OT: Skid steer post driver attachments

I am shopping for a post driver attachment and looking for pros and cons of the different styles and manufacturers. I am leaning toward the drop hammer style over breaker and vibratory styles but still open minded. Posts range from T-posts to rail tie size wood and 2-4”pipe when the price is right. I’m not too concerned about the T posts, it’s the corner and gate posts where it needs to perform. I’m not in the fencing business, this is for the farm.

Anyone with experience? Machine is a Cat 247B, ground is gravel/clay/hardpan.
Doesn’t sound like farm soil but it’s what I have.

Thanks!
John

The Kencove.com catalog has several different styles ranging from a compressed gas driven hammer, a hydraulic hammer and a cable drop hammer. None of these are going to drive a railroad tie into hard pan. Some of the hammers have a side mounted auger drill for drilling a pilot hole. A T-post will not go into hard pan either. It will bend into a U shape with enough hammering.

The post drivers are not intended for T post driving. There are 1 HP Honda gas engine driven hand held drivers that use a piston-pneumatic-hammer design for this purpose. If cost is not a problem there are also hydraulic hammers available. The hydraulic hammers require two people or a crane to place them over the T post.

The T posts should be the three rivet type for the spade, a genuine 1.33 lb/foot for the post, and a select grade rather than the random grade. The T posts made in China tend to be on the light side and use a two rivet design.

If you have hard ground you are better off buying a hydraulic auger for the tractor, drilling the holes, installing the post, and back filling with either concrete or gravel. This method also insures that the post will not rot or rust away. If you are using steel pipe it also allows you to weld up the corner post triangles in the shop and then drop the assembly into the drilled holes. Otherwise you will need to do the welding on site.

If you cannot do the T post installation during the spring when the clay is wet you may need to pre drill the T post holes as well. The largest Bosch hammer drill will drill 1 1/2 inch diameter holes. It is slow work.

The corner post design will depend on the number of wires ,the applied tension, and the need to install a fence charger for the top and bottom wires. The 12 1/2 gauge 200 ksi smooth wire will be a less expensive, more durable. and longer lasting choice than barb wire. I use a nine wire 50 inch high fence that keeps the next door bulls from jumping the fence and the feral pigs from pushing through. The fence charger is needed If you want to keep the coyotes from digging under the fence. The fence height will need to be in the 8 foot range If deer are a problem

Robert

If you have to auger why switch to a tractor ? Plenty of Augers that fit
a skid steer.

Also, why auger at all ?
You would tink the Skid steer would simply shove the T-post's right down in
with the bucket.

Have seen people simply weld a short piece (a ring actually) on the bottom
of the bucket to form a socket to contain the T-post.

digger doug said:

If you have to auger why switch to a tractor ? Plenty of Augers that fit a skid steer.
Also, why auger at all ?

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The tractor or the skid steer needs to be able to apply 1000 lb or more to the auger to drill successfully in hard pan. A large modern tractor with the external push-pull hydraulic rams on the 3 point hitch will work or a skid steer bucket mounted auger will work. The tractor may do less damage to the field. can travel faster, and if it has a front loader can carry the posts, concrete, and other supplies to the work site.

A hard pan with gravel can have the strength of concrete during the summer months. Pushing on the T post with the skid steer bucket will bend the post. It will not enter the ground.

If the ground was soft the post driver and the bucket pusher would be the right choice.

If the ground was soft the T post could be driven in by hand in less than 10 seconds and the corner post holes dug by hand in less than 5 minutes.

Hard pan does make an excellent base for a fence line. Fences built on soft ground tend to lean over with time and the corner posts tend to pull out.


Robert

Robert R said:

The tractor or the skid steer needs to be able to apply 1000 lb or more to the auger to drill successfully in hard pan. A large modern tractor with the external push-pull hydraulic rams on the 3 point hitch will work or a skid steer bucket mounted auger will work.

Click to expand...

Now we've gone off the rails to a very specific, very expensive post hole digger.

A normal skid steer auger please.

Mess up the field ? Please Reference Moonlights thread on the Fiasco
with a skid steer and mud....Some can & doo maneuver a skid steer in very
soft conditions whilst not trashing the ground.

Plus, if the ground is sooo hard to require super duper drilling, it
doesn't need low ground pressure equipment.

Awfull lot of "if's" to go with a very expensive, rare set-up IMHO.

Random thoughts, I don’t see a post pounder pounding RR ties in especially hard pan. If a skidsteer auger wont dig in hard pan you have the wrong cutting edge on it.
Being in the road boring business for 20+ years I can build a tip that will drill hard pan with a small tractor with no down pressure.
If the ground is hard I hang a piece of 2 3/8” pipe 18” shorter than the post on the loader bucket slip T post inside to keep from bending, push to the pipe touches ground then they ar all same depth.
Some times the ground is still too hard and the post still bends. Next thing I do is get my portable pressure washer and replace wand tip with a long piece of 1/4” pipe and a small pressure tip. Push tip in ground pull out and T post will drive very easy with a standard post driver. When it dries up its rock solid.
Rocky ground is another story, we don’t have any here.

I use old power poles for corner posts. I put them in 5’ deep and tamp them in well, my neighbors laugh at me for drilling so deep but my fence post don’t lean.
I have old road boring augers 5 different sizes, if I want to go deeper just add another one. They are 1 5/8” hex drive

Two main players in this neck of the woods are Attachments | Augers | Post Diggers | OEM Parts | Recoil | Danuser and Shaver | Manufacturing quality attachments for Tractors and Skid Steer Loaders for Farm, Industry, Home and Rental

I'm voting for the Danuser HAMMER if I'm spending your money.

Good replies!
Most of my fence line is suitable for driving at least the 5” round wood posts and I believe square would also drive. I do have a load of old power poles for corners and gates, those will need digging and I’ll prob. rent an auger for those.
For t posts and maybe 2” pipe I’m now looking at those 100lb-ish breaker style gas or hyd units, EZ to make a boom for the skid steer as a “crane”- that could be great in the woods.
I’ve looked at all the youtubes and manuf. links and the hammer types I like are the www.skidpro.com and QuickAttach Attachments LLC - Skid Steer Attachments, Tractor Attachments.. | QuickAttach models, both made in the same MN town.
They both say they can drive in MN frozen ground which I take as sales talk but I like the videos and own other quickattach units a few years now that are well built.

I spent many hours researching the options for a post driver, I am fencing a horse pasture with 2" and 4" pipe posts. I went with a Danuser T3 Driver. It is designed for a maximum post OD of 3" but I built an adapter and it drives 4" pipe just fine. It is mounted on the bucket of a mini excavator which makes it easy to plumb the post in any direction. The cost was around $1,650.00 and it came mounted on a skid steer quick attach plate complete with flat face quick connects. Lightweight and easy to handle.

brwesi said:

I spent many hours researching the options for a post driver, I am fencing a horse pasture with 2" and 4" pipe posts. I went with a Danuser T3 Driver. It is designed for a maximum post OD of 3" but I built an adapter and it drives 4" pipe just fine. It is mounted on the bucket of a mini excavator which makes it easy to plumb the post in any direction. The cost was around $1,650.00 and it came mounted on a skid steer quick attach plate complete with flat face quick connects. Lightweight and easy to handle.

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I just checked some youtubes on that one, pretty slick and about 1/4 the price of the quickattach hammer I’m leaning towards. Have to think about that now.