Second tree needed

[RockChucker30]

I'm a newbie to hammocs, but certainly not to planting fence posts.

Get a bag or two of quickcrete from lowes/homedepot. Dig the hole as small a diamater as you can, then level the post and dump in the dry quickcrete. Tamp it in and cover with dirt. You can water if you want, but unless you're in a severe drought that post will set up dead solid in a day. The dry mix sucks moisture out of the ground to set the concrete.

[MikeN]

Re: quickcrete dry mix as tamping filler -

I'd never heard of that... thanks for the info, guys!

[oldgringo]

Re: quickcrete dry mix as tamping filler -

I'd never heard of that... thanks for the info, guys!

I still favor a gravel pack over concrete...gravel drains, concrete holds water around the post.

That said, if you're going with concrete, use pressure treated yellow pine, and set the post on top of 4" of gravel. The dry pack method is a good one...water reduces the strength of concrete, so, the stiffer and less soupy, the better.

[MikeN]

I recall some old farmers setting posts with gravel on the bottom with concrete over that - seems like combining a gravel base for drainage with a 'dry pack' over that could be a 'best of both worlds' for the post, couldn't it?

[oldgringo]

I recall some old farmers setting posts with gravel on the bottom with concrete over that - seems like combining a gravel base for drainage with a 'dry pack' over that could be a 'best of both worlds' for the post, couldn't it?

Dunno what would be best, but that would certainly work.

I've backfilled lots of posts with the dirt that came from the hole, with good results, but those were for different applications. What concrete does in this application is increase the effective diameter of the post, thus spreading the considerable load imparted by a loaded hammock. It should work most of the time, but should the surrounding soils become super-saturated, all bets are off...ever see a tree fall over, roots and all?

[MikeN]

It should work most of the time, but should the surrounding soils become super-saturated, all bets are off...ever see a tree fall over, roots and all?

I grew up in the western part of Wisconsin - it was pretty common to see blowdowns. I've also seen plenty of posts pull out or break. As the posts were supporting livestock fencing at the time, much profanity ensued.

Putting on my devil's advocate hat...if the ground was that wet, any method is going to pull down, I would think.

Seems like a 1 foot wide, 4 foot deep hole, with 6 inches of gravel in the bottom and backfilled with concrete mix would hold pretty well for most reasonable soil conditions, though. If the soil was really soft, you could always dig a couple more holes and pour anchors for guy lines.

Edit to add - thinking on it, I'm not sure the dry mix method would work with a larger hole - seems like you'd get an outer "crust" with nothing on the inside.

[Big Jim Mac]

I do have two 6x6 posts with a cross piece on the top set up to pull engines. Hung her from that just to get the feel. Nice but the square post doesn't let the slap straps bite enough and it felt like it could slip if I moved too much. Heading to Minnesota this weekend, going to give it a try up there, surely there are two trees the right distance apart...wish now I had ordered the bug cover already. But I do have my tent so this will be to read and drink beer.

[waddy]

I'm a newbie to hammocs, but certainly not to planting fence posts.

Get a bag or two of quickcrete from lowes/homedepot. Dig the hole as small a diamater as you can, then level the post and dump in the dry quickcrete. Tamp it in and cover with dirt. You can water if you want, but unless you're in a severe drought that post will set up dead solid in a day. The dry mix sucks moisture out of the ground to set the concrete.

It all depends on the area in which you set the post. In my neck of the woods, if you personally don't add some water, that Quikcrete could still be in powder form by this time next year!

[RockChucker30]

Wow, cant believe the response to the dry quickrete method!

If you're in a drought, pour a 5 gallon bucket of water over the top of the post when you're done (slowly--over a couple of hours). Otherwise, dry is fine. I've dug postholes in clay in July in Tennessee when the dirt was so hard you have to dig 6 inches the first day, fill with water overnight to be able to dig the rest of the hole the next day, and the dirt was still wet enough to set the dry quickrete. Seriously, that post would ring the next day if you hit it with a sledge. If it'll hold a tight fence, it'll hold a 2-300 lb person.

BTW, if you're setting non-treated posts, worry about rot in 10 years or so. If you're setting treated posts, worry about rot in 20-25 years. If you're setting creosote treated fence posts, I don't know how long it'll take before you need to worry about rot.