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Post Hole Auger Recommendations

3.6K views 34 replies 11 participants last post by  MadMadHoosier  
@Krackle_959 Are you planting an apple orchard? I have considerable experience in this.

I and the commercial orchard use round treated posts, often 14', 12' is the the minimum. The ideal method is to drive them with a post pounder, This makes them much sturdier but I dug mine in by hand. Used a hydraulic auger for the trees on a skid steer.

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@Firewood Bandit for all intents might as well be an apple orchard, it’s actually a nut tree orchard. We need protection from the deer until the trees are 8-10 years old and tall enough the deer can’t damage them enough to hurt them.

From what I’ve read and talked to the local apple orchards they use 8’ exposed fence with 12’ posts. I found a company up North that will cut cedar to length for my needs. I wouldn’t mind knowing who you got your fencing supplies through? It seems most places only go to 8’-10’ long posts. Deer Busters fencing seems to be the most reasonable priced if I drive to get it.

I also might have to go reread your thread about your orchard, I remember someone having one, but couldn’t remember who. Irrigation is on my list to research this winter and get a system setup as well.

My fence was reclaimed from a deer farm where they raised red deer. How is that for pinching pennies?

I've got replacement posts and others that I needed from other orchard owners I know. I belong to the Wisconsin Apple Growers Association. WAGA

Set up a commercial account at Dripworks, It came down to about a buck a tree for 2 gallon per hour pressure compensated emitters. I've also got an injection system but apple trees really don't get fertilized much.

DripWorks.com - Drip Irrigation Supplies & Systems

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How do you handle all of the irrigation stuff in winter?

Super easy. Each row is it's own zone. Disconnect the hose and it drains immediately in minutes since it is on a steep slope and the rows run up hill.

The biggest improvement I made in water flow off the well was removing the frost free hydrant, replacing with all full flow ball valves. This increased flow from 6 gallons/min to 15 GPM. I can now irrigate 300 trees pushing water 800' uphill aprox 40'. 3/4" hose runs to the manifold splitter to each row.

FWIW, with drip irrigation you ALWAYS filter it. I have a bigger filter upstream now.
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@Firewood Bandit thats an impressive score on the fencing! I priced out 6”x6”x12” treated posts and the were $60-$70 each picked up in PA. Shipping would cost a ton, and I could make the trip cheaper. I can get cedar posts up here for $9-$10 each which is probably the best I am going to get. Based on cattle fencing with cedar posts we should get 15 yrs out of them easily.

I’ll check out the link for the irrigation supplies, thanks!

is that 6” or 8” under drain pipe being used for rodent protection? How well has it worked? I hadn’t seen it used before, just hardware cloth.

It's 4" drain tile, since there are 680 pieces I got pretty good with slitting it and cutting to length by making a mandrel and cutting with a utility knife quickly.

Most use white wrap rather than this, but it keeps spray off the trunk when once a year application of Tenacity for vegetation control.
 
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Makes sense, especially if no slope to drain it easily.

@Firewood Bandit do you batch it on/off in winter or does the irrigation stay dormant like the trees?

Irrigation is only used when needed but is invaluable when it is needed. Normal year it is used 3-5 times, this year about 25 days.

FWIW. A 2 gallon per hour emitter run for an hour is 5.3" of rain. The water soaks straight in and wets an area about the size of a 5 gallon pail. When I water, they get about 90 min and can do 200-300 at a time. The bottom 3 rows have 1 gallon per hour emitters.
 
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