Post-related Parts and Tools

If you have standard round posts without drive sleeves, one of the best fence tools you can get is a manual post driver. This is a heavy metal tube about 2 feet long that is closed at one end and has handles on the sides. To apply it you slip it over the end of the post to be installed, place the other end of the post where you want it to go, make sure the post is straight, raise the driver 6 inches to a foot, and drop it on the post. Repeat this process until the post is at the desired depth.

Should you have a lot of roots or rocks in the soil, they can thwart the driver. In that case our digging bar is one of the fence tools that can help. By  creating a narrow hole to the correct depth, it confirms that there are no roots or rocks in the way. It is then a simple matter to tap the post in with the driver.

You will need another of our fence tools if you have posts with drive sleeves. This tool is a heavy metal cap called a drive cap that fits into the open end of the drive sleeve. To use it, put to pointed end of the sleeve where you want the sleeve to go, put the drive cap on the other end, strike the drive cap with a heavy hammer (not a sledge hammer) until all but about an inch of the sleeve is in the ground, remove the cap and insert the post.

The brace band is not exactly a fence tool but it can be an important accessory. If you don’t have a top rail, a good way to keep your fencing from sliding down round posts is to put a 1-5/8-inch brace band at the top of each post and secure the brace band to your fencing with a zip-lock tie. Also, our gates do not come with brace bands, so get 2 per gate (1-5/8” bands for access gates, 2.5” bands for driveway gates).

Regarding caps and sleeves, in case you need them we offer flat black vinyl caps for round metal 1-5/8-inch posts, slightly larger black vinyl plug inserts for 1-5/8-inch post sleeves in case you wish to remove the posts in the off-season,  and 2.5-foot black post sleeves.