You're an absolute treasure . Working on a 16 x 12 pole barn on a slope right now using an trove of black locust trees that came down during hurricane helene (in W.NC). Still working on moving all the 9' straightest , not quite totally straight ;) poles from the woods , burning the bottom 3' with a propane torch and back filling with dirt / gravel mixture. The frozen ground has slowed progress a bit but given me more time to consider .. and reconsider the final build. For a few dairy sheep and too many chickens.
Howdy Brother- I have gotten in the habit of using gravel for setting poles or posts. It’s good to put several inches of gravel in the bottom of the hole and tamp it good. Gravel does let the moisture to drain away. Also, I’ve been doing the sho sugi ban for a good four feet up to give it a good charring which helps with the longevity of the wood. I’m sure y’all are getting the snow down your way. I’m doing nothing but smoking goodies in the smoke house today. Gonna be some good eatin later. Take care and stay warm. God’s blessings to y’all
Great job Pa Mac, we packed the bottom of the whole with the post then set the post in and packed it as you said to do. Now they have a mixture for the small post that sets up in no time and works great but it is expensive stuff for sure. Thanks for sharing the way you do it, it's worked for years and will continue to work IF people would follow your instructions. Stay safe and keep up the great videos. Fred and family.
I was taught if you dig a hole for a post and put all the dirt back in the hole and tamp it down with a digging bar, the post will be well seated. If you put concrete in, you will eventually get water between the dirt and concrete and the post will become
If you set a post/pole in concrete, it creates a container to hold in moisture. I built a fence for some horse people which was nearly a mile long. That much tamping would surely destroy your shoulders. Searching the Internet I found you could buy powered, hydraulic or pneumatic, tampers but they were very expensive, and you needed the power source. Then I came across this one farmer who swore by gravel. That's what we did on this fence. We used about one inch gravel which contained a high quantity of crushed stone to get those nice sharp edges. We used 5-gallon buckets to put the gravel in the ground, trying to shovel from the trailer into the hole was nearly impossible as the gravel just went everywhere. Half a bucket in the bottom, set the post in and a couple more buckets to fill the space right up to ground level. NO TAMPING and the post was “rock” solid! Seriously! Yes, the gravel costs some money (but not like Portland cement sort of money) and you need to haul it in. An important added benefit Is that it creates fantastic drainage around the post. They were 8-foot pressure treat posts, 1/3 in the ground and 2/3 sticking out. One post every 12 feet with a top rail. Yes, it was an expensive fence. I'm in Idaho and we are being inundated with rich Californian expats seeking the “western lifestyle.”
Tom, you speak the truth. We built lots of decks in my days and this is how we did it. Tried to pull up one post cause the person wanted a bigger deck, we couldn't do it. Snapped it off.
Dry mix in my opinion is the worst anyone can do. Takes too long to set up since it's being forced to draw in moisture. Doesn't cure properly. Also, concrete/cement is porous, draws moisture like a sponge. In turn, causes rot. I don't disagree about setting a post/pole in the mud. Have to do that after storms moved through. Just take your time with tamping because mud is hard to tamp. Mound up at the surface, rain will drain away from the post that way. When I was a kid, my grand dad would tar the bottom 3 to 4 feet of a post or pole. Added protection against rot. Great video as always, cheers 😊
Soil type, wet area or dry, how deep can you dig or drill .... lots of possibilities. I've had great success if I get a deep hole, use crushed stone and pack it with the end of my 15 lb. spud bar and water. Quikcrete mixed also works, lazy way. On our farm for 23 yrs. and fence posts still holding up with Quikcrete or crushed stone.
I saw a video where a guy tested dry pour concrete versus wet pour and the dry pour was significantly weaker. I agree with you that there are certain situations where it does make sense, though. Thanks for your great video!
Not only tamp the pole or post really well if you have enough dirt left. Mound up the dirt around the pole so that as the dirt settles it won't leave a hole to catch water.
