Janet's Metpost thread reminded me that I really need to put a couple of
gateposts in myself. Thought I'd start a new thread for it rather than
hijacking hers.

My soil is even more stony than Janet's (or I suspect, anyone's!) and I am
fairly sure that the bottom of the hole actually needs to be below the
point where the gravel starts to join up into large chunks and may even
count as bedrock. The stone is cacky splintery stuff, but no way can you
get a spade in more than one spade's depth, and that is horrible enough.

Is my only option to hire a pneumatic drill? Can they be operated by
normal people or do I need to hire a man wearing earmuffs too?


Victoria

--
gardening on a north-facing hill
in South-East Cornwall
--

On Thu, 19 May 2005 10:52:49 +0100, Victoria Clare
wrote:


Janet's Metpost thread reminded me that I really need to put a couple of
gateposts in myself. Thought I'd start a new thread for it rather than
hijacking hers.

My soil is even more stony than Janet's (or I suspect, anyone's!) and I am
fairly sure that the bottom of the hole actually needs to be below the
point where the gravel starts to join up into large chunks and may even
count as bedrock. The stone is cacky splintery stuff, but no way can you
get a spade in more than one spade's depth, and that is horrible enough.

Is my only option to hire a pneumatic drill? Can they be operated by
normal people or do I need to hire a man wearing earmuffs too?


Victoria

--
gardening on a north-facing hill
in South-East Cornwall

I'd be thinking about concrete posts in that situation. They don't
need to be set as deep - you can make the holes wide rather than deep
and the stones and rock join with the concrete you use for the post
base. My substantial close-boarded fence is now on its 3rd
incarnation on concrete posts which have not moved in about 35 years.
They're not slotted, but drilled for the arris rails to be bolted to
them. When we had it replaced about 10 years ago the contractors
wanted to remove the concrete posts and use wooden because the bolts
had rusted in. I refused to let them. No way would wooden posts last
like concrete.
..

Jupiter wrote in
news
On Thu, 19 May 2005 10:52:49 +0100, Victoria Clare
wrote:


Janet's Metpost thread reminded me that I really need to put a couple
of gateposts in myself. Thought I'd start a new thread for it rather
than hijacking hers.

My soil is even more stony than Janet's

I'd be thinking about concrete posts in that situation. They don't
need to be set as deep - you can make the holes wide rather than deep
and the stones and rock join with the concrete you use for the post
base.

Oh, that's an intriguing idea - very cunning!

I really only need two posts though, which seems like rather a small job to
get a fencing contractor in for. They are for a gateway in an informal
hedge to which I need to fit a decent height gate - 6 foot or so.

Can you buy concrete posts and get them delivered? Would they be portable
by only 2 people?

Victoria

The message . 151
from Victoria Clare contains these words:

Janet's Metpost thread reminded me that I really need to put a couple of
gateposts in myself. Thought I'd start a new thread for it rather than
hijacking hers.

My soil is even more stony than Janet's (or I suspect, anyone's!) and I am
fairly sure that the bottom of the hole actually needs to be below the
point where the gravel starts to join up into large chunks and may even
count as bedrock. The stone is cacky splintery stuff, but no way can you
get a spade in more than one spade's depth, and that is horrible enough.

Is my only option to hire a pneumatic drill? Can they be operated by
normal people or do I need to hire a man wearing earmuffs too?

Two methods suggest themselves.

The first is to get a heavy wrecking bar and smash it into the ground
and work it about. Smash it into the hole you've made and enlarge it.

Remove any large stones by hand, and so-on.

The second is favourite (IMO):

With the help of a pick, dig a hole considerably larger than the
cross-section of the post. Remove stony soil a bit at a time until your
pit is deep enough. This might be as little as a foot or eighteen inches
if your soil really is as stony as you say.

Put post in hole and pack stones round it, a few inches at a time,
pounding the stones into submission^H^H^a solid layer before adding the
next lot and giving it the same treatment.

--
Rusty
Open the creaking gate to make a horrid.squeak, then lower the foobar.
http://www.users.zetnet.co.uk/hi-fi/

Jaques d'Alltrades wrote in
k:

The message . 151
from Victoria Clare contains these words:

Janet's Metpost thread reminded me that I really need to put a couple
of gateposts in myself. Thought I'd start a new thread for it rather
than hijacking hers.

