Steel T-Posts

[Hoserman]

Still working on our small, raised garden. The soil is in, mulch is down and T-posts driven. Here is my question, has anyone tried to drill holes in those things. I have drilled in hot roll steel and it is tough, but these things are at a whole new level. I wanted to put in a small metal gate that is made from those decorative hook together fences. I made a hinge out of an old door hinge that turned out good. Come time to mount them and WOW! these poles are really hard to drill. I went through eight good drill bits that aren't so good now. I've used T-posts before but this is the first time drilling in one.

 

[jimh406]

When I have issues with drilling, I go buy a new carbide bit drill slow and use cutting oil. I don't know if you tried that. For sure, all bits aren't equal and getting them hot is not a good thing.

 

[McMXi]

My property came with lots of t-posts and I've drilled holes in a bunch, mostly to hang steel targets. Never had any trouble at all, so maybe the old ones here have less carbon in the steel compared to what you have.

I bought a Drill Doctor over 20 years ago and use it regularly to sharpen drill bits. I just went through three drill caddies earlier in the week getting them all filled back up with the correct sizes in the correct holes, and sharpened a bunch too.

 

[NorthwoodsLife]

I have never drilled thru T posts, so take this with a grain of salt:

For a gate, I personally would consider a chain link gate and posts, or wooden 4x4 gate posts and a wooden gate. Standard T bar is great for long runs but not very stable being used as a gate. There isn't enuf surface stiction in the ground or heft in a T bar for 90 or 180 swing with a gate. But, I could be wrong.

Try to push over a t bar that has been in the ground for awhile. You will bend it. Then try the same with a chain link post or 4x4 wooden post. Just sayin'.

 

[jaxs]

You've already heard about oil and quality bits so I'll just add that the slower the better. Apply as much pressure as you can while drilling.
To make post easier to drill , do this. Heat area to be drilled to bright orange then quickly wrap it in kaowool, ceramic blanket or welding blanket then leave it to cool. Instead of wrapping it can be covered in kitty litter,wood ashes or warm sand.

 

[drygulch]

You may already know these things, but drill steel on a slower speed or it will likely overheat your bits, making them worthless (maybe causing what you're seeing?). So if using a cordless with 2 speed settings, use the slower. And as suggested, use some kind of cutting fluid (even motor oil etc).

Guessing your holes look 1/4 inch-ish, so pilot holes may be overkill, but for larger holes they can speed up the process and put less wear on the bits. If you use pilot bits, they heat up more quickly, so def use lube and lower speed.

I agree on the Drill Doctor. I ended up with a second to handle split points.

 

[GreensvilleJay]

Those look like REAL Tbars so they could be heat treated ( like bed rails ) . If so extremely hard to drill.

 

[chim]

Weld them on?

 

[mikester]

Good drills make quick holes in steel. Cheap drills are a waste of time and money.

 

[ChiefWebb]

I have used old T-posts for projects and found that cobalt bits (HSS with 5% cobalt) cut very well. Not that expensive over good HSS bits.

 

[lynnmor]

Masonry drills are carbide tipped, give them a try. Carbide doesn't like slow speeds so run them reasonably fast.

 

[Blue2Orange]

Have a couple dozen T posts purchased over the past couple decades repurposed for veggie garden trellis. Still have dozen in the ground on the fence I'm tearing down. They are made from supposedly recycled steel. Haven't tried to drill a hole in them. Seems to be relatively soft steel.

But have drilled out marine grade 316 stainless steel rivets, a new shear pin hole through my old 3 pt snowblower gear box ~1" steel shaft, and yesterday a hole through the lifting/dump hook handle of my Vassar dirt bucket. Cobalt M35 or M42 bits and cutting oil. No issues.

Just don't waste money on AMZ deals for Bosch, Milwaukee... counterfeits. Reason why the prices were too good. Amazon is not an authorized seller for Milwaukee tools. Unsure about Bosch.

Question to the OP. What are using for the white raised bed sides? PVC, wood, metal? Looks nice. My new veggie garden has no curb appeal. Just functional. But in the middle of nowhere and out of sight. Except for the black bears, deer, coons, and darn chips.

 

[old and tired]

I would not use "T" posts for a gate... (I like wood) no matter how light your gate is it will sag or in this case, stretching the fencing might lift it up. You need to be able to transfer force to the other side of the gate. Archways are not just for looks. They have a structural component to them.

I would throw out another nugget... kneel down to weed the garden, your feet would be into the fencing or bending over to pick carrots, your butt will be in the fence. I think your walking spaces (alleys) are too tight. But, YMMV

 

[Blue2Orange]

Unsure what the OP's feelings are about treated lumber fence posts. I've always used below grade rated treated 4x4 with bracing at the corners and entry. Now they run at ~$15 for 8 ft length locally. Cedar @~$40. Went with rough cut round treated 5".

 

[Hoserman]

What are using for the white raised bed sides? PVC, wood, metal? Looks nice. My new veggie garden has no curb appeal. Just functional.

We got them from Costco. They just fit together. They come as a two bed 4' X 4' set. We bought two sets. If I'm not mistaken, we paid something like $99 per set. Nice part is you can configure them in different ways if you have two sets it can be four separate beds, two 4' X 8' (what we just did) and last year we made a U shape. Wife didn't like that as the back corner was hard to get to as we had deer mesh right up to the beds.

 

[Hoserman]

I would not use "T" posts for a gate... (I like wood) no matter how light your gate is it will sag or in this case, stretching the fencing might lift it up. You need to be able to transfer force to the other side of the gate. Archways are not just for looks. They have a structural component to them.

I would throw out another nugget... kneel down to weed the garden, your feet would be into the fencing or bending over to pick carrots, your butt will be in the fence. I think your walking spaces (alleys) are too tight. But, YMMV

Yes I agree to what you said. This is what she wanted so the old saying goes, Happy wife, Happy life.

 

[Russell King]

If needed, you can use these types of devices to add braces, but I doubt that your wire gate weighs enough to effect a T post!

Products

Proudly Made in the U.S.A

wedgeloc.com

 

[skeets]

ABout the only thing I know about T posts is,,,,,,, you do not want to find on in the tall grass, where it takes out a front tire and then jams the mower before you get stopped. That was very hard on that old Yellow Tractor

 

[jaxs]

"Finding" things in tall grass is the main reason mowing other people's property isn't profitable. A friend of mine found a natural gas pipe on a vacant lot and gas company not only charged him for the repair, that calculated cu ft of gas lost and tacked that on to the bill.

 

[hedgerow]

If needed, you can use these types of devices to add braces, but I doubt that your wire gate weighs enough to effect a T post!

Products

Proudly Made in the U.S.A

wedgeloc.com

Back when I had a lot of cattle, I built a lot of fence on rented pasture with T posts and used these brackets for gates. Drilled a lot of holes in T posts and never had any issues. Just use good bits and oil. Most rented pasture I was around never had good fence and the landlord wouldn't spend any money so we would put up fence inside the fence with T posts and take it with us when the lease was up.