Rabbit

You can reinforce your trellis end posts from INSIDE the trellis.....place an additional (possibly shorter) post inside the grapeline about 4 feet away from the end post......Add a Horizontal brace and/or a Diagonal brace to apply resistance to the Terminal post.....

Use the longer post and deeper hole.....NO concrete

Whoo-wheee.....12+ three or four foot holes to dig.....now that's a workout !......what's the "soil" or sub-soil like in your neighborhood ?

doug

Abnorm,

Gahh why didn't I think of inside....that is PERFECT! Thank you. I don't mind digging the holes, have a turn type augur and it makes short work of the holes. If I got lazy I could borrow Floral City Lous 3 point auger as I have a tractor. But heck I need the exercise to stay warm on these cold August days:) So by my count that would be 12 main post holes and 12 inside dead man holes +98 degree heat and a 3+ year wait for any grapes to harvest....sometimes I wonder about my sanity.

The native soil is sugar sand......the subsoil is also sugar sand lol but this is a area I have worked for a few years and the soil is jet black loamy sand to a depth of 18 inches.

Btw.....why no cement?

Btw.....why no cement?

Because it causes the posts to rot out faster due to the moisture it absorbs.... ;-)

Tom is right.
As a cattle rancher, we install thousands of posts.
The deeper the better.
Be sure to tamp the soil and water in as you go to get rid of air bubbles.
Try to remove a post that has been cemented in
and you'll learn why it's not such a great idea.