My soil is even more stony than Janet's (or I suspect, anyone's!) and
I am fairly sure that the bottom of the hole actually needs to be
below the point where the gravel starts to join up into large chunks
and may even count as bedrock. The stone is cacky splintery stuff,
but no way can you get a spade in more than one spade's depth, and
that is horrible enough.

Is my only option to hire a pneumatic drill? Can they be operated by
normal people or do I need to hire a man wearing earmuffs too?

Two methods suggest themselves.

The first is to get a heavy wrecking bar and smash it into the ground
and work it about. Smash it into the hole you've made and enlarge it.

I forgot to mention that the site is right next to my greenhouse.
Anything that might involve flying stones is likely to be problematic,
though I guess I could put up some screens.

The second is favourite (IMO):

With the help of a pick, dig a hole considerably larger than the
cross-section of the post. Remove stony soil a bit at a time until
your pit is deep enough. This might be as little as a foot or eighteen
inches if your soil really is as stony as you say.


Believe me, it is. Some of the garden is terraced and has decent deep
soil, but you can see the bedrock peeping through in the lane only a few
inches below the area where the gate is to go.


Will a foot / 18 inches of hole really support a 6 foot upright with a
(light) gate hanging on it? If so, I can probably manage that with a
pick.

Victoria

--
gardening on a north-facing hill
in South-East Cornwall
--

In message . 23,
Victoria Clare writes
Jupiter wrote in
news
On Thu, 19 May 2005 10:52:49 +0100, Victoria Clare
wrote:


Janet's Metpost thread reminded me that I really need to put a couple
of gateposts in myself. Thought I'd start a new thread for it rather
than hijacking hers.

My soil is even more stony than Janet's

I'd be thinking about concrete posts in that situation. They don't
need to be set as deep - you can make the holes wide rather than deep
and the stones and rock join with the concrete you use for the post
base.

Oh, that's an intriguing idea - very cunning!

I really only need two posts though, which seems like rather a small job to
get a fencing contractor in for. They are for a gateway in an informal
hedge to which I need to fit a decent height gate - 6 foot or so.

Can you buy concrete posts and get them delivered?

Yes, try a local builders merchants, delivery may well be free, or local
fencing etc. suppliers.

Would they be portable
by only 2 people?

Yeah, The chap that did the fence behind our old house did by himself (6
foot fence). Ok he was used to doing this, but two should manage it ok.

If you do want to brake up the rock under the soil I would look to using
a electric breaker rather than pneumatic drill
--
Chris French and Helen Johnson,

Victoria Clare wrote:
I forgot to mention that the site is right next to my greenhouse.
Anything that might involve flying stones is likely to be problematic,
though I guess I could put up some screens.

Bother. I was just about to suggest using blasting gelatine.

"Victoria Clare" wrote in message
. 201.151...

Janet's Metpost thread reminded me that I really need to put a couple of
gateposts in myself. Thought I'd start a new thread for it rather than
hijacking hers.

My soil is even more stony than Janet's (or I suspect, anyone's!) and I am
fairly sure that the bottom of the hole actually needs to be below the
point where the gravel starts to join up into large chunks and may even
count as bedrock. The stone is cacky splintery stuff, but no way can you
get a spade in more than one spade's depth, and that is horrible enough.

Is my only option to hire a pneumatic drill? Can they be operated by
normal people or do I need to hire a man wearing earmuffs too?


Cemtex. Nothing else for it:-))

Steve

Chris Bacon wrote in :

Victoria Clare wrote:
I forgot to mention that the site is right next to my greenhouse.
Anything that might involve flying stones is likely to be problematic,
though I guess I could put up some screens.

Bother. I was just about to suggest using blasting gelatine.

I guess I could dismantle the greenhouse and hide it under a pile of quilts
for the day :-p


Victoria

--
gardening on a north-facing hill
in South-East Cornwall
--

The message
from Victoria Clare contains these words:

Will a foot / 18 inches of hole really support a 6 foot upright with a
(light) gate hanging on it? If so, I can probably manage that with a
pick.

