Fence

[blongtin]

Well I just purchased 65 fence posts recently. I'm planning on taking out an old barbed wire cattle fence at my lake lot and replacing it with a Post and Rail fence. Needing to dig that many holes I'm planning on renting a two-man auger. I'm going to be dealing with wet soil and more than likely some clay. Is that the best way to go (two man auger)? Any advice for me with this big project? Also when do you guys think I can get started on this project? I'm located in the Fergus Falls, MN area.

Also how far down should I put the posts in. I have 8' posts but I think I'm going to cut them so that they're only about 3-4' tall when I'm finished.

[Boogaard]

get a post digger dig atleast 3 feet down. id start soon as the frost is out youll quickly learn how far down youll be able 2 dig

[Quetico]

Having used both in wet and clay soils, the earth auger is great choice. It will save use tons of time and sweat. You should be able to drill 65 holes in a weekend with an auger, digging by hand would take a few weekends.

[LwnmwnMan2]

If you have access to a trailer, there could be another option at the rental place.

It may or may not work though early in the season.

You could get an auger for a skidsteer, or better yet, mini skidsteer and have the posts done in 4-5 hours, with minimal man power.

The biggest concern, espeically with the full sized skidsteer would be the soft soils.

[Powerstroke]

I was thinking along the same lines at lwnmwn. I would get the auger for an implement and save the torque and backaches of lugging an auger.

The power auger is obviously superior to hand digging, but for that many posts I would consider the motorized option as well worth the price.

[blongtin]

Thanks for the input. I might have to look into the skidsteer. I have a buddy that has one I would just have to find an attachement for it and hopefully that would work. I'll have to see if it would cost more for me to rent the skidsteer for part of the day w/ the attachment or my buddy's gas driving to where I'm at. (Darn gas prices) Thanks!

[Fish Toys]

Depends on the type of soil and moisture when you do it. What kind of posts are they? If they are pointed on one end you could push them in with a skid steer or some other loader. When we fenced if the posted weren’t sharpened we would point them with a chainsaw. The only time we had to dig holes were for the corner posts being they were a lot larger. Really goes fast pushing them in the ground!

When we planted a couple hundred small trees we used my old electric ice auger. Carried the auger in the garden tractor loader and had the auger hooked to the battery of the tractor. Pulled a trailer with a water tank in it so we could soak the trees right away. If I use the auger for cutting ice all I need is new blades. Sure saved a lot of work!

[blongtin]

They're the cheaper treated lanscaping timber. Rounded w/ to flat sides on it. I heard about pushing them in before as well. Is it tough to get them straight once they're in the ground? With the resources that I have that might be the best idea for me.

[Fish Toys]

It takes two people. Figure out where the fence is going to go and put the corner posts in first. Run a line between the posts so you have a guide. We used one of the wires that we used for the fence. You should be able to use one of the strands of the old barbwire. Figure out where the posts are going to be. It wasn’t so fussy with a wire fence so we would just step off X amount of steps. For the wood fence you might need some way to measure the distance to be more precise? Hold the post straight until the loader pushes the post in far enough so it stands by itself. Then stand back and eyeball it to tell the loader operator what to do to keep it straight. Sometimes in harder ground you might have to have some dirt in the bucket for added weight to help push them or pound them in the ground. Done many miles this way! If you’re from Fergus I don’t think the frost is out yet.

[blongtin]

Easy enough...thanks. Yeah the frost will stick around for a while since we're supposed to get hit by another SNOW storm. Is this winter going to end!!!

[1runhotshot]

Drive to Ditch Witch of Minnesota in Fergus, rent a sk500 with a 8 or 10" Bit. Done deal.

[Down Deep]

Have you called a fence company to check on what they would charge to do the job for you. This job looks like a days work for someone with the right equipment and know how. If might not be much more than doing it yourself.