Man, @shane78, I've been there with posts leaning after a bad storm. In my experience, going deep is key, but like Jakefisher said, that above-ground concrete collar makes a big difference. What worked for me was digging down a good three feet, adding gravel for drainage, and then pouring a wide concrete base that flares out at the bottom. That bell shape really locks it in, and the weight above ground fights the wind trying to pull it up. Your mileage may vary, but that mix has kept my posts solid through some rough weather.

For years I swore by the old dials in our foundry, thought they had soul or something. Seeing a digital readout catch that spike last week... it changed my mind fast. Now I see it's not about replacing skill, just giving it better tools.

I used to skip scale checks too, thinking it was faster to just trust the file. A friend had a similar mess-up where his model was printed way too small because of a scale error. He had to reorder the whole thing, and it set his project back a week. After hearing that, I started making it a rule to verify every time. It takes an extra minute but saves so much hassle. Posts like this just confirm that habit is worth it.