reb78 Posted March 8, 2015 Share Posted March 8, 2015 Has anyone made, or have any ideas how to make a powered fence post driver? I have a briggs and stratton engine, but apart from that i am struggling to figure what else i might need to make a post driver. The tractor hydraulic ones look great, but i dont have a tractor! About an acre of our land currently needs re-fencing and whilst putting the posts in with a manual driver like this (http://www.amazon.co.uk/DLC-132-FENCE-POST-DRIVER/dp/B00AJMZ4GO) is good exercise, it is also knackering! I could incorporate our manual driver into anything i finally make but i was thinking id use something heavier if i could work out a method of raising and dropping the weight using an engine. Not sure if it is feasible so open to ideas.... (i do know a friendly farmer with a hydraulic basher and have wondered if there is anyway of attaching it to the 110, but i dont think so - mainly as i don't have any hydraulics on it) 1 Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Ed Poore Posted March 8, 2015 Share Posted March 8, 2015 Simple solution - enjoy the workout! We've actually moved away from post bashing on the farm to concreting in corner posts (we always did) and then using a petrol powered post borer (Tecumseh) to pre-drill the holes. The tips of the posts are then creosoted (or whatever passes for creosote these days) and then bashed in by hand. If you are determined to build something then, let's see if I can explain this without a diagram... Tractor attached post-bashers normally use gravity to bash and a chain / rope to pull said basher up and then release it. So build a guide for a suitable bashing implement (basically something heavy) and then aforementioned bashing implement has a rope running over a pulley at the top of the guide. Then perhaps a drum to wrap the rope around and use an electromagnetic clutch to attach to the engine (thinking AC compressor style). You engage the clutch to pull the weight up and then disengage to release. The main issues I see would be you'll probably need a gearbox (maybe an old diff?) to reduce the engine speed. I also don't know how well the drum will unwind as it might slow up the fall of the basher. Does that kind of make sense? Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Cynic-al Posted March 8, 2015 Share Posted March 8, 2015 We have to impact stuff at work as part of km testing, the first jig was a hand winch that lifted the weight then you just let it freewheel as the weight dropped. One inspector questioned the drag so I made another with claws which held the weight, as you wound it to the top the claws go in a cone which releases them. As you wound the claws back down they grabbed the weight again. I understand the loss of energy due to drag argument but in reality for what we did it didn't seem to make a great deal of difference. It would probably be easier to make the mechanism and just have a rope to pull that you leg to of to drop it. I think you would need a second person to hold it though. What about a cable or chain that goes around a top and bottom pulley. Put a single catch on the chain so that it picks up the weight at the bottom and let's go as it goes over the top pulley? The last field I helped fence we hired a mini digger with a drill. The company hire them cheap at weekends as most of their businesses are companies as it was all going really well... until we hit a cable and the local couldn't serve any Sunday lunches Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
muddy Posted March 8, 2015 Share Posted March 8, 2015 I would pace it all out, use a bar to make starter holes to stand the posts in and drop a farmer some cash to knock them in. Alternatively you could make/buy a standard hydraulic type knocker perhaps bumper mounted for easy visibility and manoeuvring and use an electric pump off a ramp/transit tipper/tail lift ect to power the ram, the ram only lifts the weight and merely needs a free flow to drop it so the reduced flow would not effect bashing ability massively. On a passing note if you don't already use them Google 'gripples' and buy yourself a tornado wire twister, they will make life much easier! Will. Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Retroanaconda Posted March 8, 2015 Share Posted March 8, 2015 I presume friendly farmer who has a hydraulic knocker also has a tractor to attach it to? That's gotta be the easiest way. If making one, I would just copy the simplest one you can find, the one I used to use had a ram which pushed an arm out, over which was attached a rope. Pushing the arm out extended the rope out and pulled a weight up a guide to then drop on the post. Have to agree with the principle though, life is too short for knocking fence posts in by hand! Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
