What is a post-driver?
A post driver is a tool to pound metal posts into the ground to install them quickly and effectively. It consists of a piston that drives a galvanized steel post into the ground. This creates solid and stable fences. An outer covering of vinyl, aluminum, or cedar wood slides over the galvanized steel post.
The power supply used for each post driver determines what type of post driver it is. The different types are:
- gas-powered post drivers
- hydraulic post drivers
- pneumatic post drivers (powered by an air compressor)
We primarily use gas-powered and hydraulic post drivers for their portability and ease of use. Pneumatic post drivers require a large air compressor towed behind the truck and are not very accessible to backyards.
How did this innovative tool revolutionize our fencing business?
The post-driver revolutionized our fencing business by allowing us to rapidly install new fence posts, reducing the time and effort needed to complete each job. Additionally, it improved the quality of our fence installations and created more benefits for our clients, including:
- A no-mess installation, there aren’t piles of dirt from post-hole digging for the client to clean up afterward.
- It extends the life of your fence because the only post part below ground is a galvanized steel pipe that won’t rust or rot.
- It makes future repairs easier and less expensive because the damaged pieces are above ground and can be slid off and easily replaced.
- It enables us to install fencing year-round because the post driver quickly pushes galvanized steel pipe through the frozen ground.
- Sturdier support because the galvanized steel posts are pounded deeper into the ground than most traditional hole-digging and filling methods.
Where do you get fence materials that work with a post driver?
Besides improving the fence installation process, using a post driver required us to expand and change how we manufactured our high-quality vinyl, aluminum, and cedar fence products. Now, the installation process drives how we manufacture your custom fence.
We’ve made quality fence installation simple. Consequently, we created A to Z Fence Supplies to sell our fence materials to other professional fence installers and DIY homeowners.
Let’s watch a vinyl fence installation.
Step 1: Pound the galvanized steel posts into the ground with a post driver.
In this video, we drive the galvanized steel post five feet into the ground with a gas-powered post driver, ensuring it is straight (level vertically). The length of the galvanized steel rod is adjusted from job to job to accommodate the finished height of the fence and desired depth into the ground (4 – 5′).
Step 2: Add the high-density stiffeners (donuts) and slide a vinyl fence post sleeve over the pipe. Install the bottom rails.
In this video, we begin assembling the vinyl fence. We start by sliding the vinyl fence post sleeves over the galvanized steel rods and fitting the fence’s bottom rails between the steel posts. A hidden screw is added to the bottom rails inside the post sleeve to keep the bottom rail from shifting and falling out as the fence contracts and expands with temperature changes and the earth shifts.
Step 3: Install the section channels, pickets, and top rail.
In this video, we pick up securing the bottom rails. Then, we add the side channels to avoid gaps in the panel as the vinyl shifts with temperature changes. Again, this is a feature that many competitors skip.
Next, we assemble the sections by adding the pickets. Often a section requires a picket to be cut, and the u-channels also hide the raw edges.
Finally, we completed the fence panel by adding the top rail. The top rails don’t need to be screwed in because it is longer than the bottom rail and floats freely in the post sleeve.
Step 4: Install the post caps and clean up!
This video highlights a completed white vinyl Zachary privacy fence. It shows a mess-free installation and how quickly the installation proceeded.
In Conclusion
Today, we routinely use post-drivers in our fencing business, as they remain one of the most effective and reliable tools for installing and building fences. In addition, we manufacture high-quality fence materials and make them available to other professional fence installers and DIY homeowners so they can use this process.
Everyone deserves the higher quality fence this type of installation provides, and post-driver fence installation is the future of fence installation. Get your free quote today!