How do you keep a met post straight as you wallop it into the ground so
that when you put a six foot 4x4 post into it the post will be straight?

Janet
--
Janet Tweedy
Dalmatian Telegraph
http://www.lancedal.demon.co.uk

Janet Tweedy wrote:
How do you keep a met post straight as you wallop it into the ground
so that when you put a six foot 4x4 post into it the post will be
straight?
Janet

With great difficulty and much colourful language!

pk

In article ,
"p.k." writes:
| Janet Tweedy wrote:
| How do you keep a met post straight as you wallop it into the ground
| so that when you put a six foot 4x4 post into it the post will be
| straight?
|
| With great difficulty and much colourful language!

Not as much as if you wallop one six foot into a 4x4 :-)

I have such a post, and there is enough play that I can lever
it straight when it pulls crooked. There is, of course, no
fence, wire or similar attached to the post ....


Regards,
Nick Maclaren.

Janet Tweedy wrote:
How do you keep a met post straight as you wallop it into the ground so
that when you put a six foot 4x4 post into it the post will be straight?

It's difficult. You could try getting a length of steel such as a
*thick* piece or re-inforcing bar, or similar round stuff, and then
hammering that in to make a pilot hole.

I wouldn't use Metposts for a 6' post unless it was for a very
well sheltered fence, or a possibly corner post, or for a "non-
solid" fence that lets the wind blow through. They're useless
osds, 'though someone will always put their hand up & say they
were OK for something....

In article , Chris Bacon
writes

I wouldn't use Metposts for a 6' post unless it was for a very
well sheltered fence, or a possibly corner post, or for a "non-
solid" fence that lets the wind blow through. They're useless
osds, 'though someone will always put their hand up & say they
were OK for something....


Actually I am putting in six posts altogether so that I can grow
climbing plants up them, they'll be linked at the top by horizontal
posts and maybe some bracing, though the intention is to leave them with
gaps between as they'll go through a very large flower bed to form a
sort of walkway.
(I needed somewhere to grow clematis and stuff)

I have got a bag of fence post concrete/cement and someone is going to
come and do the carpentry bit with me but I have to get the
holes/metposts dug first. Ground hasn't been walked on much for about 35
years as it had shrubs etc, but we are on flint and stones with a
handful of soil and clay.

Janet
--
Janet Tweedy
Dalmatian Telegraph
http://www.lancedal.demon.co.uk

In article ,
Janet Tweedy wrote:
In article , Chris Bacon
writes

I wouldn't use Metposts for a 6' post unless it was for a very
well sheltered fence, or a possibly corner post, or for a "non-
solid" fence that lets the wind blow through. They're useless
osds, 'though someone will always put their hand up & say they
were OK for something....

I have got a bag of fence post concrete/cement and someone is going to
come and do the carpentry bit with me but I have to get the
holes/metposts dug first. Ground hasn't been walked on much for about 35
years as it had shrubs etc, but we are on flint and stones with a
handful of soil and clay.

That is precisely the sort of soil where a Metpost sounds like a
good idea. In my soil (sand, silt and clay, with occasional stones),
they are complete jokes. As I say, I have used one, it doesn't
hold anything up, and it wobbles.

If you tried the way that I put my posts in for growing things up,
you would go stark staring bonkers after the first one. Or perhaps
before.


Regards,
Nick Maclaren.

Janet Tweedy wrote:
Actually I am putting in six posts altogether so that I can grow
climbing plants up them, they'll be linked at the top by horizontal
posts and maybe some bracing, though the intention is to leave them with
gaps between as they'll go through a very large flower bed to form a
sort of walkway.
(I needed somewhere to grow clematis and stuff)

Sounds as if it will be nice when it's done


I have got a bag of fence post concrete/cement and someone is going to
come and do the carpentry bit with me but I have to get the
holes/metposts dug first. Ground hasn't been walked on much for about 35
years as it had shrubs etc, but we are on flint and stones with a
handful of soil and clay.

If you're digging holed, a narrow border spade is useful, or a thing
called a "graft", a very long narrow-bladed spade. A baler of some
sort is handy, you can use an old tin or something, to scoop out
spoil which you free with the end of the spade. Rest the end of the
metpost on a brick or something in the hole to get the posts level,
tack battens on to hold the post upright, put in concrete (not up
to top of hole, to avoid it being seen). It's quite easy with a
braft and a baler, if your arm's long enough to reach down the hole,
but it may take a while in your soil!

"Janet Tweedy" wrote in message
...
How do you keep a met post straight as you wallop it into the ground so
that when you put a six foot 4x4 post into it the post will be straight?

Janet

A bit at a time. You knock it in just enough for it not to fall over, then
step back a good distance and check it out both from a north/south and an
east/west perspective. Push it the way it needs to go and hit it a bit more.
Step back again etc. Do this several times. By the time it's too stiff to
adjust anymore it should be perpendicular and stay that way.

