[Elecraft] Driving Earth Rods

Wed Mar 26 07:03:01 2003

Depending on the type of earth you have, you do not need to use a hammer at all with a ground rod.  I have not used a hammer in years.  Here is how I put in a ground rod....6 to 8 footers too.  I dig a divit in the ground where I want the ground rod.  If somebody has already talked about this forgive me for repeating.  Get a gallon jug of water.  Pour water in the divit.  Now, start tamping the ground rod down with your hands.  You might have to wear gloves and somtimes I put a vicegrips on the end of the ground rod to get a "grip."  But, just keep putting water in the divit and tamping down the ground rod.  Soon, you will have it all the way down.  If you hit a rock, keep tamping and break the rock...shale...what have you.  In the end you will be able to bring up the whole ground rod out of the hole...and put it back down again.  You are done.  Just put a connctor clamp on the ground rod and fill in the divit.  Takes about 10 to 15 minutes.
Lee - K0WA

 Jerry Hancock <[email protected]> wrote:I have a Kanga impact hammer and it works great for driving ground rods,
less than a minute into the hardpack on the hill here. I think someone
makes a tool to keep the end from mushrooming into the hammer.

Jerry, KG6KGP

-----Original Message-----
From: [email protected]
[mailto:[email protected]]On Behalf Of Ron Willcocks
Sent: Monday, March 24, 2003 2:25 AM
To: Elecraft Reflector
Subject: [Elecraft] Driving Earth Rods

Hi all,
as an aside to the posting about the type of earthing needed in an
Amateur station, I have no great wisdom to offer as to the amount of
earthing needed, but I can offer a tip for driving earth pegs in hard
ground. (Earthing = the more the better......)
As an Electrician of some years here, I once had to drive an earth mat for a
commercial installation, and the ground type made the job impossible for
conventional means. The solution was to use a "Kango" hammer.
Take the tools out of the jaws and place the Kango hammer over a peg and hit
the switch...the peg dissapears into rock hard ground faster than you could
drive one in soft ground.
Not sure if "Kango" is an American available tool, but it is an impact drill
or driver. Ramset make the same sort of machine.
I like to use pegs with "flags" on the top and bolt crimped connections onto
them and bind them with "denso" tape.......a tape that is heavily
inpregnated with grease. A connection done this way will last for years even
when buried. Don't muck about with small gauge wiring between pegs. You want
the least resistance posible. Be generous with the wire size.
Myself, I have only two individual, connected pegs for my station, but then
again we seldom have lightning here, the ground is volcanic and we have a
generous rainfall.(too much so this Summer) The mileage will vary with
location.
Cheers......Ron ZL1TW

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