Just a heads up in case you don't know, once you cut the posts it voids any and all warranty. I was very fortunate drove mine to full depth with the tag down "preserves the tag". The reason I mention this is we drove in close to a mile of these and they all rotted within a couple years. The exterior shell was good but they ended up going hollow weirdest thing. Contacted manufacturer for warranty and southeast rep came out he said posts are cut off voided, I said nope pulled few up and gave him original tags asked how many he would like. Long story short yellawood purchased a fence and I went with a heavier treatment post.
Thank you Jerry! It has its pros and cons. Its actually easier on the round post because its not as noticable if you get it off just a tad. Thx for watching. Dave
What to you do with the hydraulic controls in the tractor that control your valves in the back of the tractor the post driver is connected to ? Tie it open?
@@robertverbois7348 no, it’s a two person operation. One inside tractor holding valve and other outside operating driver. Not safe to tie back valve inside even though I wanted to a million times!!!
Hey bud. Nice video but i read the manual and its contradictory with the video shaver has. You do not move the two stabilizers down. Thats only for storing. The red part which you say you dont put down needs to be put down, you can still tilt the column when its down. Anyway thats what the manual says and i used it once today and worked pretty good. Didnt need to do multiple adjusting after a few bangs, went straight in. What sucks is shaver video on the machine shows you the wrong way of doing it.
Hello, I've read the comments and your replies. We are currently building a small horse farm in NJ. We will be starting with approx 250-275 posts. I'm really at odds as whether to purchase a pounder or an auger. After seeing you video it looked good but then read comments and not so good. I have been told dimensional 4x4 are hard to pound straight and not crooked. Would appreciate your thoughts John
The post I was driving in video were 4x6 and it did it with ease. The problem is keeping them straight. I’m anal and didn’t want any of them crooked but it’s very hard. To be honest, and this is just my opinion so take it with a grain of salt as I am not a fence builder and do not claim to be a master. The learning curve was too much for me and an entire exercise in frustration. The post are solid and not going anywhere but you have so much more control with and auger and while I realize it’s more steps to get a finished product, it’s not frustrating. I did 10 acres total with cross fencing, not sure the total number of post but it was a lot. The front fence was the only thing I pounded. I sold the pounder at a loss and said it was worth a loss to not get frustrated. I consider myself a pretty smart guy but could not get that dialed in. My input is go with an auger unless your used to frustration. If I installed fences for a living I would have stuck with it and worked through it but it was my hobby farm and once the fence was done I wasn’t going to need it anymore. An auger is just handy to have around to plant trees, shrubs, light pole or a flag pole and far less cheaper. Hope that helps and thanks for watching!
@@bdradley1 Thanks so much for this opinion. Im getting ready to fence in about 10 acres and have been debating driving vs auger. sorry you lost money on the pounder, but i took about a 7500 dollar hit on a tractor issue last month so i guess we all live and learn, thanks brother.
@@tjabaley Thank you Tim I appreciate it. I ended up doing about 10 acres as well with cross fencing making 4 separate areas for rotational grazing. So glad all of that is behind me. Was a huge undertaking, allot of work and time but oh how gratifying to look back and say I did that! We definately live and learn and nothing you can do except grow from it! Thanks so much for watching and commenting. Good luck with your project! Dave
I know the cost is 10x more, but it looks like the skid steer mounted units, to the self propelled units on tracks work a lot better, and deliver a more solid pounded post. @@bdradley1
@@jeffstrains4014 I have no experience with them but would agree 100%. Not uncommon for those to be 100hp with much stronger hydraulics. Thx for watching.
I don’t know the big Jim driver. Never heard of it. I’d check warranty, build quality, customer service if there’s an issue. Hope that helps and sorry I couldn’t give better advice. Thx for watching!
It looks like you are using a Mahindra. I also have a Mahindra 4510 and just bought the driver. I watched your video about hydraulics hookup and am wondering about the return to the hydraulic sump fitting. Did shaver direct you to a distributer?
are the posts flat on the bottom or are they shaved into spikes? i noticed a lot of the british post driver videos i watched they were using spikey bottoms.
@@bdradley1 thanks for the quick response. yah im curious because i keep being told about the heaving that happens from that shape. have u had any issues? and how firm is the hold?