Then you can start walloping.

Put a bit of scrap wood on top of the post and you won't split the end so
much.

Steve

"shazzbat" wrote in message
...

"Janet Tweedy" wrote in message
...
How do you keep a met post straight as you wallop it into the ground so
that when you put a six foot 4x4 post into it the post will be straight?

Janet

A bit at a time. You knock it in just enough for it not to fall over, then
step back a good distance and check it out both from a north/south and an
east/west perspective. Push it the way it needs to go and hit it a bit
more.
Step back again etc. Do this several times. By the time it's too stiff to
adjust anymore it should be perpendicular and stay that way.

Then you can start walloping.

Put a bit of scrap wood on top of the post and you won't split the end so
much.

Would it not be easier to use a spirit level......H
Steve

"Harold Walker" wrote in message
...

"shazzbat" wrote in message
...

"Janet Tweedy" wrote in message
...
How do you keep a met post straight as you wallop it into the ground so
that when you put a six foot 4x4 post into it the post will be
straight?

Janet

A bit at a time. You knock it in just enough for it not to fall over,
then
step back a good distance and check it out both from a north/south and
an
east/west perspective. Push it the way it needs to go and hit it a bit
more.
Step back again etc. Do this several times. By the time it's too stiff
to
adjust anymore it should be perpendicular and stay that way.

Then you can start walloping.

Put a bit of scrap wood on top of the post and you won't split the end
so
much.

Would it not be easier to use a spirit level......H
Steve


Well you could, but I'm guessing that the OP hasn't got one, or she might
not have asked the question. Also the matter of stepping back and checking
doesn't just make sure you get it right, It also gives you an important
breather in between bouts of wielding a lump or sledge hammer. You have to
pace yourself, especially if you're not in the first flush of youth.

And let's not forget another important aspect of such things, which is that
if you finish the job too soon, A/ your efforts might be insufficiently
appreciated and rewarded, and B/ another job might be found for you. And
that would never do, would it?

Steve

In article , shazzbat
writes

Would it not be easier to use a spirit level......H
Steve


Well you could, but I'm guessing that the OP hasn't got one, or she might
not have asked the question.

I have, I have, I've got a great big long level and a small Thingy but I
couldn't see how you would get the posts to be straight all round at
once, I thought if I walloped really hard as I have been known so to do,
the met post would go in straight from say front to back but then lean
when I stuck the six foot wooden post in as any variance is going to be
magnified at six foot!


Also the matter of stepping back and checking
doesn't just make sure you get it right, It also gives you an important
breather in between bouts of wielding a lump or sledge hammer. You have to
pace yourself, especially if you're not in the first flush of youth.

And let's not forget another important aspect of such things, which is that
if you finish the job too soon, A/ your efforts might be insufficiently
appreciated and rewarded, and B/ another job might be found for you. And
that would never do, would it?


Advice inwardly digested
--
Janet Tweedy
Dalmatian Telegraph
http://www.lancedal.demon.co.uk

On Wed, 18 May 2005 11:05:32 +0100, Janet Tweedy wrote:

How do you keep a met post straight as you wallop it into the ground
so that when you put a six foot 4x4 post into it the post will be
straight?

Like everyone else has said with difficulty. I found the best way was
to start it off, then fit the post and wallop the top of that,
checking every other wallop. You may need to protect the top and
bottom of the post somehow.

--
Cheers
Dave. pam is missing e-mail

In article om, Dave
Liquorice writes
On Wed, 18 May 2005 11:05:32 +0100, Janet Tweedy wrote:

How do you keep a met post straight as you wallop it into the ground
so that when you put a six foot 4x4 post into it the post will be
straight?

Like everyone else has said with difficulty. I found the best way was
to start it off, then fit the post and wallop the top of that,
checking every other wallop. You may need to protect the top and
bottom of the post somehow.


Oh I did that with the replacement gateposts but these posts will be too
high for me to reach on top of my normal ladder, as I need a bit of
extra height to swing the Swedish maul that I use.
--
Janet Tweedy
Dalmatian Telegraph
http://www.lancedal.demon.co.uk

On Wed, 18 May 2005 11:05:32 +0100, Janet Tweedy
wrote:

How do you keep a met post straight as you wallop it into the ground so
that when you put a six foot 4x4 post into it the post will be straight?

Janet
I always use a great big wrench to twist it straight.

"Janet Tweedy" wrote in message
...
How do you keep a met post straight as you wallop it into the ground so
that when you put a six foot 4x4 post into it the post will be straight?


I have a tool they used to sell for the job.
It was a 1 foot square section a bit smaller than the post that had a 1
foot rod going through it horizontally near the top and a steel cap over to
hit. You could put a bigger tube over the rod and guide it down as you hit
it. Worked great.

Just found a URL for new version £5.08

http://www.tool-net.co.uk/data/index.php?ToolID=323664

Slatts