We Test 3 Ways To Set A Fence Post (1 Winner)

Doming is required in Australia (most). We don't have icing issues here. Its purpose is to stop water damage to the post.

Fun fact, the Romans used concrete that had unmixed spots in it. When cracks formed, water would get in to the cracks, contact the unmixed spots, and the newly wetted concrete would heal.

You never EVER put a wood post directly into concrete. Not pine, not oak, not pressure treated. Never ever. If a contractor ever tried to suggest that when putting in fence posts I would throw him off the property. You place ABS Pipe into the concrete, pour gravel the bottom of the pipe 3" then place the wood or metal posts in ABS pipe through a glued pipe cap and silicone the post to the cap. That is the MINIMUM and will last the normal required 50 years, the shortest amount of time any household or commercial project should last.

I live in OK where we have some pretty crazy wind. We used the trident type posts on our fence. We had a bad storm and most of my neighbors' fences blew down when their 2 3/8" round galvanized steel posts just bent over. We had part of the fence that was canted a bit to the side but didn't go all the way over and when we checked, we found that the trident posts were perfectly fine, but the concrete we poured around them had cracked. Those posts are very strong.

Lol... "Ive done it once so i'm really good at it... I know the rules I know the whole situation.."

I noticed you used a 12 auger on the metal poles, Is that a bit overkill or ...?

Awesome! Back when I did masonry, I was helping my mom build a 6 ft wall on one side of her property. Since it was in California, the building codes in the area are pretty strict and my best friend and I were hired by my mom to dig quite a deep footing. She did all the measurements and calculations, though, but she's a mathematician so that made total sense and it's probably going to stand longer than any of us who built it is still alive, even when the "Big One" earthquake finally does come (and I will say that I will be annoyed if I don't get to experience this earthquake).

I build bushcraft stuff in the area for shits and giggles and two things have been slowing down by building: the first is that I'm trying to make the shelter look like its surroundings and the second is to make sure anything I build above head level won't come down easily in even a 9.0 earthquake, which is 10 times larger than we are supposed to expect here. 

There's lots of clay around here and, having stepping in some quicksand while wading in the area, I can verify how much it tries to pull your shoe off when that happens. If I hadn't though about earthquake safety, I might have already built something using that clay since it's easy to get relatively pure clay and sand underneath it. Since I'm trying to build things out of whatever I can find in the area, I have considering using wood instead of steel as a reenforcement. There are not enough grasses and reeds to make rope or else I'd use the method where you reenforce the outside rather than the inside of the structure. I like the shape of those posts and the idea of driving them into the ground. I have done something similar when I built my fire pit and the shelter above it. There was only a little cracking in the clay and sand mixture that I made and I used branches so fresh that they actually sprout every spring and I'm hoping they grow trees there because that will only give me more cover and more strength for my structure or at least it seems to me that will be the case. Anyway, thanks for the new things to think about!

That's a great idea make a mark on the shovel handle to denote depth. I'm gonna steal that.

I thought dry pack you were still supposed to add water to it in the hole. Differs from regular concrete in that you don't have to mix it thoroughly with water first and then dump that mixture in the hole. Just using dry pack with no water means it won't work as intended.

I think the screw method may be unnecessary, but it should probably be wet set if you're going to use it.

Nice bonus material. Hadn't thought about steel posts, but we used a similar driver for the posts and anchors of a sutter wall. I think his tool was called a Stinger, with different adapters for the different parts of the wall. Our soil in Tahoe sometimes has big rocks, but we only had to change locations of one of the 6. For the verticals, a double jack worked well on most of them, but the stinger tool made it easier, especially if some medium sized rocks were hit.

Add water after putting dry in the hole and it'd work fine.

concrete even after a month doesnt seem to set to its strongest. in one worksite i had to cut shorter posts which had been there for a year and 2 made last month. the 2 from month ago i cut thru like paper, the ones standing for over a year were difficult.

postcreet in the UK poor it in dry then add water to the top sets realy quick too

Has anybody use that post system to build a garage or Barn with a dirt floor?

I throughly enjoyed this video.

Thank you.

😊

you HATE digging...
you hate mixing...
WHY are you in the profession then?

An untreated post will last a long time with a crushed gravel backfill. Concrete will cause it to rot fast.

Awesome video! Learned a ton! Thanks.

So macho.

Here in the Denver area, I poured the quick setting concrete in then added water, mix it with a trowel in the hole. Rinse and repeat until you get to the top. I amateurishly used bracing sticks to keep the post upright and plumb. I did this as a one man band and it took three times longer to complete. You Tube videos make everything look so easy. It's not. I'll be dead before this fence eventually fails. So who cares?

Its probably an idea to spin or agitate the post with screws once the concrete is poured. This may get around the lack of tamping.

It doesn't work 😂

How do you use the trident's if you are replacing wood that was cemented in?

