Board Fence

[theboman]

What kind type of board/post do they use on those "purty" board fences? Cause when I win the lotto or folks start buying houses or a real job comes along (I was told this week I was too smart to work at a local factory...hello...) I'll be putting one up along the front of our property.

 

[czechsonofagun]

Vinyl maybe?

 

[forgeblast]

I used 4x4's as posts, except where the gates were i used 4x6s and then used pt decking as the sides. Inside i put in woven field fence to keep the dogs in.

 

[SuperCobra]

What kind type of board/post do they use on those "purty" board fences? Cause when I win the lotto or folks start buying houses or a real job comes along (I was told this week I was too smart to work at a local factory...hello...) I'll be putting one up along the front of our property.

Bo,
Around here most of the wood horse fences are half rounds (approx 12-14" cut in half and pressure treated). I got the posts from a local band saw guy who resold them for $6 ea. The boards are true 1 x 6 oak rough cut (not PT). I got mine from the same mill - a farmer owned/run mill. I've seen prices ranging averaging $6.50 - $7 for a 16 foot oak board from a few different small local mills. Co-op sells them for $7-8. After I bought the last batch I noticed I could get a 1 x 6 PT deck board from Lowes for the same price ($6.75) so I've just been using those. Easier to cut and nail than the rough cut oak. Don't know how the ACQ pt affects horses but ours don't chew and we are painting them anyway so I figure why not go with the pt. Although I suppose the oak rough cut is a little stouter if your horses want to try to run through it.

 

[Eric_Phillips]

Use PT for the posts and pine boards for the rails. If not in ground contact you don't need PT.

 

[jcaron2]

Bo,
Around here most of the wood horse fences are half rounds (approx 12-14" cut in half and pressure treated). I got the posts from a local band saw guy who resold them for $6 ea. The boards are true 1 x 6 oak rough cut (not PT). I got mine from the same mill - a farmer owned/run mill. I've seen prices ranging averaging $6.50 - $7 for a 16 foot oak board from a few different small local mills. Co-op sells them for $7-8. After I bought the last batch I noticed I could get a 1 x 6 PT deck board from Lowes for the same price ($6.75) so I've just been using those. Easier to cut and nail than the rough cut oak. Don't know how the ACQ pt affects horses but ours don't chew and we are painting them anyway so I figure why not go with the pt. Although I suppose the oak rough cut is a little stouter if your horses want to try to run through it.

This is pretty much what I did for my horse fence, though I used 1x6x16 pine instead of oak. However, the half-round posts I used were 6-7" x 8'. If Cobra really used 12-14" PT half-round posts, those would be absolutely enormous and way, way, way overkill, not to mention incredibly heavy.

Somebody already mentioned this, but the really "purdy" fences are usually made of vinyl (or solid gold or platinum coated in vinyl judging by the price).

If you go the wood route, here's a quick-and-dirty contraption I made to hold my chainsaw at a consistent angle to cut off the tops of the posts. It clamps onto the middle of the saw bar and slides along the top rail of the fence.

Josh

 

[Pops15]

I saw a guy build a crossbuck fence with 4X4pt posts and orange fiberglass step ladder rails. The house sold and the new owner must not like orange because he tore the fence down.

 

[Bird]

Interesting "contraption", Josh. I've never seen that done. And a nice looking fence, too.

 

[SuperCobra]

Use PT for the posts and pine boards for the rails. If not in ground contact you don't need PT.

I've never seen pine rough cut around here - only choices there in 16 foot lengths were poplar and oak and since the price difference wasn't much between those two I went with the sturdier oak. I prefer 16' boards because you can put the posts at 8' and stagger the joints.

They don't have non-pt 16' 1x at the local HD or Lowe's. I've never seen anything but 16' pt - and if those are the same price as non-PT rough cut - why not use them? Definately isn't going to hurt anything. Why are deck boards supposed to be PT? They aren't in ground contact.

 

[SuperCobra]

This is pretty much what I did for my horse fence, though I used 1x6x16 pine instead of oak. However, the half-round posts I used were 6-7" x 8'. If Cobra really used 12-14" PT half-round posts, those would be absolutely enormous and way, way, way overkill, not to mention incredibly heavy.

Somebody already mentioned this, but the really "purdy" fences are usually made of vinyl (or solid gold or platinum coated in vinyl judging by the price).

If you go the wood route, here's a quick-and-dirty contraption I made to hold my chainsaw at a consistent angle to cut off the tops of the posts. It clamps onto the middle of the saw bar and slides along the top rail of the fence.

Josh

You are right - they were mostly 6-8" some maybe 10" max in diameter. I know most were too big for a 6" auger and 9" was even tight sometimes. Some of the ones that were larger in the butt end had a pretty significant taper to them.

Handy contraption for getting the angle consistent. Doesn't look like it would be that much more involved to make one that sits on the other side of the fence so your saw is angled upwards. Having just trimmed a bunch by hand I know it made a big difference for me to be on the other side of the fence cutting up instead of down - you aren't reaching as high. Only seems like a few inches of difference but the different angle wears you out quicker.

 

[jcaron2]

You are right - they were mostly 6-8" some maybe 10" max in diameter. I know most were too big for a 6" auger and 9" was even tight sometimes. Some of the ones that were larger in the butt end had a pretty significant taper to them.

Handy contraption for getting the angle consistent. Doesn't look like it would be that much more involved to make one that sits on the other side of the fence so your saw is angled upwards. Having just trimmed a bunch by hand I know it made a big difference for me to be on the other side of the fence cutting up instead of down - you aren't reaching as high. Only seems like a few inches of difference but the different angle wears you out quicker.

You're totally right about angling up rather than down. It was a major pain reaching up that high in the air. Much easier than free-handing it though!

 

[theboman]

Can't afford the wood, much less that vinyl!! Thanks for the info. Got a lot more knowledge that will get put to use. I'm cutting a slot in a coffee can right now to start dropping change for the wood fence.

 

[jcaron2]

Can't afford the wood, much less that vinyl!! Thanks for the info. Got a lot more knowledge that will get put to use. I'm cutting a slot in a coffee can right now to start dropping change for the wood fence.

Well, as a few people already mentioned, you can usually save quite a bit by going with rough-cut boards from a guy with a portable sawmill. If you don't know anyone, you can usually find someone in your area on Craigslist. I paid $0.40/bdft for my pine rails, or $3.20 per 1x6x16. The only downside is that it'll be green so you'll have plenty of warpage and shrinkage to contend with. If you have the luxury of stacking, stickering, and drying the wood for a few months before you use it, you'll have a lot fewer popped nails or broken screws. On the other hand, when they're green the boards are really flexible, so if you have to bend them around any radiused corners like I did for my horse fence, they work great.

 

[Gizmo2]

I used PT some 20 years ago. I leave the post higher than the top board for driving the post back down from frost heave, when needed. I also used those purty aluminum post caps. I would leave enough room under the bottom broad for a push mower to fit easily. My wife made the lookout guy.

 

[theboman]

Gizmo that's the type I'm looking to build when I get the funds.

Jaron2, I know a heck of a sawmill man, he cut all my boards for the Iron Hill Shed project, and there are also two mills in the 15 mile range of my house that could sell me some too now that I'm thinking and on the right track of board types.