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How to install a fence post spike

Updated: October 2026

You have a drive-in socket, a club hammer, and panels on the lawn. How to install a fence post spike is a straight drive into firm soil, with the blows on a dolly and a spirit level while the metal is still shallow. It is not the repair for a leaning post. The listings are on the [fence post spike comparison](/hub/fencing-and-wire/fence-post-spike). Peter F. used those amazon.co.uk listings and HSE HSG47 on 19 October 2026. We did not drive these spikes in a test garden. A qualifying purchase can earn a commission at no extra cost to you.

You have a drive-in socket, a club hammer, and panels on the lawn. How to install a fence post spike is a straight drive into firm soil, with the blows on a dolly and a spirit level while the metal is still shallow.

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Fixings Direct Fixings Direct 75 mm spike, 2 pack

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Fixings Direct Fixings Direct 75 mm spike, 2 pack
9.4/10about £24.99
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Fixings Direct Fixings Direct 75 mm spike, 3 pack

Rank 2

Fixings Direct Fixings Direct 75 mm spike, 3 pack
9.4/10about £31.99
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On this page
  1. 1.Find services before the first blow
  2. 2.Set the line and seat the spike
  3. 3.Hit the dolly and keep it plumb
  4. 4.Bolt the post, then know when to stop

Find services before the first blow

A cable strike can kill, and you cannot tell a live cable by looking at the grass. HSG47 is to plan, get the plans, locate, and only then dig or drive. Walk the run for covers, meter boxes, and scars in the turf. Use LSBUD for member utility plans, and follow up any non-member the enquiry names. LSBUD does not prove a private garden is clear. If you cannot rule out a cable, you stop. If you do not own the boundary, the locate is not yours to decide alone. A neighbour’s cable is a reason to pause before the first blow.

Set the line and seat the spike

Mark the post centres on a string between the ends of the run. A common UK panel is about 1.83 m between posts, and that figure is a rule of thumb, not a measurement of any spike in this set. Put the socket on the mark, upright. Which socket to have bought is the fence post spike buying guide. If the first tap meets a stone, move the mark rather than hitting harder. A short pilot hole is not a licence to excavate a trench and then call the job a no-dig spike. Clay, rubble, and a buried concrete collar are where these products bend. Once the socket is seated, the next blows go on a dolly, not on the rim.
Fixings Direct Fixings Direct 75 mm spike, 2 pack

Testsieger

Fixings Direct Fixings Direct 75 mm spike, 2 pack
9.4/10about £24.99
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Hit the dolly and keep it plumb

The Fixings Direct packs list a driving tool. One review received a plastic piece instead of the tool in the pictures, so look in the box first. Seat that tool, or a square timber block, inside the cup and strike the tool. Hitting the rim bells the metal. Check a spirit level on two adjacent faces before the spike is deep. DIY Doctor’s notes put it plainly: a half-inch lean at the socket becomes about a foot at the top of a tall post. Correct while the spike is shallow. If it twists, turn it back while it will still move, or lever it out. Finish with the base of the socket about at ground level. A timber sheet’s 0.6–0.75 m depth is the concreting note. It does not rate a 600 mm spike as a concreted post.

Bolt the post, then know when to stop

Drop the post in, check the level again, and bolt it. Set one post, then the panel, then the next post. A panel shows a wrong centre as soon as you offer it up. Move the next mark. Stop and concrete, or call a fencer, when the ground is rubble or a concrete collar, when the spike bends, when you are setting a gate or a windy corner, or when the fence is a tall solid run. Pull a crooked spike out rather than leaving a lean the panel might hide. A post that is already in the ground is a different job, on fix a leaning fence post.

Common questions

Do I hammer the spike or a driving tool?
Hammer the driving tool, seated in the cup. The Fixings Direct listing includes one. Striking the rim damages the socket. If the parcel contains a plastic piece instead of the tool in the pictures, do not improvise on the rim. A square timber block is only a fallback, and only if it sits square in the cup.
How often should I check the spirit level?
On two adjacent faces while the spike is still shallow, then again before you call it finished, and again when the post is bolted in. A small lean at the cup becomes a large lean at the top of the post. Deep metal is hard to straighten without bending it.
What if the spike twists?
Turn it back while it is shallow, using the dolly, or pull it out and start again. Forcing a deep twist is how the steel folds. If a stone caused the twist, move the mark. Hitting harder on the same spot is the mistake the reviews describe as a bent spike.
How do I check for cables before I drive?
Look for covers, meters, and scars. Use LSBUD for member plans, and contact any non-member the search names. HSE guidance is to plan and locate before you drive. You cannot see a live cable from the surface. If you cannot rule one out, do not strike. LSBUD is not an all-clear for a private garden.
When should I stop and concrete, or call a fencer?
Stop if the spike bends, the ground is rubble or old concrete, you are hanging a gate, the corner is windy, or the fence is a tall solid run. Call a fencer if you do not own the boundary or you cannot rule out a cable. A crooked socket should come out. It should not be left for the panel to disguise.

Related pages

Drive-in socket or repair stake

Fence post comparison

Fence post spike

Best fence post spike for a lean or a new 75 mm post

Fence post spike buying guide: socket, stake, soil

Fix a leaning fence post if the timber will hold screws

Sources

Public UK sources listed in the research digest. Listing prices, stars and review counts are from the amazon.co.uk captures for these ASINs. Screwfix prices are the figures dated 19 October 2026 in that digest.

  1. England Class A limits for gates, fences and walls (retrieved 19 October 2026)
  2. Timber fencing sheet — post depth, spikes and concreting (retrieved 19 October 2026)
  3. HSE HSG47 — avoiding danger from underground services (retrieved 19 October 2026)
  4. LSBUD — utility plans from member companies (retrieved 19 October 2026)
  5. Screwfix Sabrefix 75 mm drive-in spikes, 2 pack (retrieved 19 October 2026)
  6. Screwfix Sabrefix 75 mm repair spikes, 2 pack (retrieved 19 October 2026)
  7. East Coast Fencing — spikes, shoes and repair supports (retrieved 19 October 2026)
  8. Consumer Rights Act 2015 (retrieved 19 October 2026)