Dry-Packing Posts
This is sure to bring controversy. 😂
I’ve been dry-pacing all of my posts for a solid 6-7 years now, and just got the call to re-do the gates we repaired about 5 years ago now.
I use 6x6s on all my gate posts now, so I pulled a 4x6 post that we had set when we made the repairs to this customers gates. The post was still solid and I couldn’t break the concrete from around the post while it was still in the ground. Trust me I gave it hell.
Had to dig around the footer and use my post puller to get the whole thing out.
Anyway. I tested dry-packing and wet pouring when we made the decision to stop hauling around a mixer. I do not use the fast setting concrete mix. Just the regular high strength stuff and I use the sharp end of a digging bar to pack the concrete around the post.
This makes the posts solid enough to build fence the same day and I haven’t been called back to warranty anything since I started to do this.
I know there’s a lot of y’all that hate concrete and more than a few that say dry-packing is terrible. But in my experience it is just as effective for a fence post and helps me be more productive.