To all my fellow metal-heads

Howdy boys,

I don't have a gritty welding topic to post at the moment. I'm just dropping in to say hello.

We've had some unseasonably beautiful weather in Texas. I'm beginning to think we've been annexed by California...

I've been using the time to kick some civil engineering projects along. I'm attempting to develop the highway frontage on some rural property we own so my kids can launch some kind of free enterprise when they get outta high school.

To that end, I recently bought a "high-low end" laser transit level. We're gonna shoot some grades and put in "unscrewable fence posts" by using 2 3/8" drill pipe ends. From the top of the grade the parking area will slope 1 1/2" percent. Therefore, each successive drill pipe end will become a concreted in "grade benchmark". Gonna put 'em on 10 foot centers. Each top will be 1 13/16" lower than the previous one.

Some time ago, I used drill pipe to build a gin pole for my beat up old Dodge diesel 1 ton flat bed truck. Later, I built some "swiss army truck" attachments, all of which are raised or lowered with a chain fall mounted to the gin pole.

One of these attachments was a "poor boy's all terrain forklift". To my pride and delight it has turned out to be more versatile and useful than I ever dreamed.

I recently bought some salvage 45' telephone poles from a guy. I had to cut the butts to 25' to get 'em on my trailer. Over the Christmas holiday my sons and I and one of their friends and that kid's father and I, successfully erected and planted one of these 25' poles with the blue truck and some lifting tackle rigged to be pulled by their Dodge power wagon.

We lost it the first time but nobody got squashed. Yes sir, lifting a

25' timber with an 8' gin pole is exciting work.

Regards, Vernon

Reply to
Vernon
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Hey, don't forget about the fires too!!

Based on my own experince building fence in the past, the best way to set an really good "unscrewable fence post" is to drive it into the ground 5 feet deep. No concrete used We did that with 3" and 2 7/8" pipe for corners also about five years ago. They are not moving a bit.

I have seen "concreted in" corners come out of the ground. The 5 ft. deep posts that we drove in in 1998 have not moved a bit.

Harvey

Reply to
Dixon Ranch

Harvey,

Thank you for sharing your experience. It sounds like good advice. However, in my case, the entire property is fine sugary sand. Truly gutless sand.

However, your suggestions did give me pause to think it over. Maybe I could weld "torpedo" fins on 'em and drive 'em down. Otherwise, I'm struggling to believe the sand would give 'em enough adherence to spin 'em on and off.

Vernon

Reply to
Vernon

Well, we drove some of them into sand also on the hill side.

I forgot to mention that I also welded 3 foot long 2 3/8' pipe on the sides of the bottom 5 feet of the posts as well. That gave the posts some extra holding width where needed to keep the posts from moving. That gives you an flat cross sectional width of 7 inches using 2 3/8 pipe only.

Harvey

Reply to
Dixon Ranch

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