@@OOHDAT I had no heaving issues at all and it is more solid than concrete. I can’t pull them out with my tractor. I literally have to dig all the way around the post about 12 inch deep to move them
I see you are having the same problem I am, where the driver pushes the post away. Using the holder doesn’t help. Did you find a trick to keeping the posts straight??
I did not unfortunately, it’s like you can keep it straight until the point of no return and the driver seems to know and say “now I’m going to go crooked since you can’t straighten it” and laughs in your face. I found it to be an exercise in frustration and was having to manually straighten almost half that I drove. Ended up selling it and going back to auger on my tractor!
@@bdradley1 exactly. I’m glad. I’m not the only one. Doesn’t matter how much prep I do. How slowly I drive the post. Straight, Straight, Straight, Crooked. It does a great job getting it into the ground. I just wish I could figure out how to drive them straight
@@LPFSTheFett I wish I could have figured it out as well, and Shaver was of little help and the supplier had no idea either. I gave it an honest effort and had multiple people try as they said they knew how but to no avail. After I got frustrated for about the eighth day I just took it off and put her on the market. Not what I wanted to do but I was fighting with it and what a bear to get them out once they are in. I just figured I could go faster the old way!
They are super solid, like as if they are concreted in. I’ve done both and but pounding can be frustrating because it’s hard to keep them straight. I definitely wouldn’t go out and buy a pounder if you don’t have access to one, the old traditional way of using an auger and then setting them with pea gravel or 57 stone works just fine.
Dude you need to check out a king hitter from fairbrother industries in new Zealand. I can drive 120 15feet poles 6 foot in the ground in 1 hour. They are 12 inches wide at the skinny end.
🤣 Apples and oranges! A Kinghitter-type post driver is definitely a better machine, but they are about double the price (and more) of these reviewed here. 👍 Also, you're probably driving all those posts into NZ pumice soil; try that in rocky soil here in NE Pennsylvania! It ain't going to happen. 🤪 but yeah, those machines are much better, for sure!
That "support" stays on the post until you've completely driven the post to desired depth/height. You're best option is to get a magnetic or a pair of magnetic levels and leave on the hammer. You'll see what your post is doing. I do suggest actually reading the manual first before using, it helps. Cheers :)
I can promise you this, any of you. Anywhere you have ground soft/wet enough to drive a blunt tip post 3 feet, with the surface area that a 4x6 has, I will guarantee you those post will rot at the ground in no time flat!!! Where I'm at in East Texas, I'd give them 2, maybe 3, years before they start compromising. Save your money on that timber, and buy drill stem pipe!!!
Thats NOT true. I live in Louisiana where everything is wet and my post were driven in and they dont rot. I drove mine in the ground in July and August when the ground was hard and dry as woodpecker lips. The ground doesn’t have to be damp to drive those post in the ground
While I appreciate the effort to share, never subject a level to the kind of bang bang that your pile driver produces - if you want it to stay true. Other than that, plumb and level are tangents, not the same thing. You were making me crazy with that all too common miscue, but that's just me being an OCD jerk.
Just a heads up in case you don't know, once you cut the posts it voids any and all warranty. I was very fortunate drove mine to full depth with the tag down "preserves the tag". The reason I mention this is we drove in close to a mile of these and they all rotted within a couple years. The exterior shell was good but they ended up going hollow weirdest thing. Contacted manufacturer for warranty and southeast rep came out he said posts are cut off voided, I said nope pulled few up and gave him original tags asked how many he would like. Long story short yellawood purchased a fence and I went with a heavier treatment post.
Great info to have! Thanks and I’ll definitely remember for future.
It looks like square posts are better than round posts for the purpose of aligning the post with the string line. Excellent job you are doing!
Thank you Jerry! It has its pros and cons. Its actually easier on the round post because its not as noticable if you get it off just a tad. Thx for watching. Dave
great video and great machine, have you ever Pointed the ends to see if it is any faster?
Thank you Andrew I appreciate it! I have not ever pointed them but it would definitely be allot faster for sure. Thx for watching!
@@bdradley1 But if you do that you void the warranty. Cut it and your done if the pole goes bad in a few years.
Fun Fact: You don't want to leave your thumb on the top of the post at any time while pounding it in. I know a guy who did just that.
