So I'm putting in a fence

[Merlin]

I'm talking a small one too. I bought a few 6' x 8' panels and some 4x4 posts. Plan is to install them at the edge of my wife's garden to give the corner area some nice seclusion for a sitting area. Easy project right???

Oh hell no. First off when I started I didn't google how deep to dig because I'm an ignorant asshole, I just figured 4' so I bought 10' posts. This hearkens back to my Maine days when you had to dig beneath the frost layer. But at about 30" or so I hit a layer of rock and clay that stopped me cold and made my wrists and arms sore as hell after a couple hours of hammering the posthole digger down there trying to dislodge them. The silver lining here however was that afterwards I discovered 30" is fine for a 6' high fence. Thank God.

I would like to observe that post hole diggers were invented by Satan. If there is a hell I will certainly wake up there someday and it will involve digging post holes for eternity, because I can imagine nothing worse.

So at this point I have four post holes dug (two of the three panels) and two of them are cemented in. BTW quickcrete is amazing. First time I've used it (my acreage is fenced but I paid a crew to do that thank God). But I'm a week and a half into this shit due to needing rest days to recover from the digging. This project has become a damn oddysey but it's personal now and by God I'm gonna finish it. Feel like I'm in a side story of the Illiad or something. Ok time to ice my wrists again.

 

[12intheBox]

I used a post hole digger once. Once.

 

[Ramhusker]

I suggest you see the "Scotch question" thread!

 

[CGI_Ram]

I once installed an in ground basketball hoop. One you could dunk on if you wanted. That was a hell of a hole. I did it all in a day; hole, main post, cement. I was young back then.

 

[FaulkSF]

Not sure how it is in Salem, but I've been hearing in Sacramento they use a lime mix around the property's just below the top soil layer to help foundation stability. That would explain why you couldn't dig deep in your yard if Salem uses similar property and foundation treatments.

If you have more posts to set, I suggest using pea pebbles as the bottom layer. That way when water soaks your fence it will drop below the post level and will not rot your posts out. That will add a few years of life to them.

 

[CGI_Ram]

I'm talking a small one too. I bought a few 6' x 8' panels and some 4x4 posts. Plan is to install them at the edge of my wife's garden to give the corner area some nice seclusion for a sitting area. Easy project right???

Oh hell no. First off when I started I didn't google how deep to dig because I'm an ignorant asshole, I just figured 4' so I bought 10' posts. This hearkens back to my Maine days when you had to dig beneath the frost layer. But at about 30" or so I hit a layer of rock and clay that stopped me cold and made my wrists and arms sore as hell after a couple hours of hammering the posthole digger down there trying to dislodge them. The silver lining here however was that afterwards I discovered 30" is fine for a 6' high fence. Thank God.

I would like to observe that post hole diggers were invented by Satan. If there is a hell I will certainly wake up there someday and it will involve digging post holes for eternity, because I can imagine nothing worse.

So at this point I have four post holes dug (two of the three panels) and two of them are cemented in. BTW quickcrete is amazing. First time I've used it (my acreage is fenced but I paid a crew to do that thank God). But I'm a week and a half into this shit due to needing rest days to recover from the digging. This project has become a damn oddysey but it's personal now and by God I'm gonna finish it. Feel like I'm in a side story of the Illiad or something. Ok time to ice my wrists again.

So how much more you got for the whole project?

 

[thirteen28]

View: https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=b-EdiXP87uE

 

[Reddog99]

The T handled post hole augers work better in my experience. I usually only use the post hole diggers to clean out the hole when I'm done digging. I put up an 8ft tall fence the other day and it took less than an hour to dig 6 3ft holes. If there's more digging in your future you might wanna do yourself a favor and get an auger. I believe they're less than $100. Just my 2 cents. Good luck with the rest of your project dude.

 

[Mister Sin]

I would be taking my ass to home depot and picking up a day worker

 

[RamFan503]

I know my way around a set of post hole diggers. I dug over 100 holes for rail road tie posts at our ranch through adobe and shale. Of course I was 15 back then. I recently had the joy of digging a 3'x3'x3' hole with the ole clam shells after jack hammering through a concrete floor in order to repair a sewer line. Let's just say I'm not 15 anymore.

 

[Merlin]

So how much more you got for the whole project?

Two postholes that need to be dug. And four posts to put in. So I'm more than half way with the tough part i.e. the digging.

Another part of the prob has been this past week's heat. Been extra hot and soupy.

 

[OregonRamsFan]

Not sure how it is in Salem, but I've been hearing in Sacramento they use a lime mix around the property's just below the top soil layer to help foundation stability. That would explain why you couldn't dig deep in your yard if Salem uses similar property and foundation treatments.

If you have more posts to set, I suggest using pea pebbles as the bottom layer. That way when water soaks your fence it will drop below the post level and will not rot your posts out. That will add a few years of life to them.

Correct. In fact, new methods include filling the hole with a mix of heavy and fine gravel instead of concrete.

 

[norcalramfan]

About 50 years ago my dad decided to plant an Ironwood sapling in the front yard. So he gets a few inches maybe a foot down and he runs into a corner stone of an old building. 3x3x3 piece of cement. So I’m like let’s move over a few feet and dig. Nope, it’s going here, rent a jackhammer time. Turned out to be like Tom Sawyer white washing the fence. Neighborhood dads wanting to take a turn with the jackhammer.
I drove by the old place a year or so ago. It’s a magnificent tree now.

 

[RhodyRams]

Rentsons.com

 

[Neil039]

When I install fences I typically saturat the ground the day before or at least 4-6 hours before I have to dig. Just a suggestion.

 

[norcalramfan]

About 50 years ago my dad decided to plant an Ironwood sapling in the front yard. So he gets a few inches maybe a foot down and he runs into a corner stone of an old building. 3x3x3 piece of cement. So I’m like let’s move over a few feet and dig. Nope, it’s going here, rent a jackhammer time. Turned out to be like Tom Sawyer white washing the fence. Neighborhood dads wanting to take a turn with the jackhammer.
I drove by the old place a year or so ago. It’s a magnificent tree now.

Ok, so maybe not magnificent but still an answer to my why bother attitude at 16 years of age. It was 6 or seven feet tall and as big around as my wrist when we planted it.

 

[OldSchool]

I don’t think that fence is big enough to keep @Loyal out. Go bigger.

 

[Loyal]

I don’t think that fence is big enough to keep @Loyal out. Go bigger.

YOUSONOFA....

 

[snackdaddy]

I put in a redwood fence about 25 years ago. Never did one before so I asked a few questions from people who know how to do it. I was surprised how good a job I did. 75 feet of fence and its sturdy as hell.

A few years later my mother in law was being pressured by her neighbor to split the cost of a fence between their yards. She was elderly and on a fixed income. She couldn't afford it. I could see how it was really stressing her out. So I told the neighbor if he bought the materials I would do the labor. He checked around and saw that labor and materials at that time were pretty close so he agreed.

I figured I didn't have much trouble with my fence and this one is only half as long. Well, two things. I did mine in the spring when the ground was softer. This time it was in the summer. I used a post hole digger. That was hard enough. Then, where I needed to dig the last 3 holes I find out that my late father in law covered a concrete patio in dirt a couple decades before because he wanted to plant a flower bed there. He had a couple truck loads of dirt delivered to do that. I always wondered why the existing patio was so much lower and needed a couple steps to go into the back yard. I had to use a maul to break up the concrete. That took all day. I was younger then but boy that sure wore me out.

 

[dieterbrock]