both older and smaller loader tractors to have power in only one direction.
Don't know if you had thought of it but, you could drive the tractor down to the far end then roll off a bit of fence and hook it to the post ,then back the tractor back up to the other post unrolling the fence as you go. Saves having to pull it by hand. Also you can push the t-posts into the ground with the bucket on the front end loader. Put the bottom of the bucket on top of the post and just lower the bucket. Also you can remove old post with the loader too.
Great looking fence. Enjoyed the video.
Looks great!
I use the bucket on my tractor to help T posts in when the ground is hard. You can use the bucket to push it down as well as to tap it down.
Evan,
If you have double action cylinders on your front end loader, you may be able to use a home made bucket attachment or chain hook to push in the T posts.
That Syndney doggie sure likes to run around way back there in the background!! And I predict you will get the whole joint fenced, soon!
You two doing great job 👍🏻🥃
If you have a bucket on your tractor secure a big block of wood to the underside of it and drill out a shallow 2" hole so you can lift the bucket and bring it down on top of the "T" post and center it in the hole so you can push the post into the ground. They hace a machine that does it but the tractor might work and save your muscles.
3 days of hard work equals a new fenced pasture that will last years! The goats definitely seemed to enjoy their new grass.
Shadowgt about 20 years, if all goes well.
Nice pasture time for cows!
Good job Evan and Rebecca, the fencing looks good and the animals will love the extra areas to roam. It’s looking better around there every day.👍👍👏🏻👏🏻👏🏻👏🏻
If you weld some extra weight to your post driver, it will pound the posts faster. We have a homemade one that has been on the farm for 70 years. It has an extra 15 lb weight welded to the top. Can usually drive a post
in 3 hits.
Best way to join 2 pieces of fence together is with a 1/2 inch piece of galvanized pipe. It's a lot stronger than just tying the fence onto itself. Plus if the fence is tight those gripple things wont hold it.
Glad Rebecca was able to help! You're such a cute couple, and hard workers!!
I'd like to think you may be able to use the tractor bucket to drive posts and when running out the ring-lock wire just tie it off at the beginning and reverse the tractor along the line, would save you dragging the wire by hand..love the show and think you are doing a great job..best wishes
Push the t posts with the front loader of the tractor i do it that way on m farm and works fine
That's awesome man it turned out great nice job you 2
You make a great team
Lol I often use the front loader bucket to drive the metal Tposts. I start the post in the ground enough to hold itself in place. I then place a cap on top of the post that I made to spread the surface area of applied pressure so the post wont press through my bucket. The cap is just a metal pipe cap with a piece of flat steel welded on top, It's aprox 8x8 inches. It was just a piece of scrap I found lying around. You can start several post so you can push alot at one time before stopping. Hope this helps
Good morning. 🤗
You folks make fencing look easy.
Enjoy your day. God bless you and your family. ☝️👏
Love to see you and your beautiful wife working together, she's definitely not afraid to get dirty. BLESSINGS from central Fl.
Rebecca sure puts some English on that post hole driver! It's looking good on the homestead.
Completing a large project and feeling good at the end of it is the best feeling. 😃
Looks great from Ohio
Love the video I'm working on installing goat fencing right now myself through the thickit lot of work and its hot in FLA.
You have done a amazing job
Thx
you need to paint barn, it will look brand new.
yall, please, be very careful with those wire ends. they can hurt you easy as well as blind you. all is looking great................g
Fence looks really good, lots more room for the creatures to roam.
I am finally caught up. Excellent work! One tip that I use, when wrapping the ends of the field fence around a pole, use a small boxed end wrench to help wrap it. I keep a couple 8mm wrenches for just that purpose, it saves your fingers and hands from wearing out too fast.
Steady as you go. Great job, guys. You have really transformed the place. Looks good.
Nice lookin fence, infrastructure is key to a successful homestead. Enjoyed watching your video, thanks for sharing. I just subscribed to your channel this morning. So thankful to be a part of the homesteading community. Pastor Lon Howle watching from South Carolina 👍🏻👍🏻🇺🇸🇺🇸 Harmony Acres Homestead
use the bucket of your tractor to push the T posts down
JudithB I used to put in steel posts like that, but now my son has to do it! I can put them in and pound them, but I cant get the pounder off the post anymore or have to get a ladder!! Oh well, I can still do part of it at least!! LOL Looks good except for the joint which is big enough for a goat to get through.
