I’m getting ready to have the rest of our pasture fencing installed and have decided to go with Centaur White Lightening on t posts with sleeves/caps. The sleeves are 5’ so what height t post do I need to buy? I can’t seem to find the recommended depth to sink them anywhere!
ETA: I’m also going back and forth between Centaur or Ramm’s safety sleeve/cap combo…anyone have either? How do they look in real life? Any recommendations for one over the other? Thx!!
I’m still in the middle of learning this stuff myself, but I always under the impression that for regular posts (wood) you want 2/3 above ground and at least 1/3 below ground. In T-posts, if you follow the same rule, I think that’s about where you land if you sink them down far enough to not see the little fins anymore.
My understanding is that going deeper is needed in areas with a lot of freeze/thaw action, because that tends to drive posts up and out of the ground for leaning. So if you’re in a more temperate climate with a lot less freezing, go about 1/3 deep. If you’re up in the northern climate, go more like 1/2 deep.
LIke I said, I am still learning tho …!
The couple of times that we have used them we have driven them in until the tips of the flat plate were just below the ground.
https://www.lowes.com/pd/T-Post-Post/4758566?cm_mmc=SCE_PLA--LumberAndBuildingMaterials--WireFence-_-4758566:&CAWELAID=&kpid=4758566&CAGPSPN=pla&store_code=2429&k_clickID=0cd803a2-843a-4227-ad5a-c393de814e7e&gclid=CKX1_sitwNQCFVOBswodwrwL7Q
It depends on what – or who – you’re using to install your t-posts, and how rocky or clay-y your soil is. I do most of them myself, and I’m 5’9" and use a hand-held t-post pounder. I can put in 7’ posts. Any higher and I can’t get enough leverage.
Lifting the post pounder up that high can be dangerous – it’s easy to brain yourself. Pro safety tip: put the base of the t-post where you want it to enter the ground, then tip the post over and slide the pounder onto it, and then stand it up. This avoids the whole possibility of self-induced concussion. Now, taking the pounder OFF the installed t-post also requires care – it’s easy to get sloppy at this moment :lol:.
2’ in the ground is plenty, especially if you’re going to pull them out by hand with a t-post puller some day.
:eek:
Eek, thanks for the tip! I like my brain and would rather not clobber it. I was shopping for a t-post driver today and didn’t end up buying one yet. I’ve been thinking I wanted to do 8 foot posts. Now it sounds like I’m gonna need a ladder too.
I’m in WNY, so plenty of freeze-thaw cycles. I use 6’ capped posts driven in until the tab is in the ground. Current fence had been through 3 winters with no post problems except at corners and ends that didn’t get reinforced.
Yikes 8 ft posts! How tall is your fence going to be above ground? I mark my posts 4" above the flat plate and drive until the marking is must belie the surface. I use 6.5 ft posts. Never needed anything more, and in the corners I use wood posts to build an “H” in each direction.
I used 10 footers for part of mine… but that’s a special situation, very wet ground that tends to suck posts in… I realized when I put the 7 footers in by hand (no pounding) that I needed something more. The rest of the fence is 7 footers… Top line is probably close to 5 feet… And I second the careful with the pounder. my DH beaned himself pounding the very last post. Just wanted one more tap…lifted it too far and dropped it on his head…
This; except we only used 6 ft. posts. They have been in the ground 10 years without a problem or loosing up. We’re in wintery northern Michigan, so plenty of chance to frost heave.
Also second the good advice from Frog Pond on use of the post pounder. That sucker can get very unbalanced when held above your head. (Seriously thought about wearing my riding helmet, but don’ t know if it would be enough protection.) I don’t have the arm strength to hold the pounder up overhead safely. DH does the pounding part of the job.
Make sure you spend serious time and effort on building strong corners and gate post assemblies. They take most of the real tension and abuse from movement (opening & closing gates). For those we used 6+ inch diameter wood posts and sink at least 3 feet into the ground. After 10 years a few are starting to need replacement. Go with treated. We used native cedar, available locally, the first time and some are now starting to rot.
