Proof of Concept

The weather gave me an opening yesterday to test my trellis end-post driving scheme using the front-end loader on my tractor and the angled fixture a friend built for me. I decided to test the idea in the field at the front of my property; I wanted to give myself room to make several attempts is necessary, which turned out to be a good idea. It took me two tries and a log chain to get it right.

Driving the test post with my tractor and an angled fixture
On the first try, I set up the fixture and placed the post in the angled channel. The sample post is slightly over 10-ft. long, which is a little too high for my bucket to reach. The soil, however, is sufficiently soft from all the rain that I was able to push the post by hand about 6 inches into the ground. When I pressed on the post with my bucket, the post pulled away from the fixture and changed the angle slightly. I was able to drive the post 30 inches deep, but at an angle different from what I planned.

I pulled the post with the tractor, moved to a different spot and tried again. This time, I was unable to press the post by hand to start it, so I dug a pilot hole 12 inches deep with a post hole digger. I wrapped a log chain around the fixture and post to hold it at the proper angle. I was able to press it 30 inches into the ground while maintaining the desired angle.

The bottom line is that it worked and proved my concept and my fixture. My concern at this point is that the soil in my vineyard might be more difficult than the fabulous deep, sandy loam at my test site in front.

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