Page 1 of 1
Posted: Mon Aug 14, 2006 12:20 pm
by Mark B
i plan to dig fence post holes 600mm deep (2ft) and have them with roughly 100mm of concrete all round the post. i was planning on using the (postcrete)20kg bags. concrete mix due to the fast setting etc. my question is, does anyone know how many bag/s il need for each post. i dont know if i would get away with one each with also chucking in a few half bricks etc.
Cheers
Mark
Posted: Mon Aug 14, 2006 9:04 pm
by lutonlagerlout
to be honest mate ,your better off using loose ballast and knocking up lean mix,1/2 tonne of loose ballast and 2 bags of cement normally does about 10 posts
remember depth is more important than width in a post hole
if you were buying this ballast in bags it would be 20 bags (expensive way) for 10 posts
hope this helps tony :;):
Posted: Mon Aug 14, 2006 10:03 pm
by Stuarty
When im doing fencing, i dig to 2 foot, with enough room for a bit of play to get it level, and to give the mix a good podge. Roughly, a half cube ( 1 - 3 - 6 / 50 slump ) would do around 15 posts. It depends on the logistics ofcourse, we use trailers so we pick up the mix when needed. Its not really financially sensible to get a jigger in for small amounts.
Posted: Mon Aug 14, 2006 10:09 pm
by lutonlagerlout
is 50 slump not a bit on the wet side for fencing stuarty???
i normally order 50 for oversites and that has to run a bit
i like fence post mix with just a "splash" of water in it,i did a load with wet stuff before and the wind got every one,had to redo the lot 
doh!
tony 
Posted: Mon Aug 14, 2006 10:31 pm
by Dave_L
We used 30 slump on Friday for 20 fence posts, will be doing the same again tommorrow pm
Posted: Mon Aug 14, 2006 11:36 pm
by Stuarty
Aye, well spotted Tony heh. It will be 30 slump as Dave has mentioned. I just ask for 1,3,6 semidry, but thought i would be technical and state the slump.
Its a monday, been up since 5am, and im tired - thats my excuse 
Good job there are plenty of folk to straighten up little mishaps such as that
Posted: Wed Aug 30, 2006 10:33 am
by Ted
The cost saving on using ballast and cement is minimal if you dig good holes and the fence is not that long.
Basically, how many bags of postcrete you will use depends on how good your holes are.
In the countryside I use a posthole digger and can dig a good, deep, narrow, hole 2ft deep. In this case, one bag of postcrete is usually suffiicient. However, I find those posthole diggers useless in cities as there is just so much rubble to dig through. If I dig the hole with a spade I find I usually need two bags of postcrete and then postcrete starts to become pricey. But you can always pad it out with some hardcore.
Unless fencing is your game and you need to look at how to really save the pennies, I recommend postcrete as it is easy, cheap, quick and not too much more expensive if used with care.
Posted: Wed Aug 30, 2006 11:42 pm
by lutonlagerlout
I recommend postcrete as it is easy, cheap, quick and not too much more expensive if used with care.
its not rocket science knocking up a bit of cement and ballast???
cheers tony
Posted: Thu Aug 31, 2006 12:45 pm
by Ted
I agree that it not rocket science knocking up a bit of ballast and cement. But if you are only doing a small fence (ie, only a few posts) it does not cost much more to use postcrete. This avoids having to brace the posts whilst the concrete goes off and it also means you don't have to waste time knocking the gear up. You just pour some weater down the hole, chuck in the postcrete, tamp it down a bit and in five minutes, hey presto, your post is set in place.
Unless you are doing enough posts to warrant getting a bulk bag of ballast, I would use postcrete.
But each to his own!
To the OP, if you want 100mm around each post you are going to need more than one bag of postcrete per post.
Posted: Thu Aug 31, 2006 9:50 pm
by lutonlagerlout
i'm sure ted will agree with me on this that depth is the most important thing with fence posts
i have seen people dig their own holes so big that it took 2 barrowws of concrete in each hole
a hole 6" wide and 2' deep is optimun
cheers tony
Posted: Thu Aug 31, 2006 11:54 pm
by Ted
I would agree Tony.