Pickup-Mounted Fencing Rig

Pickup-Mounted Fencing Rig PICKUPS Miscellaneous 33-5-31 Getting ready to put up a new fenceline is no sweat for Edwin Egli. He throws what he needs in the pickup and then mounts his hydraulic-powered post hole auger and driver on the side of the truck. "It takes 15 min. or less to mount it," says Egli, who says his pickup-mounted unit is more versatile and works better than 3-pt. mounted post hole augers. His unit has down pressure, which speeds both drilling and driving. "In soft ground, I can just use the down pressure to push the post in with the driver," says Egli. To get that down pressure, Egli designed a vertical leg to mount an old 3-pt. auger with an orbit drive motor. The leg is a length of 3-in. sq. tubing with two pieces of 3 1/2-in. sq. sleeves over it. A set of roller chains and sprockets attached to the sleeves raise and lower the auger mount arm via a hydraulic cylinder. "The placement of the sprockets and the roller chains gives me 4 ft. of lift with the 24-in. ram," explains Egli. "Because the leg is attached to the bumper of the truck, when the auger/drive is lowered, it has the weight of the truck behind it." For added flexibility in the field, the arm that the drill/driver is mounted to turns up to 90 degrees and can also extend away from or closer to the leg. To turn it, Egli simply pulls a pin and swings the arm to the desired position. Holes every 3/4 in. on the arm's resting plate give him lots of options. The horizontal portion of the arm consists of 4-in. sq. tubing with a slightly smaller tube inside for a telescoping action. An 8-in. hydraulic cylinder moves it in and out. "The pivot lets me swing the auger from directly behind the truck to alongside the truck, which is handy for working on a fence line," notes Egli. "The telescoping arm lets me easily adjust to line a post up with the fence line." To secure the leg, a brace runs from the top of the leg to a ball hitch in the center of the pickup bed. A second brace runs from the top of the leg at an angle to the bumper for added side stability. Once a post hole has been drilled, Egli replaces the auger head with a post driver he also fabricated. The driver is powered by an orbit motor with an eccentric drive plate. As the plate turns, the pounder is drawn up and attached springs tighten. As it's released, the springs help drive the pounder against the post. "It pounds the post every 3 to 4 seconds," says Egli. "My son has driven 30 steel posts in 45 min. with it. The heaviest thing he had to lift was the post." To supply hydraulic power, Egli installed a belt-driven hydraulic pump on the crankshaft and valves and a reservoir in the pickup box. "It's handy to have for fencing and other stuff, too," says Egli. "I bought the pump and controls. Most everything else was salvaged from older equipment." Contact: FARM SHOW Followup, Edwin Egli, 4825 County Rd. 139, New Salem, N. Dak. 58563 (ph 701 843-7380; egli@westrive.com).

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