Today we put in nine end posts to finish constructing the alleyway fence going along the north side of the south field. Auger on the John Deere 2955 drilled an 8 inch diameter hole about 4 feet deep. Jeffrey used the manual clamshell post hole digger to clean out the hole and to deepen it to 4 1/2 ft to 5 ft deep.
After dropping the post into the hole (Jeffrey did that), we filled it with sand and water, tamping as we put it in. Sand is in the front end loader, water is at the back of the Fiat in the water tanks with an on demand pump that we use for fire suppression during prescribed burns.
In the first picture, Jeffrey is digging out a spot to put the concrete "dead man" that helps brace the post against the fence wire pulling against it. Second photo shows Jeffrey finishing tamping the sand and adding water. By adding water to the sand as we shovel the sand in, it settles and packs hard. The sand around the post helps drain water away and preserves the post better than if dirt/clay were packed around it. It is also a lot easier to shovel in and pack sand with water than to try and scrape up the dirt and clay the auger dug out and scattered around and pack that pack in the hole against the post.
Jeffrey is wearing the nice broad brimmed straw hat he got at Buc-ee's in Texas. It does a nice job keeping the sun off.
Weekend update. Put in 10 more posts on Sunday. A total of 19, a record for us.
Ya'll did a great job - that is super awesome!! Great pictures:-)
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