What to you do with the hydraulic controls in the tractor that control your valves in the back of the tractor the post driver is connected to ? Tie it open?
@@robertverbois7348 no, it’s a two person operation. One inside tractor holding valve and other outside operating driver. Not safe to tie back valve inside even though I wanted to a million times!!!
@@bdradley1 lol, ok thank you
Hey bud. Nice video but i read the manual and its contradictory with the video shaver has. You do not move the two stabilizers down. Thats only for storing. The red part which you say you dont put down needs to be put down, you can still tilt the column when its down. Anyway thats what the manual says and i used it once today and worked pretty good. Didnt need to do multiple adjusting after a few bangs, went straight in. What sucks is shaver video on the machine shows you the wrong way of doing it.
I appreciate it Erhan! Good to know and thx for watching
Nice. Save time by attaching a two-sided post level to the Post for easy constant monitoring. Posts with serious treatment will last much longer.
Great advice! I appreciate it and thanks for watching!
Hello,
I've read the comments and your replies. We are currently building a small horse farm in NJ. We will be starting with approx 250-275 posts.
I'm really at odds as whether to purchase a pounder or an auger.
After seeing you video it looked good but then read comments and not so good. I have been told dimensional 4x4 are hard to pound straight and not crooked.
Would appreciate your thoughts
John
The post I was driving in video were 4x6 and it did it with ease. The problem is keeping them straight. I’m anal and didn’t want any of them crooked but it’s very hard.
To be honest, and this is just my opinion so take it with a grain of salt as I am not a fence builder and do not claim to be a master. The learning curve was too much for me and an entire exercise in frustration. The post are solid and not going anywhere but you have so much more control with and auger and while I realize it’s more steps to get a finished product, it’s not frustrating. I did 10 acres total with cross fencing, not sure the total number of post but it was a lot. The front fence was the only thing I pounded. I sold the pounder at a loss and said it was worth a loss to not get frustrated. I consider myself a pretty smart guy but could not get that dialed in. My input is go with an auger unless your used to frustration. If I installed fences for a living I would have stuck with it and worked through it but it was my hobby farm and once the fence was done I wasn’t going to need it anymore. An auger is just handy to have around to plant trees, shrubs, light pole or a flag pole and far less cheaper.
Hope that helps and thanks for watching!
@@bdradley1 Thanks so much for this opinion. Im getting ready to fence in about 10 acres and have been debating driving vs auger. sorry you lost money on the pounder, but i took about a 7500 dollar hit on a tractor issue last month so i guess we all live and learn, thanks brother.
@@tjabaley Thank you Tim I appreciate it. I ended up doing about 10 acres as well with cross fencing making 4 separate areas for rotational grazing. So glad all of that is behind me. Was a huge undertaking, allot of work and time but oh how gratifying to look back and say I did that! We definately live and learn and nothing you can do except grow from it! Thanks so much for watching and commenting. Good luck with your project! Dave
I know the cost is 10x more, but it looks like the skid steer mounted units, to the self propelled units on tracks work a lot better, and deliver a more solid pounded post. @@bdradley1
@@jeffstrains4014 I have no experience with them but would agree 100%. Not uncommon for those to be 100hp with much stronger hydraulics. Thx for watching.
Fence or car barricade? Thems some posts!
how does hydraulic fluid return connect to tractor? does it return through regular remote hookup?
No it goes into the hydraulic fill port, watch my video on “how to properly hook up a shaver post driver”
I'm on the fence between this unit and the "Big Jim" post driver. Any advice?
I don’t know the big Jim driver. Never heard of it. I’d check warranty, build quality, customer service if there’s an issue. Hope that helps and sorry I couldn’t give better advice. Thx for watching!
It looks like you are using a Mahindra. I also have a Mahindra 4510 and just bought the driver. I watched your video about hydraulics hookup and am wondering about the return to the hydraulic sump fitting. Did shaver direct you to a distributer?
Shaver sells the fittings. Thx for watching and subbing!
I have one its been good. But added a lot of weight too it.
are the posts flat on the bottom or are they shaved into spikes? i noticed a lot of the british post driver videos i watched they were using spikey bottoms.
Mine were flat but actually would have gone in much easier had I cut a point. I would recommend it for sure
@@bdradley1 thanks for the quick response. yah im curious because i keep being told about the heaving that happens from that shape. have u had any issues? and how firm is the hold?