Pa Mac! Great video, I love watching your videos. I had a question about what trees would you use for the posts. I live in NW New Jersey and I have no cedars on my property. In the general area there are white and red oak, Birch, and maples (they rot quick). Would any of these actually last in the ground. I do see some very old cedar posts on some of the old farms still holding on, I just don't know that any of my trees could match that performance. Thanks for the videos, God bless!
I recently put a large pole in for a light, the problem I had was getting it upright, do you have any recommendations for lifting a pole, I was surrounded by tarmac so it did limit my options.
@@farmhandscompanion Thanks, I think the tripod method would have been good, I could have secured the bottom of the poles to each other to stop them splaying out on the solid surface, would have been better than what I did.
Technically, I suppose, no; but if you were to install floor joists between poles on a pole barn and nail down floor boards...that would pretty much be a building with stilts.
I like this method: gravel for one or two inches at the bottom of the hole, then insert the post, then a few more shovels of gravel, then six or so inches of dirt tamped, THEN a bag or half bag of concrete, then more dirt on top. Because if the bottom of the post is set in concrete, water can't drain down out of the post, the concrete traps it. By setting the concrete above the bottom, it provides the stability without the water trap. I like the other comment recommending to fill the whole hole with small gravel, but i'd still want to tamp dirt at the top so that rainwater doesnt fill up the gravel hole and sit there.
You're an absolute treasure . Working on a 16 x 12 pole barn on a slope right now using an trove of black locust trees that came down during hurricane helene (in W.NC). Still working on moving all the 9' straightest , not quite totally straight ;) poles from the woods , burning the bottom 3' with a propane torch and back filling with dirt / gravel mixture. The frozen ground has slowed progress a bit but given me more time to consider .. and reconsider the final build. For a few dairy sheep and too many chickens.
Howdy Brother- I have gotten in the habit of using gravel for setting poles or posts. It’s good to put several inches of gravel in the bottom of the hole and tamp it good. Gravel does let the moisture to drain away. Also, I’ve been doing the sho sugi ban for a good four feet up to give it a good charring which helps with the longevity of the wood. I’m sure y’all are getting the snow down your way. I’m doing nothing but smoking goodies in the smoke house today. Gonna be some good eatin later. Take care and stay warm. God’s blessings to y’all
Great job Pa Mac, we packed the bottom of the whole with the post then set the post in and packed it as you said to do. Now they have a mixture for the small post that sets up in no time and works great but it is expensive stuff for sure. Thanks for sharing the way you do it, it's worked for years and will continue to work IF people would follow your instructions. Stay safe and keep up the great videos. Fred and family.
I was taught if you dig a hole for a post and put all the dirt back in the hole and tamp it down with a digging bar, the post will be well seated.
If you put concrete in, you will eventually get water between the dirt and concrete and the post will become
Loose.
If you use locust, put a rock next to the post. When the rock falls apart, wait 10 years and then replace the post
I don’t know why but I find this “ stuff” interesting!
If my teachers were more like you way back when I was in school, I may have actually learned something.
Great episode, thank you for making these.
Great video. On fence posts I'll put a key in, half way down the hole, perpendicular to the pull of the fence.
Excellent tutorial Pa!
If you set a post/pole in concrete, it creates a container to hold in moisture. I built a fence for some horse people which was nearly a mile long. That much tamping would surely destroy your shoulders. Searching the Internet I found you could buy powered, hydraulic or pneumatic, tampers but they were very expensive, and you needed the power source. Then I came across this one farmer who swore by gravel. That's what we did on this fence. We used about one inch gravel which contained a high quantity of crushed stone to get those nice sharp edges. We used 5-gallon buckets to put the gravel in the ground, trying to shovel from the trailer into the hole was nearly impossible as the gravel just went everywhere. Half a bucket in the bottom, set the post in and a couple more buckets to fill the space right up to ground level. NO TAMPING and the post was “rock” solid! Seriously! Yes, the gravel costs some money (but not like Portland cement sort of money) and you need to haul it in. An important added benefit Is that it creates fantastic drainage around the post. They were 8-foot pressure treat posts, 1/3 in the ground and 2/3 sticking out. One post every 12 feet with a top rail. Yes, it was an expensive fence. I'm in Idaho and we are being inundated with rich Californian expats seeking the “western lifestyle.”