Not a fence builder, but I've built a 300ft fence that has lasted 2 hurricanes, a few tropical storms, and an 18ft brick wall of a neighboring house that fell on a fence post (only damaged a few panels) during demo. I put my posts 42" deep and holes are around 20" diameter. At the bottom, I added water and pour in a dry bag of 80lbs. concrete. I then filled hole with dirt and then pour a second 80lbs concrete bag using same procedure close to the surface. This way, it created two wide disk that stabilized the post. Dry pour is good, as long as you add the required water. I understand that it's not as strong as premix, but for it's job to just stabilize the post, it's more than adequate.

Thank you. Very informative

What about sand instead of dry concrete?

Can I see a picture/video of the 40 ft tall fence?

The foam stuff is okay, but it does shrink away from the post as your picture showed. that is concerning as it opens up an area that will hold water right against the post. I also do not know anyone who doesn't pour water on a dry set, especially in dry soil. It will not set right if one does not.

That foam looks very bad for the environment.

Does post foam do anything to the soil if your using your soil for food

I'd be curious to see how long it would take a lightly perforated bag of concrete to set if left in standing water. My guess is that even after a month sitting in a 2" puddle, most of it would still be powder.

Great videos my question is I’m putting 2 5/8 oil piping up for my horses. I’m debating to use an auger to dig a hole in concrete it or use the machine you did just to pound them in thoughts.

The ground is holding the post, all you need to do is pack the post against the ground with something that won't move or wash/heave/blow away. Thet dry pack isn’t going anywhere unless you dig it out, you don't need it to set other than to stop it erroding away. So ig it takes 5 years to go off no problem.

been dry packing posts for 30 years all you do is leave a inch or 2 at the top and fill with water and leave it works perfect

DO NOT USE THIS GUY… He complained about dudes using braces, but can’t figure out those dry premixed bags need a third of the hole filled with water BEFORE you pour it in. Has no idea what a cold joint is or how it happened. The real kicker is he says don’t mound concrete around a timber post… Am flabbergasted.

Picture of Trident post with finished fence please...

what happened to the good old hammering a sharpened post in the ground?

In the south, Georgia, code says you do NOT bury posts because they rot from all of the rain. You pour concrete into a hole with a cardboard tube as a form. The post sits on that concrete using metal brackets that are put in place right after the concrete is poured.

one thing i would be interested to see tested - pouring concrete only at bottom and top, while stomping gravel in the middle part. i have seen it used often as a way to use up less concrete. additionally the thought is that such layered concrete makes it more stable in the longer run (the separate layers of concrete working more like an anchor than a solid pour would). each layer should be some 10-15 cm (or more of course) to have its own toughness of course.
the extra lazy version of same- dry pour (+pour a bucket of water and then add gravel/soil to speed up hardening) on bottom and proper wet pour at top (so it sets and keeps the post straight).
in theory it would make a post be fixed with but a couple buckets of concrete while providing only slightly less anchorage....
as there is little concrete when doing so- adding something to hold the concrete to the post at the same level you are pouring concrete in would be highly advisable (otherwise the post will be just held by 2 or 3 concrete rings..it would still held it mind you from sideways force, just less resistant to lifting the post out vertically per se.. (in case of metal posts say welding reinforcement bar peace at the required height/depth; in case of wood a few thicker nails should do the trick)

apologies, if you have already tested this though.

Nope, I have never and will never do dry pack. I hate mixing concrete too but it is worth the effort.

Growing up on a farm, my Dad had a international tractor with a hydraulic post driver attachment. At the farm supply store they had these treated post with pointed ends about 9 ft long. That post hole driver attachment would drive those posts into the ground in about a minute flat or until it hit solid rock. It took longer to pick the post off the trailer than it did to drive them into the ground. It was like putting toothpicks in a birthday cake. Corner posts are about the only place you would auger out a hole and put in concrete. Seems like overkill to me.

Trump needs to hire you to build the wall.

I honestly thought you were gona pull the post out with your bucket and chain with something measuring the amount of pressure or force it took before popping out. But then I seen you use the bucket to dig around it just to shake the post loose confused me a bit. Cool video regardless

I can't decide on which method is best. Some may say I'm sitting on the fence with this one !!!!!!

G'day.
I have never heard of that foam, so I am completely ignorant of details.

Q1. Is the foam usable in building construction? I have a small extension project coming up later this year and as a 61 year old, that foam looks a lot easier than lugging bags of cement.

Q2. In terms of $, it cost about double (triple in Australia, probably) what concrete does. How does it translate $ wise in time? If I am calculating the cost of my time into the build, does it work out cheaper then?

Thanks for posting this. If nothing else, learning about the existence of the foam has been valuable to me.

Col.

Ya caught me 2 of my least favorite things, diggin holes & pouring concrete😂😂😂😂