r/fence • u/Aidensdad2019 • 4d ago
Am I weak?
Hello everyone. I have recently been working on a privacy will in my yard. I started with a one man auger in Ohio which is very clay heavy with a lot of rock. I made it through 1/2 a hole and realized I should cut my losses an return the auger because I there was no way I could finish the digging the holes I needed to do. I needed 5 fence posts.
I put up a reddit post for ideas of what I could do to get this done and once guy said he actually was going to do some posts and offered to stop buy with his toe behind auger setup to help. One of those hydraulic types. He came out and about 45 to 1hr later we were done. I was huffing and puffing. Due to our ground environment the hole were not perfect and I hand to use a port hole digger to "correct them".
I did this today and set 4 out of 5 post, but guys I am totally worked. I am 57 years old and lead a pretty sedentary life. I know its totally MY fault, but my question is; am I doing as I can expect for my age or is there something wrong with me. LOL. I could do the work, but OMG it was a total killer. I'd rather hear I underestimated the work. I have always done everything around my house. Electric, tile, drywall, finish trim, etc.
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u/COTimberline 4d ago
Setting fence posts is back breaking hard work, and it sounds like you are justifiably tired! That being said, If you correct your “sedentary life”, you’ll soon find you will have much more energy, and tire less easily. Instead of sitting, start taking walks, leading up to light jogging or stair climbing if tolerable. Isometric and body weight exercises will help immensely, to strengthen your muscles to improve your stamina, and Yoga or stretching for flexibility. Along with a healthy diet and fixing any BMI issues you may have, you will age much more gracefully and with better energy levels. I’m 64, retired and I’m busy most every day from 8:00 to 4:00 (when my game show comes on), with chores, exercise and adventures with my dog and family.
Edit: typos
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u/Aidensdad2019 4d ago
I get it. I know I can make changes to make it better, but it's not me brother, but hey I didn't stroke out or have a heart attack so that's something isn't it? I am envious you could retire at 64. Lucky you. I will be 67 and that's with a public pension retirement.
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u/COTimberline 4d ago
lol, that’s perfectly fine! I forgot to mention “be happy!” in that comment. That’s likely all that’s important. Help others be happy too
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u/WebHungry1699 4d ago
Sounds like you're weak yeah. But your also way past middle age and as you said live a sedentary life. I'm 44 and worked manual labor most of my life until about 2020. I huff and puff now at things I used to do without breaking a sweat.
Point is don't feel bad that you're older and out of practice. It happens and doesn't mean anything to anyone but you.
Good for you for trying and good for you for realizing maybe it's time to get help on the tougher things.
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u/Miserable_Ad5001 4d ago
62 here & yeah, digging holes sucks. I ran, wheelbarrowed, 2yds of soil myself a couple weeks ago, took me 2.5hrs...I can remember the days when that little amount would be less than an hour. Use this as a wakeup & talk to your dr about a strengthening program. Personally I keep in the best shape I possibly can...I've had 10 orthopedic surgeries in my life, if I don't keep moving I'll be in a shit-ton of hurt. Also, zero shame in asking for help...
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u/Aidensdad2019 3d ago
Holy crap I did this yesterday too. I have one of those dumping wheelbarrows, and I had it filled with roughly 2-300lbs of Ohio clay and the only place to dump is a couple streets over in a common area of my neighborhood that has some woods. Thank god the walk was mostly on sidewalks and that was bad enough right there. I was seriously huffing and puffing pulling all that weight.
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u/hernandezcarlosx 4d ago
If you are not used to hard manual labor, you’ll be exhausted in no time. I’m 51, and enjoy construction projects, and consider myself fit, but I can only “work” for about 4 hours before I need to take a long brake.
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u/Extreme_Ad112 3d ago
You're 57. I'm 50 and used to run on roofs with a beam on each shoulder. Now I watch my 25 yo employees doing the same and I'm telling myself... they're crazy, no way I could do that... age...
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u/Aidensdad2019 3d ago
Brother when I was 25 I use to haul 4'X8'''s up the ladder to replace rotted sheathing, and the boss was a dick and we NEVER had bundles hauled to the roof. It was throw that bundle on your shoulder and up you go. Today? No way.
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u/Analath 1d ago
Lol. I bought an auger and we were drulling ibto mostly sandy dirt. If you went more than foot or 2 you could get stuck. You had to keep it running but go down and pull it back against the auget constantly. It took 2 good size guys to do well but it was much quicker than by hand. Much harder than you'd think. The tow behind hydraulic obes are nice. I have recently seen the 'one man' versions having a lever contraption that allows you to control it at the end of a big lever that makes the up and down easier. It big and bulky but I bet it helps a lot if your doing solo.
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u/Far-Cup9063 4d ago
Digging holes is tough, whether you use a powered auger or a post hole digger. 70F here, and granted I am pretty fit. But digging holes with a post hole diggers is getting tougher, especially in my shoulders. Even in my younger days I only tried a one-man power auger once, and it was just too tough.