Post driver

happydude742

Looking into buying a post-driver for the back of the tractor. How much would I be paying and is there any particular type you'd recommend??

dar31

Quoted €3400 for a malone recently

richie123

happydude742 wrote: »

Looking into buying a post-driver for the back of the tractor. How much would I be paying and is there any particular type you'd recommend??

Hire one.why buy for something that's used for one week in the year

ruwithme

dar31 wrote: »

Quoted €3400 for a malone recently

There a great investment in any farm,if you like to have your fencing done with some ease & be able to pop down posts when their needed & or suits you at any time of the year.

wrangler

richie123 wrote: »

Hire one.why buy for something that's used for one week in the year

They used to be easy enough hired around here but no one seems to be doing them now.

Bass Reeves

richie123 wrote: »

Hire one.why buy for something that's used for one week in the year

Get a lad in every second year, I have stakes ready and we will drive them. Last time did a few new lengths drove over 100 stakes he charged less than 300 euro Inc vat. Claimed the vat back. Spend a few half days tidying up after. If a post breaks I stick a pigtail in. Drive whatever type of post I can by hand to replace a fence gap post and tie corner posts off what ever I need. Post driving is usually a two man job it's as handy to hire a lad and machine as get a lad to give you a hand

grassroot1

dar31 wrote: »

Quoted €3400 for a malone recently[/QUOTE
Was that the newest model with sidetilt and barbwire attachment?

Grueller

I drive all bar strainers here with the front loader. I run along with the crowbar making holes, stand the stakes loosely and then come along with the tractor and push them in. I hire in a lad for the couple of hours strainers take. He generally does them when passing and charges €5 per strainer. I drove 11 strainersast Friday evening and gave him €50. I had them.ready sitting in place and the two of us did them in not much over an hour.

dar31

grassroot1 wrote: »

dar31 wrote: »

Quoted €3400 for a malone recently[/QUOTE
Was that the newest model with sidetilt and barbwire attachment?

New modle but no attachment
No real give on price but supplier will plumb into tractor with a fast flow return?

MfMan

Price Belmac or Majors? IEP do one also..

buffalobilly

Have a basis malone with side tilt and hydraulic top link here bought new 2018 €2800 handy machine about the house
Whe buying it I doubted whether I needed it but have to say it is one of the handiest machines we have

French Toast

Having your own is a mighty job. We'd drive 5-6 every year as opposed to leaving it until we've a bulk of work for a contractor.

We've a very old chain driven Cross, deadly strength in it. Kentec are another brand I know are supposedly good.

jd_12345

I see a fella in offaly on DoneDeal selling them for €1600 new. Has to be value in that! Have a loading shovel here and drive them all with that. Store the posts in the bucket and have two people- one standing posts and one driving the loader. Plus if you need to clear briars the loader is mightyðŸ˜ðŸ˜

richie123

Bass Reeves wrote: »

Get a lad in every second year, I have stakes ready and we will drive them. Last time did a few new lengths drove over 100 stakes he charged less than 300 euro Inc vat. Claimed the vat back. Spend a few half days tidying up after. If a post breaks I stick a pigtail in. Drive whatever type of post I can by hand to replace a fence gap post and tie corner posts off what ever I need. Post driving is usually a two man job it's as handy to hire a lad and machine as get a lad to give you a hand

Better again,would agree with this

mr.stonewall

French Toast wrote: »

Having your own is a mighty job. We'd drive 5-6 every year as opposed to leaving it until we've a bulk of work for a contractor.

We've a very old chain driven Cross, deadly strength in it. Kentec are another brand I know are supposedly good.

+1 for having your own. It's there the day you need to get that broken strainer back in place. Key to good fencing is to keep tipping away at maintenance every year.
They are a machine that will last a lifetime on a farm and very little to go wrong. When you break the cost down over 20 years it's cheap.
Must make up a fencing basket for the loader this year. Something to hold stakes, wire, the bits and pieces and the scrap. Then drop it of into the shed when done

Bought a multec from the north when the rate was good a few years back. Cost about €2300.

