Another Fencing Dilemma

[Artlowell]

What is the best way to end a fence when it meets the edge of a creek? My creek has very steep banks and there is some slow erosion that is held in check by various root systems.

I am not wanting to build my ending H-brace too close to the edge for fear of weakening the soil even more, and I expect that, someday, the bank will fail, but I am wanting to end the fence in such a way that my critters can't sneak around the edge.

Has anybody come up with a good way to accomplish this? I'm thinking that maybe ending it with a portion of cattle panel attached to the final H-brace and held up with t-posts might last for awhile. Has anybody come up with a better solution?

 

[bcp]

What keeps the cattle from walking through the creek, around the end of whatever the fence is made of?

Bruce

 

[Artlowell]

The purpose of the fence is to keep the critters away from the edge of the creek for riparian protection, only for some parts of the creek (provides some considerable tax advantages). The critters have a bridge for getting to the other side. They won't be fording the creek. the banks are practically vertical. I will probably be tying the fence into the bridge somehow, although I prefer not to be modifying the bridge any more than I have to. Thanx for the quick response.

 

[J_J]

Pictures might be helpful. One can then see what you have and recommend something you might not have thought of.

 

[Artlowell]

OK then. No doubt, my camera battery is dead and will need many hours to re-charge. I'll get back to ya. Thanx

 

[Western]

If the creek isn't to wide, I have put my "H" braces in or triple brace and ran aluminum cable across, then I hung cattle panels to the cable, I have 3 now spanned about 40', My horses haven't got out:thumbsup:

Had to add, I have braces on both sides of the creek

 

[RxRatedZ71]

I have the same problem when I ended my T-post and 4 foot goat fencing on either side of my creek. My dogs run around the end and onto the neighboring tracts. The creek is roughly 15' across. I, too, put an H brace on each side and have thought about perhaps pulling high-tensile wire in the upper and lower position and then hanging the goat fence on that. The dogs do go into the creek and I've thought about driving vertical rebar pieces into the bed of the creek. I know when the water gets up, that it will cause obstructions to any debris flowing downstream.

Maybe you could hang run a cattle panel across the creek. Then some-how hang another panel under it and cut to fit the contour of the creek bank. That way strong current could let it swing up and let debris flow under. Just some ideas I've tossed around in my head over the past few years.

 

[Artlowell]

Actually, I have a solution to this problem. Since there is a bridge across the creek, I can jerry-rig a panel between the end H-brace and the end of the bridge. I have done the thing with driving t-posts into the creek bed and cutting panels to fit the contour of the creek. Of course, they washed out each winter and left a mess to deal with before the dogs noticed that they could get past it once the creek level dropped. Not the best solution, but the only thing I could think of. Never did come up with a better idea.

 

[nwngunner]

I had an issue where my fence ended at a creek as well. What i done was set a good 8inch post about 3feet back from the edge of the vertical bank. How ever before i set the post i drilled a bunch of 3/4inch holes in the post. Took some 3/4 threaded rebar and put it in to the post and tightend it down with some nuts. Now the end of the fence hangs out over the bank and there is no way to get around it.

For the creek to keep my cattle in i took and sunk three 4 foot earth anchors half the way up the bank and strung a 5/8 steel cable over to a tree on the other side. Took some big d-rings and hung my cattle panel from them, took and cut the panel to match the creek bed.

The whole thing was about a foot off of the water, and at the bottom of the panels i put 55gallon plastic drums. Took a small earth anchor and sunk it in to the upstream side of the bank. Attach a small section of steel cable and some overhead gerage door springs to the panels and you now have a self closing flood gate. Just keep it high enough so things dont get to stuck in it, hence the barrels on the bottom of the panel and the spring to keep it closed if the cows come near it.

Mine worked for about 4 years until 24inch diam cherry tree came down in the creek and smashed my cable. The cable held but it stretched it enough where the panel is now half stuck in the creek. Going to leave it as it is for a while.