@@OOHDAT I had no heaving issues at all and it is more solid than concrete. I can’t pull them out with my tractor. I literally have to dig all the way around the post about 12 inch deep to move them
@@bdradley1 awesome great to know. i highly appreciate your help.
Should of used your 4 ft level to get the final height?
Taller than 4 ft
You'll wreak that level holding it against the post while you're driving. Just sayin...
I see you are having the same problem I am, where the driver pushes the post away. Using the holder doesn’t help. Did you find a trick to keeping the posts straight??
I did not unfortunately, it’s like you can keep it straight until the point of no return and the driver seems to know and say “now I’m going to go crooked since you can’t straighten it” and laughs in your face. I found it to be an exercise in frustration and was having to manually straighten almost half that I drove. Ended up selling it and going back to auger on my tractor!
@@bdradley1 exactly. I’m glad. I’m not the only one. Doesn’t matter how much prep I do. How slowly I drive the post. Straight, Straight, Straight, Crooked. It does a great job getting it into the ground. I just wish I could figure out how to drive them straight
@@LPFSTheFett I wish I could have figured it out as well, and Shaver was of little help and the supplier had no idea either. I gave it an honest effort and had multiple people try as they said they knew how but to no avail. After I got frustrated for about the eighth day I just took it off and put her on the market. Not what I wanted to do but I was fighting with it and what a bear to get them out once they are in. I just figured I could go faster the old way!
Start crooked and it will be straight :)
I'm getting ready to put up a 4 board fence. Should I pound them? Are they really solid and do they stay solid?
They are super solid, like as if they are concreted in. I’ve done both and but pounding can be frustrating because it’s hard to keep them straight. I definitely wouldn’t go out and buy a pounder if you don’t have access to one, the old traditional way of using an auger and then setting them with pea gravel or 57 stone works just fine.
What tractor were you you using?
Am wondering what that pounder requires in the way of pressures?
Im using a 45 hp mahindra and don't quote me but I think it requires 6 gpm flow. That info is on Shaver website so check to verify. thx for watching
Wood posts can't be driven into hard rock !!! Used 2.5 inch oilfield pipe can be driven into rock IF it is predrilled to crack\fracture same !
Thanks for the review!
Looks something Fred Flintstone would use.
Nice job WMA
Dude you need to check out a king hitter from fairbrother industries in new Zealand. I can drive 120 15feet poles 6 foot in the ground in 1 hour. They are 12 inches wide at the skinny end.
🤣 Apples and oranges!
A Kinghitter-type post driver is definitely a better machine, but they are about double the price (and more) of these reviewed here. 👍
Also, you're probably driving all those posts into NZ pumice soil; try that in rocky soil here in NE Pennsylvania! It ain't going to happen. 🤪
but yeah, those machines are much better, for sure!
That "support" stays on the post until you've completely driven the post to desired depth/height. You're best option is to get a magnetic or a pair of magnetic levels and leave on the hammer. You'll see what your post is doing. I do suggest actually reading the manual first before using, it helps. Cheers :)
THANK YOU!
3:18 thank me later
Those wood posts will soon rot below the surface over time ! You should be soaking the in ground portion in old oil\diesel fuel to preserve them !
It’s “plumb”... not “level”
Lol! Was thinking the same....
Rookie
I can promise you this, any of you. Anywhere you have ground soft/wet enough to drive a blunt tip post 3 feet, with the surface area that a 4x6 has, I will guarantee you those post will rot at the ground in no time flat!!! Where I'm at in East Texas, I'd give them 2, maybe 3, years before they start compromising. Save your money on that timber, and buy drill stem pipe!!!
Correct. Everything decomposes if sitting in rain "acid" water even aluminum. Treat/coat bottom of posts properly.
Thats NOT true. I live in Louisiana where everything is wet and my post were driven in and they dont rot. I drove mine in the ground in July and August when the ground was hard and dry as woodpecker lips. The ground doesn’t have to be damp to drive those post in the ground
While I appreciate the effort to share, never subject a level to the kind of bang bang that your pile driver produces - if you want it to stay true. Other than that, plumb and level are tangents, not the same thing. You were making me crazy with that all too common miscue, but that's just me being an OCD jerk.