Bass Reeves

richie123 wrote: »

Better again,would agree with this

Its all about organisation. Have plenty of posts ready. Be there before him in the morning. If one of the young lads are around they be there too to drive the tractor. There is rock in my place and he is an expert at finding spots to drive stakes, knows when to stop driving and when to keep going very experienced. If there is three of us I check the posts ahead and pick out the ones to be replaced. I strike off a bit at 10.30 and get a few chicken goujon rolls and a few bars of chocolate and come back and make tea. We would stop for 30-40 minutes eat and chat while we do that. Back at it then until we finish or run out of stakes. He charges about 40/hour.

I do not know why you buy one and tie up a few thousand for another piece of machinery you have to store in a shed if you want to get 20+ years out of it. As well you will only find a problem the day you go to use it.

ruwithme

Bass Reeves wrote: »

Its all about organisation. Have plenty of posts ready. Be there before him in the morning. If one of the young lads are around they be there too to drive the tractor. There is rock in my place and he is an expert at finding spots to drive stakes, knows when to stop driving and when to keep going very experienced. If there is three of us I check the posts ahead and pick out the ones to be replaced. I strike off a bit at 10.30 and get a few chicken goujon rolls and a few bars of chocolate and come back and make tea. We would stop for 30-40 minutes eat and chat while we do that. Back at it then until we finish or run out of stakes. He charges about 40/hour.

I do not know why you buy one and tie up a few thousand for another piece of machinery you have to store in a shed if you want to get 20+ years out of it. As well you will only find a problem the day you go to use it.

Going by that it really is a case of "each to their own"

hopeso

Bought one here around 15 years ago. Haven't regretted buying it for one moment since....

jd_12345

Why do I get the feeling that this will be another cattle trailer thread ?(There should be a separate thread: CONTRACTORS VS OWNING YOUR OWN )

Bass Reeves

jd_12345 wrote: »

Why do I get the feeling that this will be another cattle trailer thread ?(There should be a separate thread: CONTRACTORS VS OWNING YOUR OWN )

So far we have a trailer costing 8-10k doing maybe 20-30 hours work a year that a haulier will do for 4-600 euro, and a post driver costing 2.5-3k to drive 50-60 poles every two years that s contractor will do in half a day for 2-300 euro. We had another lad buying a small zero grazer costing 16k for work that a contractor would do in 50 hours but his smaller machine will take 80-100 hours.

Shur we better buy a mower for the 30-50 acres of silage maybe 4-7k and a baler that will only cost 5-20k depending on how mechanical we are. We need a slurry tanker and an agtitator , we better upgrade the tractor from 80hp to 120hp, jaysus no we better future proof it and go 150 hp+.

Now we really need a set of kit to reseed the 10 acres we do ever 3-5years. And what about the hedge cutter and a small track machine. That 150 hp tractor is too big to get into the central passage of the 3 bay double shed where the thirty suckler's are with the few bullocks do we get a skid steer, teleporter or a loading shovel, maybe we should get all three.

wrangler

Bass Reeves wrote: »

So far we have a trailer costing 8-10k doing maybe 20-30 hours work a year that a haulier will do for 4-600 euro, and a post driver costing 2.5-3k to drive 50-60 poles every two years that s contractor will do in half a day for 2-300 euro. We had another lad buying a small zero grazer costing 16k for work that a contractor would do in 50 hours but his smaller machine will take 80-100 hours.

Shur we better buy a mower for the 30-50 acres of silage maybe 4-7k and a baler that will only cost 5-20k depending on how mechanical we are. We need a slurry tanker and an agtitator , we better upgrade the tractor from 80hp to 120hp, jaysus no we better future proof it and go 150 hp+.

