WITH fencing work taking on a new dimension given the increase in forestry planting, it has also made contractors it up and take notice about how they could do things more efficiently to get through the work that piles up.

Dave Clark and John Longmuir are equal partners and formed DL Drainage some years ago. “Opportunities for fencing were right in front of us on every drainage job we were doing, but it got to the stage where we could not go on turning down this work lying at our feet," said David.

"With sound fencing experience within the team, we added to our services and found the uptake was very strong. We built a post driver ourselves and although it was pretty basic, it did the job to get us started, bu we knew that if business continued to expand the way it was going, we would need to invest in a modern day machine.

"We already knew of Bryce machines as there were plenty operating around us and we knew they were reliable as there were quite a few with a lot of miles on the clock and still operating well. However, we took every chance at agricultural shows to look at all post drivers including the latest Bryce offerings, and the decision was easy in terms of their features and build quality," added Dave.

A Magnum XL was ordered to go on the back of DL's old Morooka MP100, which was going to be broken for spares but was rebuilt at a keen price. What wasn't straightforward was the rear three-point linkage geometry which was all wrong for the knocker and it was too lightweight.

A John Deere front linkage was altered to suit and to complete the outfit, a Wilson front linkage was fitted to the front end with pallet forks for easy loading and transport of posts.

“Nearly all our work is stock fencing and equestrian using either Class 4 or creosoted timber depending on customers’ needs regarding price and specification and we are well booked-up till next spring,” he added.

"Although the Magnum XL came with an impressive array of features, we needed a means of driving the Morooka from the post driver. We had our ideas on this, so together with Bryce they came up with a super job, really professional. This modification did not look like a stuck-on afterthought but looked as though it had always been part of the post driver and it was perfect.

“As far as the post driver itself is concerned, we could not be more pleased with it. She handles very well on the Morooka and with the forks and added ballast on the front, we can go anywhere with confidence and safety.”

Dave added: “It is a dream outfit and what's not to like about it. Everything works perfect and the sideshift, backshift, quadshift combination is a must for the awkward difficult to access posts. Top marks too for the rockspike system, the whole thing is the real deal with its power and the hydraulic swing and clamshell which I think is another of Bryce’s patents.

"During my early research I noted someone saying it was the Rolls Royce of post drivers – I’ll second that," said Dave.