Question about using a post driver on really rocky ground

Had a job last week in the hills outside of Boulder where the soil was basically all river rock and shale. I figured my manual post driver would be fine, but after the third post it just bounced off and cracked the top of a 4x4. Ended up having to dig and set with concrete for every single hole, which added like 2 full days to the project. Learned that a driver is useless if there's no real dirt to compact. Anyone have a better method for setting posts in pure rock besides just digging?

2 comments

2 Comments

graywright2d ago

Man, that's brutal. @iris_henderson38 is right about the rock garden, but here's a different angle. Have you looked into a rock drill attachment for a skid steer? It's basically a big jackhammer that makes a hole in the rock itself. You drill down, drop the post in, and pack it with a dry concrete mix. It's way faster than digging by hand and you're not fighting the ground.

iris_henderson382d ago

Sounds like you tried to hammer in a post where even a pickaxe would quit. Welcome to the rock garden club.