Thanks, all! I hired a guy who will be installing it, while I’d love to attempt it myself, I have a feeling my lines wouldn’t be straight and it’d have a wavy, drunken appearance when finished :lol:. He’s going to use 6x6s set in concrete for all corners and gates and is planning to space the t posts at 12’. We don’t have too bad of winters (MO) but definitely have freeze/thaw going on all winter and we have clay soil. Would 6.5’ posts work then? They’d be 18" in the ground…
Any recommendations on the sleeves?
Thanks!
Is your fence 5’ high? And no issues using 6’ posts? I was thinking I’d need 6.5’, but if 6’ would work…
The sleeves I have used are supposed to extend above the T-post. So you use a 6’ T-post, sink it 2’ into the ground, leaving 4’ above ground, and slide the 5’ sleeve over the top.
I have always sunk T-posts 2’ deep. I wouldn’t trust a “shallower” post to stand up to abuse, wind, etc. and not lean.
Is this going to be a temporary line or permanent?
Good call! I’ve tried all sorts of ways to get my t-posts in straight and continue to stink at it. You won’t mind them nearly as much if they’re straight. Crooked posts will haunt you and make you replace them faster :lol:.
Moving to DC - Ok, that makes sense! I ended up buying 6’ posts so if they’re sunk 2’ and the sleeve is 5’, we should be good 
Gumtree - Semi-permanent…we aren’t planning on staying here forever (maybe 2-3 more years?) and want to be able to take this fencing with us when we move.
Frog - I tend to be overly ambitious and think projects like this will be easy-peasy, when in reality had I just hired it out in the first time, it would save me hours/days of frustration and swearing :lol: The idea of making sure each post is straight, level, and the same height stresses me out just thinking about it!
Yup, double checked w/ DH. They are 6.’ We have rather gravely soil, overlaid with really nice loam (was a dairy farm for a generation before we bought a piece of it. Fence is 5’, posts 12’ apart, 3 wire electric braided rope, so not really under a lot of weight or tension. Most of the tension is borne by the corners or gate posts.
Once the horses learned to respect the electric, I don’t even really turn it on that often. Once in a while when a wily pony thinks he needs to test it, I give him a day or two of “wake up calls.” :winkgrin: Cures his curiosity for quite a while.
The fence we have had the most issues with is the wooden one we have around our riding area. Local cedar posts, some of which have started to rot after 10 years in the ground. Rough sawn oak boards have taken quite a bit of snow load at times and started to lean some. We live in BIG snow country with heavy winter wind. This spring we added a post between each of the original ones to reinforce the wood fence. Took all of about an hour to set just over 100 posts. Yes, really. Husband has access to equipment that is used to plant posts for vineyard trellising. Wow was that nice! Position, pound, go, next. Wish we had that years ago when it took us more than a month of weekends to handset the original fence posts.
I asked because if it is temporary and don’t have a tractor they are a real PITA to pull without at least a T-post puller. So I wouldn’t sink them too deep. I would use 5 post for a temp fence.
A tractor with a fell makes short work of putting them in. Set the corners tie a mason’s line in the middle of the post and pull tight on the other end. If it is a long run may have to set couple of posts in between to keep the guide line from sagging. The easiest way to mark the post spacing is with a 200-300’ reel tape and some ground marking spray paint. Run it out pull tight walk it marking the ground at the desired distance.
Set the posts on the mark so it is just hits the your guide line/mason line. I use a “post level”, plumb level, that is made to check for plumb on both sides. Push the posts in with the bottom of the FEL bucket. You want to use heavy gauge posts. The light weight ones can and do bend in hard ground.
Without a FEL to work with it is hard slow going using a post slid ram. Especially in dry hard ground. Using a cordless drill and a 1 1/2 mason bit to drill starter holes can speed up the process in hard ground.
“The idea of making sure each post is straight, level, and the same height stresses me out just thinking about it!”
I hear ya, lol. I can’t walk by a crooked picture on any wall without stopping to straighten.
PS. a little terminology tutorial. “level” is the horizontal “line”, The vertical “line” of a post is called “plumb”
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