Tentman

Gidday - ran the "new" driver up today and it has a lot of potential. The up speed is just fine at both idle and half revs. The down seems a tad slow and the motor is definitely cavitation as it drops. Since I want electrically actuated valving then I think it can be considerably improved by a more sophisticated valve arrangement whereby oil is directly bypassed back to the "down" side of the motor. There was no sign the winch birds nesting but early days eh. Hydraulic motor driver.mp4

The cap can be built from the existing post holder, which were common when these were built. I haven't run it yet, if it's too slow on the lift it'll get converted to a ram type. It does have a very simple but clever arrangement to control the rope in under the cover. I'm not to concerned if it is OK, I only paid scrap price for it and have a good straight mast, hammer of the correct weight and a prefabbed 3 point hydraulic hitch for my $$$

Everyone likes a picture so here is one of the canidate driver. The 3 point linkage and foot are on the same pin, just pull it to lose them!

Gidday all. The post driver mast is made on a 100x100UB. I'd like to be able to adjust the height of the hitch so am thinking of a "sandwich clamp" to get onto the mast. Then following @Malus excellent approach I'd make up a 3 piece adapter bar, hitch and spacer, with the same hole pattern all round so I have heaps of options to mount it. Thoughts? Hey and I hope I'm not at odds with the etiquette for this forum buy adding to this thread. Cheers

Gidday Guys (after a long silence) . Last time I was on here was when I was developing a vibrating plate driver with an integrated auger drive - for my 2.5 tonne machine. It's been very sucessfull but occasionally I do need a hammer type driver - so Im gonna build one, they are unobtainable down here in New Zealand. So after looking at the great ideas incorporated in this thread, is there any necessity or advantage to have the mast articulated at 90 degrees to the crowd - or do you just push a post back to plumb with a bit of swing and or leveling the machine with the blade? Thanks Foster

Gidday Guys I've been working (trying to place posts) in an area with a lot of heavy tree roots - its the sort of job I get quite often. My Augertorque x2000 is just refusing to cut through them, it either "bounces" off and diverts, or stalls out. Any ideas on how to solve this - am I using the wrong type of flight? Not enough power? Is there a specific tool?? Thanks PS - for the job I'm on I've solved the problem ,just smashed them through with the Kinghitter's 340 kg hammer, but its messy and still tough going.

I'm currently running a Safari ( same as a GQ Patrol) but they are getting long in the tooth and most of the late model ones are petrol - unbelievable. I have two fencing acquaintances with late model Landcruiser trucks and both have cost a lot of money (to both owner and agency) . . . if I got one that shat itself I doubt I could afford to fix it!

Gidday Matthew That might be a plan except that later model 110's are practically non-existent down here, and the ones that are available are a horrendous price, probably a bit more than an equivalent Landcruiser - now I may be crazy but I'm not stupid (enough) to pay more for a Landy than a Toyota (yet). Somehow Landrover dropped the ball here and there were very few sold for a period of 10 years or more. Flaming tow vehicles are a vexed question everywhere!

Hello Guys I'm looking for "next vehicle", it has to be able to tow 3.5 tonnes (2.5 tonne digger on the trailer) and be "capable" enough to get a load of posts across a wet field (I'm a fencer). Mostly everyone here runs either a Land-Cruiser which are fearsomly expensive or a Ranger but they are not ideal doing heavy work everyday. I was wondering if any of you run these trucks with 4wd at about the 8-9000 kg CGM (combined gross mass) size and how you find them, both on the road and off? Costs over a standard 2wd version? Thanks

Hello Guys (from down in NZ) Currently we burn mostly Macrocarpa (Monterey Cypress) which can be pretty tough to split. At the present I'm using a beam type hydraulic splitter on my 85 HP tractor (which is only at idle hence burning very little fuel, but the hour meter is ticking so the depreciation is certainly costing). In the near future we'll probably have to switch to Beech or Eucalypt, both of which are a bit easier to split, but only when fresh. I process for about 3 or 4 families, so we're doing 40-50 cubic metres per year. Since I'm running a 2.5 tonne excavator as part of my business I've been thinking about splitting with it - depreciation is about half that of the tractor, and I think it will save a lot of back work - wear and tear on the body by splitting straight onto the trailer . . . and much reduced lifting of rings. So - excavator splitter's, whats most efficient, hydraulic beam type or screw/cone type?? Any thoughts?? A commercial cone type looks to be quite a big investment whereas I can build my own beam splitter. Anyone running a cone on a auger drive like an auger-torque? Thanks Foster

Hello Guys Here is the final version of a project I started thinking about more than a year ago - a post driver based on a Mini Excavator. In this case an IHI NX25. I chose this machine for its stability as it has one of the largest track frames in its class, and I couldn't get a suitable conventional tail down here in my price range. The post driver is based on a vibratory compactor, in this case using a Pneuvibe CP-30 unit. Its fairly conventional in terms of compactor plates, but built with post driving in mind - isolators in compression rather than shear. This is a Mk11 "helmet", this helmet intergrates the auger nicely, it can be deployed with a 45 degree crowd, and is self cradling. The unit has been tested and works well, in normal going it will set a sheep or deer fence post much quicker than I can do it with the tractor, and all whilst using 20 HP/2.7 tonnes versus 85 HP and 7.1 tonnes. On a machine of this size the auger is essential as posts set to a depth of 900/1200mm or more, and strainers usually require a pilot hole. How it performs is very dependent on the soil structure and its moisture content. The "mini rock spike" is to make a pilot hole to stand the next post up in, modus operandi is to drive a post, walk up the the next one, make pilot hole, then hop off to set post (I work alone) then back on to drive it. Saves a lot of wear on ones frame in a day as its two steps up to the digger compared with 4 on the tractor. [/url]

Hello Guys I've got my vibratory post driver going on my IHI25NX, and so far its meeting expectations. As with all "bleeding edge" projects it needs a bit of refinement and I've just built a second "helmet" that better integrates the auger - only have to crowd 45 degrees to deploy it. I need to fit a 6 port diverter valve to the boom so I can switch electrically between vibrator and auger. The only way I can see to rig it the outermost q/c's will protude about 125mm overall from the stick and they feel a bit "exposed". Am I worrying un-necessarily, should I guard them . . . has anyone ripped stuff off their stick . . . Don't worry, I will eventually post pictures but only after Mk11 is painted to cover my birdshit welding!

I run an old Safari on Kumho muds KL-71's for fencing so I spend quite a bit of time on tracks and off road. As with any mud tyre you have to be very "conservative" on wet roads but they will take you a lot of places. If you have trouble with width its usually fine to go down a size in width on the same rims (harder to go up a width size). The biggest difference you'll make with any tyre is airing them down to 18 or 20 psi - you'll get 20-30% more traction. I only air down if I absolutely have to (but it pays to do it before a problem develops) and carry a compressor to put them back up again. Cheers

Nice, I have a much smaller but similar setup for fencing, IHI 25NX and a MF 5445. Does your trailer have brakes?? Thanks

Me neither (the hoping I mean) but do you (or anyone else) think this one would work in a rectangle form (as opposed to round)? [ame] [/ame]