Now we really need a set of kit to reseed the 10 acres we do ever 3-5years. And what about the hedge cutter and a small track machine. That 150 hp tractor is too big to get into the central passage of the 3 bay double shed where the thirty suckler's are with the few bullocks do we get a skid steer, teleporter or a loading shovel, maybe we should get all three.

ffs each to their own, you must be lonely up on your high horse there.
I bought my post driver 30 years ago for 1300 and, like the cattle trailer, hasn't cost a lot since.
So give it a rest eh.
There's no reason not to have your own lesser priced machinery, I've my own 70000 tractor doing 80 hrs last year and the idea of it is obviously stressing you more than me

Dunedin

Bass Reeves wrote: »

So far we have a trailer costing 8-10k doing maybe 20-30 hours work a year that a haulier will do for 4-600 euro, and a post driver costing 2.5-3k to drive 50-60 poles every two years that s contractor will do in half a day for 2-300 euro. We had another lad buying a small zero grazer costing 16k for work that a contractor would do in 50 hours but his smaller machine will take 80-100 hours.

Shur we better buy a mower for the 30-50 acres of silage maybe 4-7k and a baler that will only cost 5-20k depending on how mechanical we are. We need a slurry tanker and an agtitator , we better upgrade the tractor from 80hp to 120hp, jaysus no we better future proof it and go 150 hp+.

Now we really need a set of kit to reseed the 10 acres we do ever 3-5years. And what about the hedge cutter and a small track machine. That 150 hp tractor is too big to get into the central passage of the 3 bay double shed where the thirty suckler's are with the few bullocks do we get a skid steer, teleporter or a loading shovel, maybe we should get all three.

9am Monday morning: Farmer Joe: 'hey Tommy, any chance I could get you to drive 30 stakes some evening this week?
Tommy: no bother at all, I'm fairly busy at the minute but I’ll do it one of the evenings I'm passing.

Farmer Joe - sound, I’ll have them stuck in ground so you'll have no bother in tapping them in - it'll be a half hour job. I'll give you a shout maybe Wednesday to confirm.
Tommy: sound as a bell

Wednesday 2pm: Farmer Joe rings Tommy – no answer, tries again 4pm and 7.30pm and still no answer
Thursday 10am: Farmer Joe rings Tommy again and still no answer
Friday 2.30pm: Farmer Joe tries Tommy again – Tommy ‘oh howya Joe, sorry I missed ya but I’d the phone left in the van’
Farmer Joe: no worries Tommy. I’ve the stakes all left out so how ya fixed to do that job this evening as I need to get cattle out tomorrow when I’m off work.
Tommy, Jayus sorry now Joe but I got caught up on another job and the tractor and post driver are still there. Give me a ring Wednesday evening and we’ll sort something then.
Farmer Joe – Ok, I’ll chat to you then

Wednesday 3pm – repeat from Wednesday to Friday of previous week

Saturday 7.30am – Farmer Joe out putting down a few pig tails so as to get the cattle out and swears that next year he’ll have his own post driver and not be relying on f***ing Tommy ever again as that’s the 3rd year in a row he’s done that. I don’t care what it costs, it’s only dear the day I buy it and it’ll be there for ever more………………………

Bitten & Hisses

buffalobilly wrote: »

Have a basis malone with side tilt and hydraulic top link here bought new 2018 €2800 handy machine about the house
Whe buying it I doubted whether I needed it but have to say it is one of the handiest machines we have

Same here, paid €2850 in 2018 for a new Malone. I'm surprised at how they've gone up in price since then.
Hire of a machine isn't an option here (Local co-op used to give out a machine if you bought stakes, but it's an old basic machine which is very much a 2-man job) and there's no contractor in the area providing this service. Plus, bringing in someone to drive 10 stakes at a time isn't feasible.
As others have said, each to their own and work with the best approach for your system.

SuperTortoise

Bass Reeves wrote: »

So far we have a trailer costing 8-10k doing maybe 20-30 hours work a year that a haulier will do for 4-600 euro, and a post driver costing 2.5-3k to drive 50-60 poles every two years that s contractor will do in half a day for 2-300 euro. We had another lad buying a small zero grazer costing 16k for work that a contractor would do in 50 hours but his smaller machine will take 80-100 hours.

