Post Pounder Question?

[crusier_32]

I found an old Shafer post pounder and was thinking of trying to get it running again. I would like to mount it on the three point. Originally it was made to be bolted to the bucket of the loader. I have a bunch of 2x2x maybe .100?? Would that be heavy enough if it was braced and gusseted? I was going to start working on it today, but I decided maybe I should wait some. If that tube would have been 1/8" wall or better I would not have given it much thought but this stuff seemed a little on the light side. I have no idea how much abuse this thing needs to take. I have never used one of those old pounders so I don't know how hard they rattle the tractor and what not. The mounting plate that is on it is not really massive. Maybe a sheet of 3/16" or less with and four bolts holding it on.

I may just have to pick up a big piece of channel in town next time I go and mount it to that. But I thought that I would check here and see if anyone here had any thoughts on it.

Oh by the way, could a guy just plumb the return line into the zero pressure line on the tractor. What is on it now looks just like an old radiator hose that just dumps back into the top of the transmission on the tractor. I would rather not have to open the cap up to the environment. I have never really understood why they call it a zero pressure line but, the hydraulic line that it runs through is all high pressure line???

Anyway enough any thoughts are appreciated.

Will

[maspann]

Will,

I built a 3 point hitch adaptor for our post driver last year... I modeled it from a Shafer adaptor which is made from 3" X 1/2" flat stock. I'll have to take some pictures for you. As far as the return line. To operate properly it should dump directly into the top of the transmission. It has to be able to dump the fluid very quickly, and I doubt that the return line can handle that much volume that fast.

Mark

[crusier_32]

That is not really that heavy either so maybe I will just go ahead and do it anyway. As far as the return line I think I better call someone and ask. The tractor it is going on will flow over 30 gallons per minute. I could not imagine the ford 9n that this thing was on could even match a tenth of that. If you could post some pictures it would be appreciated, but if you have better things to do it is not that big of a deal.

Thanks,
Will

[maspann]

Will,

Sorry it took so long to get back to you but we have been having a lot of rain and the place is a mud hole. I'm not sure which size post driver you have, but ours is the smallest (Model PD8). I sure would not hurt to try running the return through the normal quick connect. The I-beam may not drop as fast. The force of the impact on the post is caused by the weight of the beam and the tension in the springs. Any back pressure or slow dumping of the hydraulic fluid will create resistance to the I-beam dropping.

Here are two pictures of the frame I build. I had a spare draw bar, so I used it and bolted the frame to it.

Mark