Ground Rod Sledge

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harbormaster

harbormaster

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Cypress, Republic of Texas
Pretty handy when you only have 1 rod to drive. Hollowed one face of the head with a grinder so it doesn't slide off as easy. 1" GRC.

First one I've made in years... : )
 

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Didn't grind it all at once so it never got so hot you couldn't touch it.

You slide the handle of the sledge over the rod and drive it till it gets low enough to finish with the head. This thing will almost drive a 5/8 X 10 ground rod through a green oak stump! : )
 
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Adapters are made for SDS impact drills for driving rods. They take all the fun and blisters out of hitting yourself with a sledge hammer and are quicker.
Or make an adaptor yourself with an old SDS drill bit. Cut off the shank and weld a nut on to form a cup for the rod.
With the drill chuck locked it just gives the impact blows and drives the rod in.

SDS (Shock Dampening System) is a type of impact drill not a make. You will have to find US manufactures on line or ask at a tool store.

SDS%20rod%20driver_zpsfoc14t8f.jpg

 
Good idea .. I hand many posts to drive for a fence at my home so I bought the fence post driver. We use that for rods when we can't get ower to use the adapter for Bosch hammer drill

Z17K9-fo5oy.JPG
 
They make rod drivers for spline drive hammer drills and demolition hammers as well.

I don't use "post drivers" ever since I had an incident a few years ago where I raised the driver to far, missed the rod on the down stroke and the ground rod ended up piercing through the palm of my left hand.

Rod drivers/hammer drills are much cheaper then the doctor bill was for that incident.
 
Was thinking about getting a short piece of 1" RMC and welding on a pipe cap to 'sleeve' drive the rod to the point where it wont spring from sledgehammer hits... dunno if that'll be enough weight to be effective tho. The powered drivers are nice but the last 4 rods we put in were nowhere near a power supply.
 
kwired said:
They make rod drivers for spline drive hammer drills and demolition hammers as well.

I don't use "post drivers" ever since I had an incident a few years ago where I raised the driver to far, missed the rod on the down stroke and the ground rod ended up piercing through the palm of my left hand.

Rod drivers/hammer drills are much cheaper then the doctor bill was for that incident.
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:happyyes::happyyes::happyyes:
I know the feeling!
I didn't drive it through my palm but somehow I hit the rod with my finger. It was freezing cold and I had gloves on but still felt the "blow". I lost the nail on that finger. It's very easy to get to "driving" away with that driver and lift it too high and miss the rod.
Plus, after you are worn out from using that you have to finish it off with the sledge anyway!:(
 
How in the world does one get there hand near the bottom of a fence post driver. You need to take precautions as you do with any tool...:eek:hmy:
 
Dennis Alwon said:
How in the world does one get there hand near the bottom of a fence post driver. You need to take precautions as you do with any tool...:eek:hmy:
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Hands were never near the bottom of the driver, when the rod is sticking 3-4 feet out of the ground and you are coming down with a lot of force and miss the rod, momentum will take your hands all the way down to whatever level the driver is at when it finally does hit something and stop, the top of the rod can easily be higher then your hands at that point.

Have heard farmers and others mention doing similar thing when actually driving steel posts that these drivers are mostly intended for - missing the post with the driver and tearing up their hand in the process. The harder the rod or post is driving - the harder you will be applying a downward force to try to help it along, the easier it is to miss the rod when you start to tire out.
 
Dennis Alwon said:
How in the world does one get there hand near the bottom of a fence post driver. You need to take precautions as you do with any tool...:eek:hmy:
Click to expand...

Kwired is not the first person that I have herd of driveing a rod through the hand.

I doesn't sound all that possible but I don't take chances.
 
growler said:
Kwired is not the first person that I have herd of driveing a rod through the hand.

I doesn't sound all that possible but I don't take chances.
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JFletcher said:
and here I thought missing with the sledgehammer or using a framing hammer and getting ground rod fragments to the face was bad... I'll take a little extra time with the net one.
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I didn't see it happen but I did see the scar. When he told me about it my responce was the same as Dennis. How the heck did you do that?

The person that put a rod through his hand gave up on driving ground rods and went back to being a computer programmer ( could be part of the explaination).
 
