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Setting fence posts alone

J

JimS

Member
How many of you dig/drill and set fence posts in concrete by yourself? My girlfriend says I shouldn't do them by myself. Doing a single or two I don't mind, but three or more it is easier with someone there.

She also says I should not work under a vehicle when no one is around. I use jack stands and try to be safe.

What jobs should not be done alone either for safety or efficiency?
 
I do most stuff alone. Always try to eliminate all safety concerns. Many times I am working thru a problem or situation and if I had help, then there would be two not doing anything. Because of my inexperience at some things I work slowly and methodically and don't want any help. I'm not as fast as I once was, but what I don't get today I'll get to another day. gobble
 
Never used to think about it, but the older I get the less chances I take, won't get under a car with of without stands unless my wife is home, won't get very far up a ladder, been mowing a steep road bank for 25 years teetering on 2 wheels and now I'm scared of that and so on. Lot of things can happen, I'll wait Until somebodys around.
 
I remember when I had 2 boys and a daughter, to help me, which I took advantage of, back when I was a lot more able, than I am now. They grew up, and moved on with their lives, but visit and share holidays. That's all good stuff, BUT Darn it, I need help around here all the time. 80 and 100 lb sacks are no longer bought, with feed, fertilizer, ect, and 50 lb. sacks have replaced them, cause I am the one handling them. I have to spend a lot more time figuring out how to get something done, by myself. I can still put 100 small squares of hay on my trailer by myself, if you give me all day to do it, but the guy selling me hay doesn't like watching me sit down between every 10 bales, and wasting his time. I think it is all poor timing, when we have our kids. Shouldn't start a family till your 50 years old, so they are teenagers when you get feeble.
 
I don't set posts in concrete, either alone, or with help. They last a lot longer if you set them in well-tamped crushed rock.
 
Not Married, & no children... I do things I should not every week alone. Dad used to say operating a tractor out of sight alone shouldn't be done. Its a daily ritual for me. Chain saw, bad idea, Garage, & barn full of powertools, & equipment that can fall anytime, or break anytime. I nearly went to the hospital when I was about 15 because I shook a Kewanee disc to knock some dirt clods off. The safety pin broke, & when when the dust settled My foot just happened to be between the blades, & not under them. I was a 1/4 mile from anyone, & out of line of sight of any home. I often think of that moment when doing something alone.

THERE IS NOTHING MY DAD CANT STAND MORE THOUGH THAN ME CLEANING OUT A RUNNING NEW IDEA CORN PICKER BY MY SELF. & I do it all the time.
 
I'm alone and no family so I do it alone . I really appreciate the people that check up and make sure I'm ok. I think and hope the mail carrier will check after a couple days but it's just a little thing to think about but I try and be as safe as can be
 
Most everything thing I do by myself. Try to use tools for picking up heavy stuff. Crawl underneath and over cars, houses, etc. Nobody else to do it. I turn the music up loud and go at it.
 
Moving the last two bales from the hay field . . .

At sunset with a tractor . . .

That has no lights . . .

Across a narrow bridge . . .

That you "think" you know exactly where it is.

a215118.jpg" width="650"


a215119.jpg" width="650"


 
I'm just like many others here, I don't have help available most of the time. Take your time, think things through. Always ask yourself --- WHAT IF ???
 
I do everything alone, that is just the way my life is. I do have people who will come and look for me if I don't turn up for meals but aside from that I'm on my own. Felling and skidding trees, haying, working on buildings and vehicles all are things that theoretically shouldn't be done alone but there's not much I can do about it.
Zach
 
At 68 years old, I've been doing things by myself for so long I don't know how to let someone help me. I've built barns, corrals, fences, one house,and even an airplane hangar. I also wrench on everything that needs it. I just pay close attention to being safe. I've built all kinds of lifting devices and whatever else I need to get the job done alone.
 
Since I have no kids, I do most things alone. My wife's dad used to come over and "help", but thinks he's king of the world, so everything has to be done his way (cobbled up), and no other way is good enough (or right), so I quit asking. If I NEED help, I ask one of my Amish neighbors - they are glad to help, and I know it will be done right.
 
At home I do every thing out side alone since the kids were gone. I never ask for help as I figure they would just be in the way and cause the job to take longer. I build more fence every year never figured another person would be much help setting a wood fence post. I stretch a line and use a level. Using premixed cement you do not have to add water. It can be tamped in around the post dry and will be the same in a few weeks as if you mixed it wet and poured it in.
 