Shur we better buy a mower for the 30-50 acres of silage maybe 4-7k and a baler that will only cost 5-20k depending on how mechanical we are. We need a slurry tanker and an agtitator , we better upgrade the tractor from 80hp to 120hp, jaysus no we better future proof it and go 150 hp+.

Now we really need a set of kit to reseed the 10 acres we do ever 3-5years. And what about the hedge cutter and a small track machine. That 150 hp tractor is too big to get into the central passage of the 3 bay double shed where the thirty suckler's are with the few bullocks do we get a skid steer, teleporter or a loading shovel, maybe we should get all three.

With the financial hat on you're 100% correct, but some lads just like machinery, be it new or second hand.

893bet

Dunedin wrote: »

9am Monday morning: Farmer Joe: 'hey Tommy, any chance I could get you to drive 30 stakes some evening this week?
Tommy: no bother at all, I'm fairly busy at the minute but I’ll do it one of the evenings I'm passing.

Farmer Joe - sound, I’ll have them stuck in ground so you'll have no bother in tapping them in - it'll be a half hour job. I'll give you a shout maybe Wednesday to confirm.
Tommy: sound as a bell

Wednesday 2pm: Farmer Joe rings Tommy – no answer, tries again 4pm and 7.30pm and still no answer
Thursday 10am: Farmer Joe rings Tommy again and still no answer
Friday 2.30pm: Farmer Joe tries Tommy again – Tommy ‘oh howya Joe, sorry I missed ya but I’d the phone left in the van’
Farmer Joe: no worries Tommy. I’ve the stakes all left out so how ya fixed to do that job this evening as I need to get cattle out tomorrow when I’m off work.
Tommy, Jayus sorry now Joe but I got caught up on another job and the tractor and post driver are still there. Give me a ring Wednesday evening and we’ll sort something then.
Farmer Joe – Ok, I’ll chat to you then

Wednesday 3pm – repeat from Wednesday to Friday of previous week

Saturday 7.30am – Farmer Joe out putting down a few pig tails so as to get the cattle out and swears that next year he’ll have his own post driver and not be relying on f***ing Tommy ever again as that’s the 3rd year in a row he’s done that. I don’t care what it costs, it’s only dear the day I buy it and it’ll be there for ever more………………………

I had this exact experience before Christmas on head cutting and strainer placement using track machine. Had to move my days holidays from work 3 times.

There is so little to go wrong with a post driver also that it should give many years service with out any issue.

Dunedin

893bet wrote: »

I had this exact experience before Christmas on head cutting and strainer placement using track machine. Had to move my days holidays from work 3 times.

There is so little to go wrong with a post driver also that it should give many years service with out any issue.

I’d say many have this type of experience and that’s as much a part of the decision to have your own as cost is (within reason)

Bass Reeves

Dunedin wrote: »

9am Monday morning: Farmer Joe: 'hey Tommy, any chance I could get you to drive 30 stakes some evening this week?
Tommy: no bother at all, I'm fairly busy at the minute but I’ll do it one of the evenings I'm passing.

Farmer Joe - sound, I’ll have them stuck in ground so you'll have no bother in tapping them in - it'll be a half hour job. I'll give you a shout maybe Wednesday to confirm.
Tommy: sound as a bell

Wednesday 2pm: Farmer Joe rings Tommy – no answer, tries again 4pm and 7.30pm and still no answer
Thursday 10am: Farmer Joe rings Tommy again and still no answer
Friday 2.30pm: Farmer Joe tries Tommy again – Tommy ‘oh howya Joe, sorry I missed ya but I’d the phone left in the van’
Farmer Joe: no worries Tommy. I’ve the stakes all left out so how ya fixed to do that job this evening as I need to get cattle out tomorrow when I’m off work.
Tommy, Jayus sorry now Joe but I got caught up on another job and the tractor and post driver are still there. Give me a ring Wednesday evening and we’ll sort something then.
Farmer Joe – Ok, I’ll chat to you then