I had one like that, almost

I had one like that, almost

Dennis Alwon said:
Good idea .. I hand many posts to drive for a fence at my home so I bought the fence post driver. We use that for rods when we can't get ower to use the adapter for Bosch hammer drill

Z17K9-fo5oy.JPG
Click to expand...
I had a fence driver like that ( till someone liked it better) only mine had a spring in it to push the driver back up, and we welded a 10 pound weight to the end. It would drive a ground rod or fence post sideways between rocks.
 
JFletcher said:
Was thinking about getting a short piece of 1" RMC and welding on a pipe cap to 'sleeve' drive the rod to the point where it wont spring from sledgehammer hits... dunno if that'll be enough weight to be effective tho. The powered drivers are nice but the last 4 rods we put in were nowhere near a power supply.
Click to expand...
I made one with a piece of 4" galvanized and a pipe cap, I used the 4" for the weight so it could be shorter and I could get it down closer to the ground before having to switch to the sledge. The cap is malleable iron and shattered eventually though, so I replaced it with a coupling and a plug, has never failed since.
 
kwired said:
Hands were never near the bottom of the driver, when the rod is sticking 3-4 feet out of the ground and you are coming down with a lot of force and miss the rod, momentum will take your hands all the way down to whatever level the driver is at when it finally does hit something and stop, the top of the rod can easily be higher then your hands at that point.

Have heard farmers and others mention doing similar thing when actually driving steel posts that these drivers are mostly intended for - missing the post with the driver and tearing up their hand in the process. The harder the rod or post is driving - the harder you will be applying a downward force to try to help it along, the easier it is to miss the rod when you start to tire out.
Click to expand...

Well I don't see any ground rod or fence post driving in my future, but I'll sure remember your story.

Dad's Rule #2: "Learn from other people's mistakes. It costs less and doesn't hurt nearly as much."
 
Dennis Alwon said:
How in the world does one get there hand near the bottom of a fence post driver. You need to take precautions as you do with any tool...:eek:hmy:
Click to expand...

I had an employee do it, and have talked to other electricians that had done it or knew someone that had.

Our driver did not have handles, (and was not red), had to hold the pipe, I don't know if that would make a difference.
 
As Kwired said, having your hand in the wrong place was not the problem. I posted the same accident but different injuries. The problem is when lifting up the driver to come back down for another strike the driver is accidentally lifted too high and when coming back down it misses the rod. Sometimes no damage is done but most of the time something will get injured. It could be your back from expecting resistance and finding none, hitting your leg with the driver, or in mine and Kwired's case, hitting your hand on the rod.

I still use my driver but with extreme caution. You don't always have a power source to plug in a hammer or demolition drill.
 
I had been driving rods with that driver or similar types for 20-25 years before that incident, not like it was the first time and I didn't know what I was doing. Stuff happens.

I was lucky that it didn't damage any critical things in my hand, passed through between bones, tendons, etc. but did later develop an infection and I was hospitalized for a couple days to take care of that infection - they said you do not want to lose your hand over this infection, so I took their advice and let them give it a heavy antibiotic treatement. My hand was swollen nearly twice the size of my other hand when I went in the hospital.

Fifty dollar ground rod driver bit for my rotary hammer didn't look very expensive anymore after that was all done, I had thought about them before but thought they weren't worth it. Now if there is no power where the rod is to be driven - the generator comes to the site as well.
 
kwired said:
I had been driving rods with that driver or similar types for 20-25 years before that incident, not like it was the first time and I didn't know what I was doing. Stuff happens.

I was lucky that it didn't damage any critical things in my hand, passed through between bones, tendons, etc. but did later develop an infection and I was hospitalized for a couple days to take care of that infection - they said you do not want to lose your hand over this infection, so I took their advice and let them give it a heavy antibiotic treatement. My hand was swollen nearly twice the size of my other hand when I went in the hospital.

Fifty dollar ground rod driver bit for my rotary hammer didn't look very expensive anymore after that was all done, I had thought about them before but thought they weren't worth it. Now if there is no power where the rod is to be driven - the generator comes to the site as well.
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What kind of rotary hammer drill do you have?
I have an SDS/SDS Plus and can't find an adapter for driving rods for it. Most of the ones I find are for, I think, the SDS Max which has a different shank.
I know that I can cut off an old chisel bit and weld an adapter to it but not sure if my drill has enough power to drive a rod anyway.
 
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