Construction on the vineyard trellis system has been beset by torrential rainfall over the past two weeks. My desire to do my prototype work between Christmas and New Year's is now on hold.
I wanted to do a little prototype testing on an end post idea I've come up with, using the steel end and line posts from Orchard Valley Supply. The nice folks at Orchard Valley gave me a free sample of their steel line post, and one of my work associates loaned me a steel sign post that matches these. I will use the 40-in. auger-type earth anchors, also sold by Orchard Valley.
My plan is to drive the posts—more accurately, press the posts—into the ground using the front-end loader on my tractor. There is nothing tricky about doing this with the line posts: I've already tested the concept as suggested by my friend, Bruce Coffey, with a standard T-post. The acid test, however, will come when I try it with the lighter gauge vineyard line post. I've been cautioned that the loader has sufficient force to bend a T-post when it hits an obstruction, so I will need to be careful with the lighter-gauge vineyard post. Fortunately, I have deep soil with few rocks.
Driving end posts at an angle poses a few physics problems that I will attempt to address with an angled post driving fixture constructed for me by a welder friend. The fixture is a 65-25-90 degree triangle and base constructed of 4-in. channel that will hold the post at the proper angle as I press it into the ground with the loader bucket. I also have a post driver cap made from a square tube and base plate that will give the top of the post a wider foothold in (or on) the loader bucket.
I have no idea if this will work. My effort to test it out has been set back weeks by the 8 inches of rain that has fallen in the past two weeks. But the minute it's dry enough, I'm pressing that baby into the end of Row 6.
I wanted to do a little prototype testing on an end post idea I've come up with, using the steel end and line posts from Orchard Valley Supply. The nice folks at Orchard Valley gave me a free sample of their steel line post, and one of my work associates loaned me a steel sign post that matches these. I will use the 40-in. auger-type earth anchors, also sold by Orchard Valley.
My plan is to drive the posts—more accurately, press the posts—into the ground using the front-end loader on my tractor. There is nothing tricky about doing this with the line posts: I've already tested the concept as suggested by my friend, Bruce Coffey, with a standard T-post. The acid test, however, will come when I try it with the lighter gauge vineyard line post. I've been cautioned that the loader has sufficient force to bend a T-post when it hits an obstruction, so I will need to be careful with the lighter-gauge vineyard post. Fortunately, I have deep soil with few rocks.
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| End Post Fixture |
I have no idea if this will work. My effort to test it out has been set back weeks by the 8 inches of rain that has fallen in the past two weeks. But the minute it's dry enough, I'm pressing that baby into the end of Row 6.
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