How to Drive 60 Posts in an Hour with a Petrol Post Driver

Recently,we spoke with Richard of Eley Agri Services about what made him and his wife decide to invest in a Petrol Post Driver for their family business. Afterbeing contracted by a customer to install a long run of deer netting on land that was too tough and inaccessible for their existing tractor-mounted post driver set-up, Richard knew they needed something with more horsepower to save time and effort on the job.

It was during this conversation that we were surprised to hear Richard say that, on this job, they’d been driving in 60 posts an hour! So, we decided to meet up with him again so he could tell us more. Read on to find out how to drive 60 posts in an hour with a Petrol Post Driver from the man himself.

The job entailed installing a whopping315m of deer netting and a 6ft timber deer gate. Over the course of eight days, Richard and his colleague got to work on the task. Before they even got to the post knocking stage, they’d also taken good care to lay the groundwork by digging in the strainer posts by hand, as well as fitting plates, struts and line wires to achieve straight runs with the 3-4inch thick, 9ft tall timber intermediates.

As well as the sheer amount of deer fencing being installed with no tractor access, the biggest challenge of the job was the location, with the site consisting of steep slopes, dense woodland and unforgiving ground. “Because of the access, it wasn't the easiest. A lot of that was down to getting materials to where we were located. I mean it took us two, maybe three, days to get all the strainers in and strutted up.” 

However, equipped with their new trusty petrol-powered post driver, the soil and surroundings barely posed a threat when it came time to actually install the fencing posts: “Because of the ground and everything where we were, we weren't expecting the posts to go in as easy as they were. Some of it was made-up ground, some was sort of banks, some was harder hillside ground that's never been touched. It varied. I think we had probably two or three posts where we perhaps had to take the top off and re-treat them. It's not something we like doing unless we really, really have to, but the majority of them, as long as we've got a decent sized depth and hourglass-shaped hole, were going in pretty well.”

Richard states that, although the power and convenience of the Petrol Post Driver was the determining factor in being able to drive so many posts in a short time span, it was teamwork that also sped up the process and enabled them to average driving one post every minute. Between him and his colleague, one was in charge of preparing the ground by barring holes for each post, while the other was responsible for driving the posts into the holes.

“Without wanting to exaggerate the amount of posts we put in, we were looking back down the line and counting, thinking ‘we've done bloody well here today to get what we've got in’. We were one barring ahead of ourselves while we finished driving the last bit of the last post, and then between the two of us we were starting a fresh hole, going again at it from there. Even when we did the wall top with seven foot posts, they're the same diameter post just a bit shorter, we were still doing the same principle - bar a decent hole and get it down enough that it's starting to take it the majority of the way. Once it's got past that hourglass shape it's pulling itself in anyway with the downforce of the machine as well.”

Richard acknowledges that eight days – ultimately around a week altogether – might seem like a long time for some jobs: “In fairness, we've just netted up 800 metres in three days with a tractor, but it's all about access, isn't it? Access makes a difference. If you can't get a machine or anything like that in, it's going to massively slow you down.” However, when you take into account the length of deer netting, the inaccessibility of the land and the tricky terrain, combined with the extra exertion it would’ve taken to complete the job manually, the Petrol Post Driver has already more than paid for itself for Eley Agri Services both in time and labour savings.

So, what’s Richard’s verdict on investing in aPetrol Post Driver for a job like this? “Until a new customer has physically picked up a machine and actually done a couple hours work with it or knocked a dozen posts in, say, they don't physically know if it's going to be beneficial for themselves. I mean, yes, okay, we went in to purchasing one blind, and went in on the basis of people saying ‘yes, they're good’, but if you're going to get a lot of use out of one, spend the money on a decent one and it’ll be worthwhile. And we did that. In fairness, it was very much, ‘oh, do we spend the money - the decent amount of money - and have that sort of size machine?’ And we did do. And I tell you what, it's paid off. It’s a fantastic machine.”

So, in summary…how can a contractor like Richard drive 60 posts in an hour? Here’s Richard’s quick-fire recipe for post-driving success:

• Get all of your materials on site first – it saves trekking back and forth when you’re on a roll. 
• Work as a team – have one person barring pilot holes while the other drives the posts in. 
• Make hourglass-shaped holes – especially if your posts are bigger than 3.5” diameter, to help them bite and pull themselves in. 
• Invest in the right kit – a reliable petrol post driver will do the heavy lifting for you. 
• Stay organised – keep your posts lined up in order along the fence line to minimise downtime. 
• Know your ground – adjust your hole prep depending on whether you’re in made-up soil, hard hillside or dense woodland. 
• Keep up the pace– if you’re averaging a post a minute, you’re doing it right!
  

Looking for a fencing contractor in the Derbyshire area? Get in touch with Eley Agri Services by calling 07701305203 or heading to their website. You can also follow them on Facebook and Instagram.

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If you would like to know more about using Easy Petrol Post Driver products, please get in touch with us via the contact form on our website, call us on +44 (0)114 2699 119 or email info@petrolpostdriver.com.