What about using the front bucket on tractor to push posts in
MARTIN THATS WHAT i WAS GOING TO COMMENT ABOUT . HUBBY AND I ALWAYS DO THAT. SOOOOO MUCH EASIER.
Yes if you have down pressure you could take a piece of pipe, bolt it to the bucket so post won't slip around. Or slot it on one side to put the post in , make it the length you want out of ground . Weld a strap to bolt to the loader bucket.it should hang straight down and give you a consistent depth .or just use the bottom of the bucket. My brother N law picked up a pneumatic driver at auction ,has to have a gas powered air compressor (rent one) but one person can use it just get it started straight then step back till correct depth!!! Slick !!. Posts are the hardest.
I was also going to suggest that.
Pushing in posts with the tractor bucket bends them. The ground is too resistant to steady pressure. Impacting drivers overcome that resistance with sudden, rapid applications of force.
It's like a magician pulling a tablecloth out from under a dinner setting, a steady pull (or push) ruins things but a rapid snatch (or impact) is like magic.
@@mwilliamshs yes but you don’t “push” them in if there is any resistance. You then use the bucket as a driver and tap them with the loader bucket. Sometimes they go in easy. Sometimes you get 1-2 inches each hit.
Fantastic looking job. You guys never cease to amaze me with the projects you take on. Before you take on a bigger fence project, I suggest a hand-held T-post driver that attaches to the hydraulic lines on your tractor. They are several hundreds of dollars, but you could get so much more done. You may even be able to rent something in your area. Keep up the great videos.
That hard work will pay you back for years to come. Good job 👍
The fence looked great , I'm sure you appreciate that gripple tool. Nice to have an extra pair of hands. Thing about it with your wife taking part you both can appreciate the satisfaction of a job well done and the pride!
Great video
Tighter please
More cost but tornado high tensile fence is king. The fixed knot it %100 better than the hinge joint. And will shine with the dips you have coming. If your all ready using gripples it's less work. But it's gotta be way tighter.
Those clips on the bottom needed to be clamped on tighter. Do you tie off each corner? Thats not really necessary - you can roll fence around the outside, then come back to the inside for the rest of the fence. Thats how we did ours. I had to teach the crew how to do that- they had never seen it before, but it saves time and splicing.
very nice job!
Why not try using the tractor bucket to push the t-posts into the ground. It would be cheaper than renting a powered one and you wouldn't have so much physical work with your hands hurting from the blisters. My brother use to do it all the time. It works really well. You have to go slow as the post can be tricky to keep straight sometimes, but it is a whole lot better than pounding them in by hand.
Thanks for the great video. I have really enjoyed all your videos. I am really glad that I found your channel.
You may be able to rent a gas powered steel post pounder. Living Traditions homestead bought one, and they love it.
I have used my tractor bucket to push .T POST in many times
Like I said I'd be more than happy to drive out and lend a hand Evan... Looks amazing !!!
Love the barn the way it is!
Love it 😊
Have you tried to push posts into the ground with bucket of your loader? I do it everytime and it works fine, but I use wooden posts. Just an idea. Btw I love your videos. Greetings from Slovakia :D
I like your idea with the conduit and chain through the roll of fence. I was trying to think of a cheap solution and now I believe I’ll just borrow yours.
I'm fencing my place in right now so it's good to see somebody else who is hand driving T-post.
It's starting to look good
Couple of things I would recommend for you; First thing would save your Gripples on that splice by simply connecting the fencing together before hand with a hand splice and then stretching from there. It controls the gap, would save the cost of the Gripples and probably reduce a little waste. I would also recommend a fence twisting tool. Doesn't sound all the necessary, but besides how tightly they can twist a wire (looks good!) they can help save your hands when you get a few more miles under your belt and start getting arthritis in your hands. They are cheap too. My first thought when you started with the t-posts was wondering how much things had softened up. I guess not much. Lol. Looks good.
CHRIS M. I agree with you but I assumed he doesn’t have a wire stretcher. Seems like that would be much easier.
@@corydriver7634 My stretcher consists of two 48" long 2x4's, a half doz. bolts, a couple of chains, a come-along and my tractor bumper. I am not sure what I would do if I had a dedicated stretcher for field fencing. Lol
@@chrism.2231 if you had a steel fence stretcher bar with the drive in wedges to hold the wire in place you would throw those 2x4's in the scrap pile.....thats what i done when i got mine, one of the best investments for fencing i have made...