miketomcat Posted March 8, 2015 Share Posted March 8, 2015 How about doctoring a wacka plate (used for paving and the like. It would just need a tube on the bottom to keep it on the post then some sort of hinged mount and a cantilever to lift it. Mike Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
GW8IZR Posted March 8, 2015 Share Posted March 8, 2015 I was just about to post something similar - although lifting it up in some way seems harder than knocking the damn things in by hand. My current knocker is a pub co2 bottle witht he top cut off and something better would be good. when driving electical earth rods we dont use big thuds but using an attachment in a hammer drill which vibrates them into the ground. Maybe something like an oversize hammer drill, a rotary arangement that runs up a short cam ? Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Ed Poore Posted March 8, 2015 Share Posted March 8, 2015 Just another thought - if you're still lecturing at RVC can't you rope in some of the students? Hands on experience and all that :-). If we'd have had time I'd have got my two London based friends who came down last weekend to help out with the fence but decided trimming hedges was more suitable. Would have taken me longer to explain how to use the tools to redo a fence than say pick up all this carp I've just dumped on the floor. They were naive enough to have enjoyed post bashing - although whether I'd have had any straight posts is another matter... Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
CwazyWabbit Posted March 9, 2015 Share Posted March 9, 2015 How about doctoring a wacka plate (used for paving and the like. It would just need a tube on the bottom to keep it on the post then some sort of hinged mount and a cantilever to lift it. Mike To make something like this? Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Orgasmic Farmer Posted March 9, 2015 Share Posted March 9, 2015 Problem with the vibrating one is keeping the post upright as it goes in. Hence most never caught on and the "normal" post knocker uses a falling weight. Once the guide is positioned absolutely vertical only the weight moves so the post is driven is square as can be......... Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
reb78 Posted March 9, 2015 Author Share Posted March 9, 2015 I presume friendly farmer who has a hydraulic knocker also has a tractor to attach it to? That's gotta be the easiest way. If making one, I would just copy the simplest one you can find, the one I used to use had a ram which pushed an arm out, over which was attached a rope. Pushing the arm out extended the rope out and pulled a weight up a guide to then drop on the post. Have to agree with the principle though, life is too short for knocking fence posts in by hand! Trouble is, the farmer is in Hertfordshire and the field 80 miles away in Kent, otherwise that would be a good plan I just figured if i could do something as a project then it might be interesting. I have a scaffold frame that something could be attached to to raise and drop a weight etc. Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
reb78 Posted March 9, 2015 Author Share Posted March 9, 2015 Just another thought - if you're still lecturing at RVC can't you rope in some of the students? Hands on experience and all that :-). If we'd have had time I'd have got my two London based friends who came down last weekend to help out with the fence but decided trimming hedges was more suitable. Would have taken me longer to explain how to use the tools to redo a fence than say pick up all this carp I've just dumped on the floor. They were naive enough to have enjoyed post bashing - although whether I'd have had any straight posts is another matter... Haha! I get away with taking lots of students if we are doing something like dehorning cattle - that requires a fair bit of stamina if you are doing adults! I think fencing is probably taking veterinary studies a bit far though! Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
CwazyWabbit Posted March 9, 2015 Share Posted March 9, 2015 Instead of hydraulics for the raising of the weight could air work? Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Ed Poore Posted March 9, 2015 Share Posted March 9, 2015 Haha! I get away with taking lots of students if we are doing something like dehorning cattle - that requires a fair bit of stamina if you are doing adults! I think fencing is probably taking veterinary studies a bit far though! Shame you're not closer to an agricultural college like Harper Adams! Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Blanco Posted March 9, 2015 Share Posted March 9, 2015 I have tried wacker plates and wasted a fair amount of time on various schemes, for the amount you are talking about a post hole borer (which you could probably hire for a day), will make driving the posts much easier, and will be very cost effective. HTSH Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
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