burying a axel

[scary]

OK guys and gals a little help here. I not sure what im doing wrong but i would like to ask you all for some advice. Im trying to bury my axles before winter. I dug a hole about a foot or so deep inserted the axle covered it with dirt. Everything is look good so far but the problem i am encountering is the chain will not spin freely like it was above ground!? Could someone please help me or point me in the right direction? Thanks scary

[BONEDADDY]

Scary, you have to completely bury the axle and put concrete around it. The chain should be the only thing left out of the ground. If not, it will snag and not spin freely.

[No Quarter Kennel]

If you bury your axle it will not spin freely. It cannot.
If you want it to spin around the axle, you have to have the axle out of the ground. However, if you can't monitor your axles regularly, as in periodically during the day, especially summer time, then you are asking for problems with above ground axles.

[wolverine]

You really shouldn't have to dig at all. I just drive the axel down with a sledge hammer until it's lower than the ground. No problems. I guess if your land is sandy you may want to go a little deeper. Like no quarter said. You don't need the o ring to spin around the axel.

[bamaman]

That's right chain should be only thing coming out of the ground..You shouldn't have any problems then.All your dirt will pile.up in the middle where chain comes out of the ground so keep it raked down every day and don't let it build up.I actually use a gravel rake and a regular rake .

[bamaman]

reason I'm telling you keep it raked down is you will need to keep check on the chain be cause the top of the axle acts like a metal saw on that first link ..I dont use axles but I have heard of that happening on that first link that is on top outside of axle.So keep a check on it.

[Officially Retired]

You really shouldn't have to dig at all. I just drive the axel down with a sledge hammer until it's lower than the ground. No problems. I guess if your land is sandy you may want to go a little deeper. Like no quarter said. You don't need the o ring to spin around the axel.

That is correct.

I had 85 dogs like this at one point, and all chains were fine (this is clearly shown in my book).

The only way your chain is snagging would be if you don't have a swivel at the collar; that is the whole point of the swivel: to prevent the chain from bunching-up.

You don't ever need to dig a hole; all you need to do is sledge-hammer the axle down till it's flush with the earth.

Jack