Quick question on setting fence posts

Sorry for the dull post, no one in my offline life seems to know. We are going to set some six inch round fence posts. I’m planning to borrow an auger to drill the post holes. If the posts are 6 inches, how wide should the hole be? We are setting into rocky soil, not intending to use concrete since there is no water on the property.

Christopher, welcome to the forum!

Usually, our holes are 2 to 3 inches bigger to allow for the concrete.

If someone has a better answer I hope they will speak up.

Hi Christopher,

I was using 6" auger for my home made post that were between 3.5 and 5" diameter. Because home made - they were not perfectly straight and had some knots. All worked smoothly. I got an electric auger for around $200 (powering it off the generator) that worked great. I was drilling at the end of wet season when soil was soft and it was taking less than a minute per hole. I dry season it takes 20 times longer with intermediate waterings of the drilled hole.

Cristobal Cristo wrote:Hi Christopher,

I was using 6" auger for my home made post that were between 3.5 and 5" diameter. Because home made - they were not perfectly straight and had some knots. All worked smoothly. I got an electric auger for around $200 (powering it off the generator) that worked great. I was drilling at the end of wet season when soil was soft and it was taking less than a minute per hole. I dry season it takes 20 times longer with intermediate waterings of the drilled hole.

Did you backfill with concrete or packed dirt?

I used dirt. I was putting them 2 feet deep. They sit solid now. Some got little bit lose due to green eucalyptus shrinking. Stabilizing them will depend on what material you want to put between them. I just drilled my posts and ran four strands of electrical steel wire, but without power. The wires are almost sufficient to protect my orchard and garden from my sheep.

Nice to see another member living in New Mexico. We ended up setting the 6 inch posts in concrete with 10 inch holes. I waited over a year for it to rain two days in a row, once it started clearing up I dug all the holes while it was still muddy, went pretty smooth