If you are digging into what amounts to solid rock, yes.

If it has any give in it, I'd make it a bit deeper.

Or put an old cast-iron hurdle wheel on the end of the gate.

--
Rusty
Open the creaking gate to make a horrid.squeak, then lower the foobar.
http://www.users.zetnet.co.uk/hi-fi/

The message . 151
from Victoria Clare contains these words:
Chris Bacon wrote in :

Victoria Clare wrote:
I forgot to mention that the site is right next to my greenhouse.
Anything that might involve flying stones is likely to be problematic,
though I guess I could put up some screens.

Bother. I was just about to suggest using blasting gelatine.

I guess I could dismantle the greenhouse and hide it under a pile of quilts
for the day :-p

Gelatine is a bit harsh. I could do the job for you using blasting
powder (black powder with a higher charcoal content than gunpowder)
without even covering-up your greenhouse with more than a sheet of ply
in front of it. (I used to 'lift' tree stumps using it, back in the
'fifties and 'sixties; and my party trick was to stand on the stump and
fire the charge while still standing on it.)

*TUMP!*

Stump would twitch, smoke would ooze out all round it, then we'd drag it
out with a block and tackle. Somewhere between two drams and ten drams
usually did the job.

--
Rusty
Open the creaking gate to make a horrid.squeak, then lower the foobar.
http://www.users.zetnet.co.uk/hi-fi/

The message . 23
from Victoria Clare contains these words:

Can you buy concrete posts and get them delivered? Would they be portable
by only 2 people?

You can make them easily enough with four boards, some reinforcement and
a bag of cement and some aggregate. Make the posts in-situ so that the
form part of the surround/support.

Arrange for fixing bolts by drilling holes in the boards and passing a
dowel right through - before you tip the concrete in.

Screw the boards together rather than nail them, or you could break the
concrete if you take them off before it's cured.

Or you could mix with polymer instead of water, and it'll be hard enough
to hang a gate on in half an hour.

--
Rusty
Open the creaking gate to make a horrid.squeak, then lower the foobar.
http://www.users.zetnet.co.uk/hi-fi/

You can rent "Kanga" drills which are pneumatic but self sufficient (just
plug into the electric) and don't need a compressor. These can be fitted
with suitable bits and they are amazingly good at drilling/breaking through
concreate, stone etc.

Paul DS

Jaques d'Alltrades wrote in
k:

The message
from Victoria Clare contains these words:

Will a foot / 18 inches of hole really support a 6 foot upright with a
(light) gate hanging on it? If so, I can probably manage that with a
pick.

If you are digging into what amounts to solid rock, yes.

If it has any give in it, I'd make it a bit deeper.

Or put an old cast-iron hurdle wheel on the end of the gate.


It's rock, but it's not what I'd call solid. It's nasty shaly flaky stuff
that cracks easily and I would have thought sideways leverage would
probably crack it in an annoying manner.

The quarry up the hill sells road fillings rather than proper stone, to
give you an idea of the consistency of it, and we are sitting on top of a
regular warren of ancient silver, copper, tin, and arsenic mines too.
(They've taken all the good stuff out now, and are down to the gravel!)

Still, at least with no granite there is no radon to worry about!

I like the 'make your own concrete post' idea best so far, though the Kanga
drill also sounds like fun!

Victoria
--
gardening on a north-facing hill
in South-East Cornwall
--

Jaques d'Alltrades wrote:

Gelatine is a bit harsh. I could do the job for you using blasting
powder (black powder with a higher charcoal content than gunpowder)
without even covering-up your greenhouse with more than a sheet of ply
in front of it. (I used to 'lift' tree stumps using it, back in the
'fifties and 'sixties; and my party trick was to stand on the stump and
fire the charge while still standing on it.)

*TUMP!*

Stump would twitch, smoke would ooze out all round it, then we'd drag it
out with a block and tackle. Somewhere between two drams and ten drams
usually did the job.


LOL! I've heard of people using this technique, but they never mentioned
standing atop the stump. I'd pay to see that.

--
Liberty is the Mother, not the Daughter of Order.
-Proudhon