Driving aand Removing Support Posts

[Durgan]

Driving and Removing Support Posts
http://www.durgan.org/ShortURL/?LPTMU 23 November 2008 Garden Posts

Various posts are required in a garden. Some are permanent and other are used for the season. Depicted is a simple straightforward method of driving into the ground and also removing. The procedure is also just as applicable to wooden stakes.

[Darlene]

Even Neena knows, you're a smart man Durgan, thanks for sharing. Hubby just uses a sledge hammer to hammer his in. I like that fence post driver. Cool Tool. :perfect:

[Durgan]

Even Neena knows, you're a smart man Durgan, thanks for sharing. Hubby just uses a sledge hammer to hammer his in. I like that fence post driver. Cool Tool. :perfect:

Ask Hubby how he drives a 10 foot height post into the ground with a sledge hammer?

Here is a commercial puller using the same principle I depict in the first posting.
http://www.durgan.org/ShortURL/?STWYT

[hestlauss]

My husband was driving metal T-posts to support bird netting over our blue berry bed a couple of years ago and grabbed the driver around the lower collar instead of using the handles. It slipped off of the pole on the upstroke and when he came down he ripped open his wrist on the T-post he was driving. A trip to the E/R and 15 stitches later lesson learned: Always use leather gloves and to use the handles.

[Darlene]

Ask Hubby how he drives a 10 foot height post into the ground with a sledge hammer?

Here is a commercial puller using the same principle I depict in the first posting.
http://www.durgan.org/ShortURL/?STWYT

Neat, thanks for the link.
10ft, eh? Nowadays the only posts he's been setting in are the old fence posts he uses to support the tomato cages. Other holes are made with the post hole digger and posts set in concrete for my bird feeders & laundry line.
If you are setting & removing the big guys the tools you mention sure come in handy. Right tools for the job can really make a difference.
Thanks for the extra tip hestlauss.Ouch, sorry your hubby had to suffer so.

[Durgan]

My husband was driving metal T-posts to support bird netting over our blue berry bed a couple of years ago and grabbed the driver around the lower collar instead of using the handles. It slipped off of the pole on the upstroke and when he came down he ripped open his wrist on the T-post he was driving. A trip to the E/R and 15 stitches later lesson learned: Always use leather gloves and to use the handles.

A very valid warning. Also with a tall post it is easy to just grab the bottom of the driver, and slam the handle onto ones skull. I am very conscientious of where the handles are when driving posts. The original driver was only a cylinder, and for safety, this is probably a better design. The device is naturally reasonably heavy to do its job, and care must be exercised. Anyway it is far superior to a sledgehammer.

[Durgan]

Neat, thanks for the link.
10ft, eh? Nowadays the only posts he's been setting in are the old fence posts he uses to support the tomato cages. Other holes are made with the post hole digger and posts set in concrete for my bird feeders & laundry line.
If you are setting & removing the big guys the tools you mention sure come in handy. Right tools for the job can really make a difference.
Thanks for the extra tip hestlauss.Ouch, sorry your hubby had to suffer so.

After playing around with various post over the years, I am of the opinion that concrete setting is probably not the way to go, since they can shift considerably with frost heaves. Now I use gravel, since it has a bit of give during frost cycles, and is easier to remove if push comes to shove and the post has to be removed. I have also found that gravel is as rigid as concrete in practice,and is much easier and cheaper to work with. My view.

The commercial puller has it's shortcomings after some thought. If the ground is soft the bottom of the device will sink and defeat the purpose in trying to remove a post. I suspect the crowbar and fulcrum is far superior in practice. Often one only has to do one or two pulls to loosen the stake, then it can be removed by hand. The fulcrum can have a larger surface area and can probably function more readily in soft ground.