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Pro tip: Hand-tamping concrete around posts cut my callbacks in half
I used to rely on a vibrating plate for setting posts, but it often left voids. Since I switched to hand-tamping, the concrete sets more evenly and I have fewer issues with leaning fences.
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stellac667mo ago
My buddy Carl had three fence posts fail on a single property last spring. He'd been using a power tamper for years but kept finding soft spots once the concrete cured. After the sixth callback that season, he tried hand packing around just one wobbly post as a test. That section held perfect while two machine-done posts nearby started tilting by fall. Now he does all his post concrete by hand with a steel rod.
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palmer.christopher7mo ago
So that power tamper leaving soft spots story is classic, because those machines just shake things around without really filling gaps. Jabbing a steel rod by hand forces you to find every weak spot, which machines totally miss. It's like Carl figured out that skipping shortcuts actually gets the job done right the first time. Sure, it takes more muscle, but not having to redo posts every season is a win. Funny how going low tech sometimes fixes the high tech problems.
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