Advice for installing wooden posts

[woody paul]

https://www.green-tech.co.uk/hard-landscaping/tree-anchoring/rootball-fixing-system/rootball-wire-fixing-tree-anchor-system?sku=170UR2080&affiliate=product_feed&utm_source=product_feed&utm_medium=product_feed&utm_campaign=product_feed&utm_source=google&utm_medium=cpc&utm_campaign=p.max-hard-landscaping&gad_source=1&gclid=CjwKCAiAxKy5BhBbEiwAYiW--4TxS0XY3TSqAcmAyV-xNAqiouCf8i9XJiq1yolO66SNdEC7z9ioGxoCQFgQAvD_BwE

[dumper]

Use a deadman system bit of wire and a couple of sleepers just need to dig a bigger hole 

[spudulike]

I usually use a wrecking bar to dig a deep small diameter hole to fit the post and then backfill around it, this worked this summer on some pretty hard ground.

[Stere]

The best mauls are the alu ones

 

Aluminium 6KG Fencing Maul | Kwazar

WWW.KWAZAR.CO.UK

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6kg aluminium head wooden handled fencing maul available at Kwazar.

 

Edited November 7 by Stere

[Cordata]

5 hours ago, Stere said:

The best mauls are the alu ones

 

Aluminium 6KG Fencing Maul | Kwazar

WWW.KWAZAR.CO.UK

---

6kg aluminium head wooden handled fencing maul available at Kwazar.

 

 

 

Interesting.. Why are they preferable to steel? 

[Stere]

They just seem to work more effectively not sure why maybe its  having larger volume of lighter metal also they dont seem to wreck the post tops as bad

 

Over the yrs Ive used/tried all types the  steels ones,  alu ones,  the giant  rubber ones,  the tubular post drivers with the handles. The alu maul is the best of the bunch imo.

 

I prefer the lighter head weight    they come in two weighs 6kg and 7kg

 

Also a  milk/beet crate to stand on makes it alot less effort unless you are 7ft tall for standard stock fence posts.

 

 

 

As others have already said another key is doing the pilot holes right with a crowbar esp on hard ground as you can check for get past stones etc or make a an adjacent hole if there is a big rock or tree root.

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

Edited November 8 by Stere

[peds]

I don't do enough fencing to make a dedicated aluminium tool worthwhile (I did tap in half a dozen ad-hoc sycamore stakes yesterday, cut from the tree just felled, and stapled the existing wire to them, to replace the blocking effect the two dearly departed trees provided behind a long-rotted barbed wire fence) but I wonder if you could add a little aluminium block, either to the head of the sledge or the top of the post, to win the same effect. It is annoying how a steel sledge can chew the top of a post a little bit, despite careful aim.

[sime42]

I think the key is that the large diameter aly heads are generally bigger than the post in cross section, hence more to aim for. Whereas a steal sledge hammer is smaller so more prone to splitting the edges of the post top with a less than perfectly aimed blow.

 

 

 

 

[sime42]

26 minutes ago, peds said:

I don't do enough fencing to make a dedicated aluminium tool worthwhile (I did tap in half a dozen ad-hoc sycamore stakes yesterday, cut from the tree just felled, and stapled the existing wire to them, to replace the blocking effect the two dearly departed trees provided behind a long-rotted barbed wire fence) but I wonder if you could add a little aluminium block, either to the head of the sledge or the top of the post, to win the same effect. It is annoying how a steel sledge can chew the top of a post a little bit, despite careful aim.

 

I've nailed a block of wood, end grain ideally, to the top of a post before, so I could wack it in with a sledge. That worked well, no post damage. Obviously only if you're not doing bulk posting though.

 

 

[woody paul]

I ve put hundreds of posts in with sledge hammer but you need a hammer with a flat side and hit top of post square. 

Seen people using maul and still knack top of post as they didn't hit it square.