Installing Fence Posts In Rocky Soil

Drive the blade of the shovel straight down into the soil of the post hole walls with your foot.

Installing fence posts in rocky soil.

Wood preservatives are toxic so follow safety recommendations on the label. This saves countless hours in labor especially in rocky or hard soil. Place the post in the center of the hole. Today with advances in hydraulics and new manufacturing methods posts can be driven into the ground without digging a hole.

Treat the two ends with a non water based brush on wood preservative such as copper naphthenate. Dig down to the rock use a masonry drill to drill a hole and bolt or pin an anchor right into the rock. Bevel the top of the fence post to a 45º angle to encourage rain runoff or plan on installing a post cap. A jack fence is probably the easiest above ground fence to build thomas says.

In some terrain where it s not too steep and there are surface rocks you can create an aboveground cage of rocks as a brace to anchor the fence in lieu of brace posts. Add at least 6 inches of gravel around the post and tamp it down firmly. A strong gust of wind can sometimes tip over a whole section of fence. How i dug post holes for my fence in rocky ground.

Gather or stack rocks and secure them with net wire or make a cage and put rocks into it. Well i don t have any fence building experience but i wonder if you could anchor the fence posts with guy wires like the power company does on their poles. At each mark use a rock drill to cut a series of holes in a circle and inside the circle. A jack fence of poles works well where the ground is too rocky to set posts but in windy country this type of fence must be anchored securely so it won t blow over.

Check out my blog to see what s happening on the homestead. Drill holes to create a circle twice the diameter of the post and 6 to 10 inches deep. Installing a post once meant digging a hole. Straighten the walls of the post hole using a round point shovel.

Pull the shovel handle backward.