Suppose you had to drive a boatload of sharpened stakes into the ground. Sometimes, the ground is very hard and when you pound for long enough, the stakes split or mushroom.
I've seen metal caps that are placed over the end of the lumber to be pounded upon. The caps take the impact & protect the lumber (usually). They are of course specific to the cross section of the stake being driven.
Does anyone here know what these things are called?
i know what your talking about but was not able to find them myself. i used 1 peice of heavy guage steel and a couple of screws - always does the trick - 30 posts driven - no problems with splitting.
Just stop at the plumbing department and pick out a cap and stub (short piece of pipe) of an appropriate size.
The first job I ever had was as a surveyor's helper. I drove many 2x2 stakes a day with an 8# maul. In frozen ground I punched a pilot hole first with a pointed 1" steel rod. A sometimes convenient alternative is to jet a hole with a piece of pipe at the end of a garden hose.
SJF
Home Depot carries them in their fencing dept.. They come in different weights. I bought a 16 pounder and that worked great. Cost 19 bucks
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