Tom, you speak the truth. We built lots of decks in my days and this is how we did it. Tried to pull up one post cause the person wanted a bigger deck, we couldn't do it. Snapped it off.
@@kenthorsen4558 Yeah, the gravel acts like Chinese handcuffs and locks it into the ground.
Dry mix in my opinion is the worst anyone can do. Takes too long to set up since it's being forced to draw in moisture. Doesn't cure properly. Also, concrete/cement is porous, draws moisture like a sponge. In turn, causes rot. I don't disagree about setting a post/pole in the mud. Have to do that after storms moved through. Just take your time with tamping because mud is hard to tamp. Mound up at the surface, rain will drain away from the post that way. When I was a kid, my grand dad would tar the bottom 3 to 4 feet of a post or pole. Added protection against rot. Great video as always, cheers 😊
Soil type, wet area or dry, how deep can you dig or drill .... lots of possibilities. I've had great success if I get a deep hole, use crushed stone and pack it with the end of my 15 lb. spud bar and water. Quikcrete mixed also works, lazy way. On our farm for 23 yrs. and fence posts still holding up with Quikcrete or crushed stone.
I saw a video where a guy tested dry pour concrete versus wet pour and the dry pour was significantly weaker. I agree with you that there are certain situations where it does make sense, though. Thanks for your great video!
I always thought that would be the case. One obvious problem is you don't have a measured amount of water.
I was told years ago that the fence post should be put in the ground the same direction it grew, I wonder if it's just an old tale.
Not only tamp the pole or post really well if you have enough dirt left. Mound up the dirt around the pole so that as the dirt settles it won't leave a hole to catch water.
Pa Mac! Great video, I love watching your videos. I had a question about what trees would you use for the posts. I live in NW New Jersey and I have no cedars on my property. In the general area there are white and red oak, Birch, and maples (they rot quick). Would any of these actually last in the ground. I do see some very old cedar posts on some of the old farms still holding on, I just don't know that any of my trees could match that performance. Thanks for the videos, God bless!
Excellent, thanks.
I recently put a large pole in for a light, the problem I had was getting it upright, do you have any recommendations for lifting a pole, I was surrounded by tarmac so it did limit my options.
Take a look at this and see if it helps: th-cam.com/video/VMlz-lnJDZQ/w-d-xo.html
@@farmhandscompanion Thanks, I think the tripod method would have been good, I could have secured the bottom of the poles to each other to stop them splaying out on the solid surface, would have been better than what I did.
In southern Indiana we call those spud bars
Do you think locust posts is better than Osage orange
have you ever built a elevated building basically a building with stilts?
Technically, I suppose, no; but if you were to install floor joists between poles on a pole barn and nail down floor boards...that would pretty much be a building with stilts.
Concrete in the hole just makes it harder to replace later
I like this method: gravel for one or two inches at the bottom of the hole, then insert the post, then a few more shovels of gravel, then six or so inches of dirt tamped, THEN a bag or half bag of concrete, then more dirt on top. Because if the bottom of the post is set in concrete, water can't drain down out of the post, the concrete traps it. By setting the concrete above the bottom, it provides the stability without the water trap. I like the other comment recommending to fill the whole hole with small gravel, but i'd still want to tamp dirt at the top so that rainwater doesnt fill up the gravel hole and sit there.
On the contrary, you're deflating the price by not suggesting people buy 3 or 4,
Oh, thank goodness.
NO