I'm 67 and rarely need someone to help me. If your girlfriend thinks you need help, put her to work.
 
I always thought it was nice and peaceful out there building fence by yourself. Try and be very careful when pulling barbwire.
 
I do just about everything alone like most of the other posters. I just try to work safe and not take chances. As a matter of fact I like working alone.

One important thing I do is make a point to always have my cell phone on me. Although I realize some of you guys don't always get coverage where your located. Mine doesn't work in some spots in my house but I get good coverage outside. If nothing else I can call 911 as long as I'm able.
 
Hi, I do a lot of things alone but always safety first. My wife is mostly nearby or helping. I find cement bags are getting heavier. Ha! Ed Will
 
I won't saw wood alone but everything else is a given. It's just me most of the time. I've gotten to the point that I won't get the wife to help pull something out of the mud. I don't need new clutches that bad. If the 8430 can't pull it out then it sits until a neighbor can help. The older you get the smarter you have to work. That's the way it is. It doesn't mean fast, but it gets done. Last week I set 14 new hedge posts for a sorting pen extension. I was exhausted and tired of crawling on and off the tractor but I got it done. I still cringe when I look at the last fence the wife helped with. A blind man could have made a better fence. I'm not settling for a crooked fence just so I don't get the silent treatment at dinner!
 
JimS I have made a lot of fence the past 55 years, most of it alone. Cant remember the last time I had help, but have never set a post in concrete. That might be her was of saying she is wanting get her hands dirty and wanting to help!
 
I'm 74 yrs old I try to get my two grandsons to do the heavy lifting and what ever involves crawling around under vehicles or my feet leaving the ground.
 
My wife and I work side by side a lot of times. I enjoy the help and the company. She likes working outside a,lot more than I like working inside.
 
There's 3 employees on this spread. Me, myself and I. I'm the boss and I can't get those other two to do anything. :D

I seldom have help except for when I work cattle. Most jobs I can do myself, it just takes a little longer. I never set fence posts in concrete. I try to catch it in the spring and push them in with the front loader or backhoe.
 
More and more I am doing a lot alone. My wife has been trying to step up as my oldest daughter has been working hard on the vet school requirements the last year and a half. She has gotten really good at maintenance type work. She will check fluids and grease. She can do a lot of the simpler mechanical jobs if I get her started. Just like my daughter did. Things like chain sawing are still all up to me. I need to set more fence but don't see how without help. We have some tough soil about 18" down. Either stops the auger dead or grabs it and won't let go. :)

In the past I have done a lot of fence alone though. You should not go under anything jacked up without someone present.
 
Yes, a couple weeks ago a 77 year old farmer was clearing trees along a fence row when he was killed by a falling tree.

Always be very careful when cutting trees especially dead trees like dutch elm killed trees.

JimB
 
Like others on here, I do most everything alone, even in the few instances that someone is around to help. By the time I go find someone to ask for help, go back and wait for them come out to wherever I am, explain what I'm doing, explain what I want THEM to do, I can usually figure out a way to do it myself. And they NEVER hang around to watch or offer to help on their own. When they've done doing EXACTLY what I've asked, they'll say "can I go now?"

Even when I was working on cars and my daughters' boyfriends would come by, they'd walk past me in the garage, say Hi and go on in the house. When I was courting my wife 40+ yrs ago, my future FIL was always in the garage or yard working on something and I was always right next to him.
 
i usual end up working alone too, or with the assistance of a tractor or machine, the main thing is common sence, think about what your going to do first, what you will need close at hand while doing it, then what can go wrong and cause injury, then take whatever steps needed to prevent those from happening working on a car or truck or tractor even machinery throw jack stands under it never work just off a jack of any type, that goes for tractors too don't work on machinery hanging loose from just the 3 point, block it up, post for example if you can easily lift the post then have the concrete ready and where you can get it while hanging on to the post, if your for example using railroad ties or heavy timber for posts find something to hang them off of like a loader, boom truck ect, believe me it makes a world of difference one man trying to do these kind of posts by himself is a recipe for injury if not by it falling on him then by a hernia if there good ones
 
(quoted from post at 02:05:52 02/13/16) I remember when I had 2 boys and a daughter, to help me, which I took advantage of, back when I was a lot more able, than I am now. They grew up, and moved on with their lives, but visit and share holidays. That's all good stuff, BUT Darn it, I need help around here all the time. 80 and 100 lb sacks are no longer bought, with feed, fertilizer, ect, and 50 lb. sacks have replaced them, cause I am the one handling them. I have to spend a lot more time figuring out how to get something done, by myself. I can still put 100 small squares of hay on my trailer by myself, if you give me all day to do it, but the guy selling me hay doesn't like watching me sit down between every 10 bales, and wasting his time. I think it is all poor timing, when we have our kids. Shouldn't start a family till your 50 years old, so they are teenagers when you get feeble.
Click to expand...

