I hammered in the copper pipe, but after getting the lag bolt in finger tight I had to bring in the big channel locks to tighten it in.

For earth battery aficionados, The cathode and anode are arranged east-west and at a distance of about 8 inches, so I expect that I am not impacted by telluric currents, but with my excellent failure rate I am wide open to being offered additional reading material. Also, I don't know my soil composition, so as an electrolyte it's properties are open to broad speculation. The soil is not particularly wet or dry ( I sure could use a series of earth-battery powered soil sensors)