New hydraulic breaker technology is changing the long hours – and safety – spent fencing on the ranch.As a fencing contractor for many years, Floyd Yoder, who owns and operates Montana Post Drivers in Gold Creek, Mont., thought there should be a better, faster, way to drive posts into the ground, whether that ground was rough and compacted or it was soil on CRP land which hadn’t been worked in years.He knew the answer had to be in “jackhammers” and the result of that work was a post driver he named the Montana Post Driver.“A jackhammer is an industrial tool that breaks up concrete,” Yoder said. “I needed that same technology with the Montana Post Driver to drive posts of any size and any material into rough ground.”Originally, he wanted to create, design, and build a hydraulic post driver just for his own fencing business.“I looked around and no one was building the kind of post driver I needed,” Yoder said. “I needed something that could drive a big wooden post into the ground and do it fast, easy and safely.”Fencing can be “dangerous activity,” but it is something every rancher needs to do, Yoder said.Typically, ranchers go out to the site where they are building a fence or repairing it and someone needs to stand right next to the post, while the other person operates the equipment to pound the post in the ground, he said. Then the barbed wire or other wiring can be attached to the posts.“The entire time, someone stands next to that post, increases the chance he will be hurt as the post is driven into the ground,” he said, adding he knew there had to be a better way.Eventually, Yoder built a prototype of a hydraulic post driver that could attach to a skid steer loader or an excavator.“Through the unique hydraulic concrete breaker-based design, with the Montana Post Driver, posts are driven by jackhammering them into the ground,” Yoder said. “Ranchers and fencers maintain full control of the post while driving at a rate of 800 blows per minute.”Yoder liked the way it turned out – it was twice as big as the one he had – and it was a whole new concept in post drivers.He used that prototype for awhile, but it wasn’t big enough for his needs. So for the last five years, Yoder has been redesigning the Montana Post Driver into what it is today.There are three different sizes: 500, 750 and 1,000 feet per pounds of energy (how hard the hammer hits). The larger size is 2,000 pounds in weight and fits on larger skid loaders.“Neighbors came out and saw how the driver worked and wanted one of their own, so I started building them for my neighbors,” Yoder said, adding they “were amazed with how fast and safe the hydraulic breaker design pounded the post into the ground.”Word spread around the region and he eventually became so inundated with orders, he stopped his fencing contractor business and went into building the Montana Post Driver exclusively.Nowadays, ranchers are not only using wood posts, but they are finding better materials for fencing, especially in rugged country where cows graze on the rangeland.A lot of producers are purchasing metal pipe from the oilfield and bringing them back to the ranch as ranchers want the most durable fence post possible, posts that will last years into the future.“The Montana Post Driver can easily pound steel pipe into place,” he said.Yoder designed and built the hydraulic hammer so it has only two moving parts – and a single grease fitting for easy lubrication.“The Montana Post Driver will drive wooden, pipe and T-posts into the ground using the latest technology out there,” he said.The attachment itself has a low center of gravity and will not tip over, and is made of heavy steel. Other post drivers have to be leaned against a building or wall because they are so top heavy, Yoder explained.When the rancher attaches the Montana Post Driver in place, a domed cup will hold the post securely in place, he said.“The domed cup design enables you to push and pull the post straight, and the attached chain serves as a plumb bob and depth gauge,” Yoder said, adding the chain that hangs over the attachment works like a vertical level.The rancher can align the post and watch the level from inside the cab of the steer skid to make sure the post is straight up and down, like a vertical level, and no spotter is needed. Once the domed cup is attached, no one needs to stand by the post at all, he said.The design allows the rancher to reach over the fence and drive a post on the other side because all the parts of the post driver are above the top of the post.After using the Montana Post Driver, the attachment is removed and the post driver stands on the ground and won't tip over.“It is quick and easy to take off the post driver, and be back in the skid loader in less than a minute,” he said.Yoder manufactures the Montana Post Driver in his shop in Gold Creek, a city in southwestern Montana named because it was the first place Montana gold miners found gold in the state.Yoder and his wife, Molly, own and operate Montana Post Driver with his son, Floyd, Jr. They have another son, Sylvan who has his own fencing business.Yoder has received orders for the Montana Post Driver from all the surrounding states and even, across the nation.“I recently sent one to Hawaii,” Yoder said.Yoder is excited about how popular the post driver has become over a few years time, and believes the rugged Montana Post Driver will “revolutionize fencing.”