Well said!
When I broke my kneecap awhile back my wife had to call our daughter and her husband to help get me into the pickup so she could haul me to the hospital; would have been a chore for just the two of us! :shock:
 

All you have to do is check workers comp rate tables to see what types of work are the most dangerous. Two that I can think of off hand that have the highest rates are farming and logging. So neither should ever be done alone but of course both very often are. I pick rocks by myself, and I have never minded it either. I just put the tractor in creeper gear, and just walk along in front of it. A friend has a much more dangerous way. His wife was a real looker, and still isn't too bad. She would put on her boots, bikini, and gloves, and she would pick all but the biggest rocks and throw them in the bucket while he drove the wheel loader. I don't know how he never had a heart attack doing that.
 
I do all my work alone,, have all my life, you have to use your head doing anything, one of the more touching things I have had to do was pull start my field pickup when the starter went out, 40 miles from anyone and no cell phones then,, hook the tractor to it let it idle in gear and stepped out walk back to the pickup put it in gear and started it then put in neutral and then walk up tot he tractor and stop it,,,, I Do Not recommend this to anyone,, I was very careful doing it,, but still would have been easy to have been ran over,,
cnt
 
forgot to add, setting fence posts I have done by myself since I was 8 years old,, why you need anyone holding your hand doing that job I do not know
cnt
 

I work alone. My wife helps when she can, but I really don't want her doing anything risky. I have got more safety conscious, always wear safety glasses and watch what I a doing. For tree work, I've got a full kit, chaps, helmet, chainsaw gloves, steel toe boots. One of my neighbor's nicked his leg with a saw, almost bled out before ems got it stopped.
 
Statistically, the two most dangerous occupations in the US are farming, and mining. By mining, that includes quarries, gravel pits, coal, iron, copper, etc. mines.
 
I prefer to work alone. I can't stand it when someone is talking to me while I am working. Just yesterday I was installing the water pump on my dodge. While my brother was talking to me, I forgot to install a water fitting. I had to loosen the pump bolts and back the pump off a little to install the missing fitting. Like I said I like to work alone. Stan
 
I asked my wife several years ago if I had ever told her about the time I got run over by my own pickup.

She said, "No, and I don't want to hear about it".
 
Case, when I was a young lad, I had to get a tractor out of a soft spot like that. WD45 idling/crawling in gear, run back to D17, get unstuck and so on. Must be clear thinking and fast on your feet! Would'nt do it again, nor recomend it! No help was around.
 
Working with cattle if there is a bull around. I work alone on my farm so that is why I have no bull and only use AI.
 
Yep, 99% of everything by myself. Put up all my own hay, haul in, all fence, work my own cows, sort, move etc. I hire my cattle hauling, that's pretty much it.
 
My wife and I have an arrangement that all the work outside the house is MINE and all the work inside the house is MINE.....seems to work out well for her!!!
 
unfortunately my wife had cancer then complications and I had to do it all for 9 years then she passed away and now it's just me.
 
I'm a bit of a loaner so do most everything by myself, my dad was the same and did most of his logging alone and had some real stories of close calls and ways of doing things without help. Some things I do alone in pictures.
a215308.jpg

a215309.jpg
 
(quoted from post at 05:38:16 02/14/16) I'm a bit of a loaner so do most everything by myself, my dad was the same and did most of his logging alone and had some real stories of close calls and ways of doing things without help. Some things I do alone in pictures.
a215308.jpg

a215309.jpg
Click to expand...

Our neighbor growing up was a logger, who worked alone, and he died alone. After his skidder rolled over him he dragged himself to a tree and leaned against it and that is where they found him.
 
Not that I am always looking for trouble ,I find my cellphone in my pocket before I attempt anything potentially dangerous alone ,,. I recall hearing about a poor guy that was hitching up alone when the hitch came down on his foot and had him stuk in cold weather ,,. he got himself out,. settimg fence posts alone aint no big deal ,,true . most women feel like they got to have help for everything , and all ducks in a row ,or else they will not EVEN try .,,. my wife , watches my struggle and her comment is always detrimental ,,.jim, I would quit , if everthing has got to be so hard ,,.
 
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