we have a whumper.
We call it a whumper as we use it to whump. Other people call it a post driver.. Whatever you call it – it is a wonderful bit of equipment if you need to do any amount of driving posts in. We have done a serious amount of fencing since we moved here.. as the previous owner had an escapee horse living in the fields.. and now we have sheep. We have fenced around two fields, around each fruit tree (sheep will eat trees…) we have fenced off the hen run, and the vegetable patch, and this weekend we have been planting raspberries.. along with the posts that will hold the support wires and netting.
Not cheap, you can hire them, better still borrow one from a friend.. we were borrowing so often it became obvious we needed our own whumper. (its that black thing in the picture with the raspberry posts). You plonk it over the post, and slam it down several times and the post is driven in. Brill.
and tips on using it:
- after each whump, move around the post one quarter turn, before whumping again, as there is a tendency to pull the post towards you as you whump, but if you keep turning, it stays straight
- If you have driven an 8 ft post about 2 ft into the ground and then decide its in the wrong place, it is best to dig the post out rather than try to pull it out
We found out about 2 when himself pulled on a driven post, it did not budge, he got a bit single minded about it all, it popped out and he has spend the rest of the week with bruised/cracked ribs, and has generally been suffering. I guess when your body says ‘ow’ you are supposed to stop doing what you are doing…Still you live and learn….
I too have a post rammer / wumper and they are great. Thanks for the tip about moving round the quarter turn.
I’m only 5 ft and a tiny bit, and not very strong to boot so getting the rammer onto posts is a little challenging. Best way I’ve found to do it without rupturing myself is to create a pilot hole with spike and sledge hammer. Then having positioned the post I place the rammer on a small stool Next step is to hoist it onto my shoulder so it’s balanced horizontally. From there I move it up onto my head (I bought a hard hat for this bit) and from there I can usually get it over a 6 ft post!!! I usually have just enough strength to get 2 posts in a day.
I’m impressed you got the post out again, I think if I had to I’d have to hitch up the tractor and pull
I like the blog by the way, it’s really good to see how other people do things. The little boxes are great too. I was given one by someone and have kept it so I could take it apart and use as a pattern. Only problem is that it’s still in the depth of a packed box so your post on that is most welcome.
Deborah
ah thanks Deborah for your nice comments. I’m impressed with your technique for 6 ft posts!