Wednesday 3pm – repeat from Wednesday to Friday of previous week

Saturday 7.30am – Farmer Joe out putting down a few pig tails so as to get the cattle out and swears that next year he’ll have his own post driver and not be relying on f***ing Tommy ever again as that’s the 3rd year in a row he’s done that. I don’t care what it costs, it’s only dear the day I buy it and it’ll be there for ever more………………………

First thing is I would never leave a fencing job to a week before cattle are turned out. Second thing if pigtails would have done the job I have used pigtails until the contractor arrived. I never had the contractor in to do 5-10 posts. I always keep 10-20 pencil posts and I can drive by hand with a hand post drive during the winter.

I will ring the lad that dose my fencing 4 weeks before I need him and let him know I need him for a few hours within 3-5 weeks...you know if it goes to 6 weeks it is not the end of the world.

If I went looking for a plumber or a electrician I be waiting 4-6 weeks as well unless it was as an emergency. Same with the slurry contractor was cutting a hedge last week in February, Dick I have slurry end of the March. I send him a text two weeks ago letting him know it would be just before or after Easter. Rang him last Wednesday and confirmed for this morning. Agtitator arrived at 9 am, tank is adgitated with over half an hour he is gone for the tank to start spreading.

It is called organisation. If you run any business.or work in most jobs organisation is key. It the same with mowing and baling. I watch the forecast from mid May on when I see the weather window I tell him, TBF the lad I use watches the weather like a hawk as well. When I have an idea that the silage will be cut I ring slurry contractor and book him for slurry after the bales are drawn in.

There is only 2-3 jobs not sure inclined to contract out. Fertlizer spreading as I run a paddock system and need to keep on top of it. Spraying as it's too weather dependent and drawing bales in as well. Rolling, chain harrow and topping if need d I do as well. But if I have to be investing 10's of thousands in machinery to do 2-3k worth of work is the day I be closing down my system.

Farmers are always claiming to be time poor and returns in the system do not justify their investment. If you cannot contract and make a return from farming seriously look at what you are at

Mooooo

Use the wheel loader here to push em down, cro bar and sledge when there are issues with stones. Can carry everything in the bucket so handy that way. Prolonged dry weather or dry ground would catch you alright, so do most in the spring if I can
Any equipment at all seems to be dear these days but do whatever suits yourself to make life easier.

Dunedin

Bass Reeves wrote: »

First thing is I would never leave a fencing job to a week before cattle are turned out. Second thing if pigtails would have done the job I have used pigtails until the contractor arrived. I never had the contractor in to do 5-10 posts. I always keep 10-20 pencil posts and I can drive by hand with a hand post drive during the winter.

I will ring the lad that dose my fencing 4 weeks before I need him and let him know I need him for a few hours within 3-5 weeks...you know if it goes to 6 weeks it is not the end of the world.

If I went looking for a plumber or a electrician I be waiting 4-6 weeks as well unless it was as an emergency. Same with the slurry contractor was cutting a hedge last week in February, Dick I have slurry end of the March. I send him a text two weeks ago letting him know it would be just before or after Easter. Rang him last Wednesday and confirmed for this morning. Agtitator arrived at 9 am, tank is adgitated with over half an hour he is gone for the tank to start spreading.

It is called organisation. If you run any business.or work in most jobs organisation is key. It the same with mowing and baling. I watch the forecast from mid May on when I see the weather window I tell him, TBF the lad I use watches the weather like a hawk as well. When I have an idea that the silage will be cut I ring slurry contractor and book him for slurry after the bales are drawn in.

There is only 2-3 jobs not sure inclined to contract out. Fertlizer spreading as I run a paddock system and need to keep on top of it. Spraying as it's too weather dependent and drawing bales in as well. Rolling, chain harrow and topping if need d I do as well. But if I have to be investing 10's of thousands in machinery to do 2-3k worth of work is the day I be closing down my system.