I am looking into buying a stretcher bar with wedges. Hope to have one next time I install fence.
The fence turned out great. You need to check out a pneumatic or gasoline powered post driver. Saves a lot of work.
use the bucket on the tractor to drive metal posts into ground.
You are gettin' a pro
Great video guy's! You two work so good together! Love to see that! Fence look wonderful! God-bless!
As always , good job Evan.
Looks great kids 👍
Great job on the fences. Love that spool dispenser thingy that you and Rebecca used tp roll our the barb wire. That was a great way to handle the scratchy stuff. The goats seemed to be happy with their expanded surroundings. Have a Blessed day. Hope the next set of posts won't be so difficult'
A little Icy Hot on those shoulders guys? Whew! Great job you two; so glad I can watch your hard work from my sofa!
This time of year is always hard to set posts. We learned to plan to do post settling in late spring when the ground opens up.
Your the new man Evan. Did you know all this stuff before you bought your property. Or did you inherit the family farm
Thanks guys it’s enjoyable to see how you are turning it around into something you like
Nice Job Evan and Rebecca! That fencing looks like fun lol. We are getting ready to start fencing 10 acres separated into 2 acre paddocks for the horses it’s gonna be interesting!
came out so awesome!! great job!!
Good video
YAY Rebecca got a few days off, finally! You guys did an awesome job on that fencing. Nice work!
...GOOD JOB, that should keep the critters in and out..lol...stay safe and enjoy
Awesome and hard work done, stay safe. God bless
Look up Redbrand videos on fence installs. Those Gripples are nice, but Redbrand shows you how to dead head the H brace to build tension in the fence run. Resist the urge to stretch runs with the tractor. This does not build tension in one of your H braces and the fence will be loose . Of course that was learned on my farm the hard way😁! Great video. Oh and goats are tough on ANY fence!!😁
awesome job fencing..... you gonna paint barn roof with fiberated alum paint?....
use a power washer to make your post holes
That might look easy but having fine some fencing I know that is LOT of hard work. Great job.
Push them t-posts into the ground with the front end loader
Most definitely. We usually have a few thousand feet to do when we put down post so that is soooo much faster and easier. We also run our top strand of wire so you have the top to keep the post level (sight wise)
The ground is softer in the Spring, if you could plan future fencing around that time of the year. Great job on the fence.
Tried yesterday putting up fence in Indiana yesterday and the ground won..lol. We need that rain. Keep up the great channel.
Would it be hard to drive the T-post using your tractor bucket?
Last time we made a new fence at the farm, it was after a lot of rain, it took 2 bands with the donger and the pegs were in too LOW.
had TO LFT THEM UP A BIT
I never realised how complicated building a fence is! It definitely is a 2 person job!
I know you would have, but I hope you picked up all the pieces of wire. Seeing an animal die slowly because it ate a piece of wire is really bad.
I guess the goats appreciate the bigger area. look forward to seeing the next project!
I was wondering the same ,but I did see a blue bucket he threw his scraps into.
Yes, all the wire pieces were picked up and put in the bucket.
I am going to try to rig up my T post driver to my loader attachment on my tractor to try and push the T post into the ground. Mine is hard as well. We will see.
Tip: put a broom handle through the centre of your field fence roll and then the two of you can walk with it, one on each end of the broom handle, to unroll it.
Use your bucket to push the T-posts down, much easier on the ears and shoulders. 😁 Thanks for the new music. 👍
The last splice looked like it left a Larger gap between the vertical strands, how did you fill that in?
yep, I know about running fence and what it can do to your hands. It's a lot of work!😎
Watching another one of ur videos on the tv...where u talking about ur back and the er dr didn't give you anything for pain. The way you work, you need a good firm swedish massage on especially ur back...arms, legs and back are connected....those bales of hay weigh about 100 lbs....but the way you work, you need a massage at least twice a month...massage relenghtens muscles, increase circulation, flush toxins, etc....
Next time you place T post use the bucket on your tractor to drive the post into the ground. (Work smarter not harder) hahaha
I added 5lbs to the top of mine!
To save cost on the gripples could you use say 4 or 5 to tighten the fence and do the rest of the strands with regular fence connectors?
Rebecca you are one hard working woman. Just watch out that Evan doesen't get you cornered now.
You may want to look into a power t-post driver. A real back saver.