Now That’s A REAL Boy Toy

Last Saturday was an exciting eventful day at the homestead as a long-delayed project got off the ground (well, in the ground).

A few weeks ago I was chatting with my friend KC about our way-behind-schedule plans for building a greenhouse on the terrace we had cut into the hillside two years ago.  From my perspective one of the big hurdles was building up the enthusiasm and energy to dig 14 three-foot-deep holes for the 6-inch fence posts I was planning on using for the foundation to the knee-walls.

“No problem,” sez KC, “I’ll just bring over my post driver and we will get it done in a snap.”  As a farmer/rancher with probably miles of fencing, KC owned a portable pile driver.  It probably should not have surprised me, but I actually did not know such a machine ever existed.

Last week I laid out the greenhouse footprint and cut points into one end of the posts.  This made it much easier to get them into the ground straight, provided we didn’t encounter a large subterranean rock during the driving.  Ironically the first post was the only one that drifted crooked during the whole process.

He showed up at 9AM as promised and left around 90 minutes later.  I suspect it would have taken me a month or two to accomplish the same work by hand.

We placed the posts where I had marked the ground, set up the machine to capture the top, used a level for both the X and X’ axes, he threw the switch, and the ground started shaking.  BAM, BAM, BAM with the speed of a jackhammer.

Like I said he was done and out the driveway about 90 minutes later.

The project will resume as soon as I can get a truckload of pressure treated SYP delivered to build the knee walls.