Farmers are always claiming to be time poor and returns in the system do not justify their investment. If you cannot contract and make a return from farming seriously look at what you are at

a lot of what I said was in jest but it's the reality on a lot of farms. Re a separate thread on Rooter and Anti-rooter, I'm definitly 100% in the Anti-rooter side so seeing as you said it, everything from fencing probably a month before they go out right down to emptying the water troughs the day before but it's not about how organised I am!!


I actually drive all my stakes with the front loader so have no need for a post driver but a few things to consider if I did:

• I have a few wet spots which I wouldn't drive through so cannot really do the 4-6 notice always
• I watch the forecast religously for 10 months of the year (Nov/Dec the exception as typically no work on land in them months)
• I am in high tax bracket so €3k PD will cost me €1440
• I like to start early in the morning at any job i.e. before 6am or maybe 5am in summer time but hard to get lads before 8am (my problem not theirs but again that's my preference and I'm often prepared to buy my own to give me that flexibility)
• Working at that time of the morning is pure therapy for me as away from the office/phone/etc.
• I generally do the kids evening time so lad coming to me at 8pm on his way home is not suitable
• my main contractor is brilliant but for the jobs he doesn't do, I find it's a case of nearly begging lads to come and i don't like doing that
• I'd say most people would buy their own electrician if they could - there's 2 or 3 around me and it's a nightmare to get them any of them. Hence the begging point above
• Farming is nicely profitable for me and that's why I generally spend on one item a year in the 3-5k if it's adds convienence and makes life easier - no loans and paid on the day
• spent €80k 3 years ago on a suckler shed. It's meant that i can do my work in 30 minutes v 90 minutes in the old system. Is it making it any more profitable, probably not but it's a hell of a lot safer and I enjoy the work in the winter evenings now. I have 7.5k left to pay on shed and that's it cleared.

In summary, what works for you won't work for me and everyone to their own. Don't usually agree with Wrangler above but here's a first.


Have a nice day.

Good loser

Post drivers are very suitable machines to share between 2 or 3 (or 4) farmers.
Brings down the purchase cost.

dohc turbo2

Everyone’s circumstances differ , I’m 20 min away from frs, I’d I’ve a lot to do I’d get them and they passing if not, they have one in the yard for lads that wasn’t to do there own bit , fierce handy

Johnnytractors

happydude742 wrote: »

Looking into buying a post-driver for the back of the tractor. How much would I be paying and is there any particular type you'd recommend??

I have a bridgeway one. Bought it new in 2008. It has a hydraulic top link, side tilt and the hammer controls outside. Only thing that went in it was the wire rope and it’s easy enough to replace. Use it every year to drive stakes in farms we own or have rented. Drive on average 5 bales of stakes a year. Have the post driver on the back and the a bale of stakes on the front loader. Drive around every field we have and replace what is broke. Best investment ever and you can do the fencing when you want.

DBK1

Johnnytractors wrote: »

I have a bridgeway one. Bought it new in 2008. It has a hydraulic top link, side tilt and the hammer controls outside. Only thing that went in it was the wire rope and it’s easy enough to replace. Use it every year to drive stakes in farms we own or have rented. Drive on average 5 bales of stakes a year. Have the post driver on the back and the a bale of stakes on the front loader. Drive around every field we have and replace what is broke. Best investment ever and you can do the fencing when you want.

They are one machine that every farmer should have if at all possible in my opinion. As Good Loser said, they can be bought between a number of farmers to reduce cost.

Bought a second hand basic Malone along with a neighbour about 4 years ago from a friend of mine who had it since new. It wouldn’t have drove 300 stakes before we got it. It cost €1,400 euro so €700 each. One of the best investments made in the farm and should have been bought years earlier.

The comfort of being able to do your own work as and when you want for what is not much more than pocket money over its lifetime is great. To me the thought of having to arrange a man 6 weeks in advance to drive a few stakes is pure lunacy but as someone else said, each to their own.