Unpopular opinion: T-posts don't need to be set in concrete every time

I was out on a job last week near the old Johnson farm off Route 9 and saw a fence that had been up for maybe 10 years with just packed dirt around the T-posts. Not a single one was leaning. I always thought you had to pour concrete for anything to hold long term, but that field changed my mind. The soil was heavy clay and they drove them deep, like almost 3 feet. Have any of you guys had good luck skipping concrete on soft ground?

3 comments

3 Comments

barbaradavis6h ago

Clay soil is the real wild card here, nobody talks about that enough. I've seen T-posts in sandy loam shift after one rainstorm no matter how deep you drive them, but heavy clay basically locks them in place like nature's own concrete. The friction is insane once that clay gets packed tight around the post. Your Johnson farm example proves it's been working for a decade, so the concrete industry just wants us to keep buying bags. The trick is getting that depth right, three feet minimum like you said, and using a solid driver to really pound them in. Anything shallower and you're asking for trouble though, especially in wet clay that can turn to mud.

robin8965h ago

Honestly, I've seen wet clay turn into slick grease that lets a T-post slide right out no matter how deep you bury it.

gracej997h ago

I read somewhere that if you drive them deep enough into clay soil they'll hold just fine without concrete.