• Innovations in post drivers make repairs simple.fence image by TheThirdMan from Fotolia.com
  
  Installing a post once meant digging a hole. Today, with advances in hydraulics and new manufacturing methods, posts can be driven into the ground without digging a hole. This saves countless hours in labor, especially in rocky or hard soil. Post drivers can make fast work of installing fence lines as well as in making repairs to existing fences.
  
  

Manual

• A manual post driver consists of a piece of pipe, a cap and two handles. The unit is slipped over the top of a "T" post. The post driver is lifted and dropped onto the top of the post. The impact of the cap, with the weight of the driver, forces the bottom of the post into the ground.
  
  

Hydraulic

• A hydraulic post driver is attached to a tractor, skid loader or other type of heavy equipment. The post is inserted into the driver. The pressure of the hydraulics forces the post into the dirt. Though "T" posts are the most common type to be driven into the ground, the hydraulic post driver can also force wooden posts into the ground.
  
  

Hammer

• Post less than 4 feet in overall length may be installed with a common hammer or sledgehammer. This method works well for rebar posts used for temporary electrical fences. Emergency repairs can also be completed using a hammer or sledge hammer.