Fence Post HowTo

[gsganzer]

I'd weld up some 90 degree corners using 2 3/8" pipe with at least two rails per side. I'd also weld up some "H bracing" for the the long straight runs and space them about 150 feet. I'd set the corners and "H-bracing at least 3 feet deep w/ concrete. You can use t-poles for the line posts.

The welded corners and H-bracing will give you something sobstantial to pull the wire tight.

You can weld up the corners and h-braces in your shop or at home if you don't have a portable welder.

 

[slowzuki]

Ok maybe I'm confused, we are talking electric fence here right?

Corner posts are dug and set deep, with bracing if the ground is soft. These are big posts, ie railroad ties. Straight as an arrow runs between corner posts, 25 foot spacing on intermediate posts. 3 to 5 strands electric wire.

 

[Boondox]

Texas. No snow, right? Since we're talking electric, what's wrong with fiberglass poles on a semi-permanent basis? Cheap. Really easy to install! And if you ever decide to change the position of a fence there's no simpler way to do it.

That's how we have enclosed the seven acres used by our sheep, and even with the sheep mesh (draws a heck of a lot more than straight wire or horse tape) we still get 6000 volts on the far end.

Pete

 

[Fireman_dcb]

cmuncy,


I would NOT recommend 2" posts if you're going to have horses - my wife has 2 hayburners and they are CONSTANTLY leaning/ scratching against the 4x4 posts and the RAMM fencing I put in. If you do use something that small I would recommend that you run a single run of electric fencing using a 4" spacer on each post so that the horses will learn quickly to stay away from the posts.

as for installing them, fill the FEL on your tractor with dirt - soak it down so its good and wet (and heavy) , put the post in postion and slowly drop the bucket til it makes contact with the top of the post, make sure the post is plumb on all sides then continue to drop the bucket slowly and push the post into the ground, works VERY well until you hit a big 'ol rock.

 

[Poncho]

cmuncy... a big question is what type of fence do you plan on installing as each type has it's benefits and drawbacks. Red top or field fence is good for the time being and keeps dogs and stuff out... but a lot of horses have vices like thinking the grass is greener on the other side and leaning on it, or pawing or rolling close to it and getting a hoof hung in it, either one and it can be a vet bill for an injured horse or renting a backhoe for burial. Of course you could run electric wire or tape... but your fence cost goes up. I chose not to go barb wire because I've seen a lot of scarred horses both on the body and with missing eyes (from scratching)... I'd just rather not chance it. You could go only electric wire or tape, but lets other critters through very easily and you could lose power for numerous reasons (eventually grounding rods will deteriorate, power surge, solar charger goes bad etc.) I've got a combination of wood posts and corral board with electric tape as well as T-posts with electric tape, and the field fence. Needless to say, the horses chewed the corral board and fence posts and have totally destroyed the field fence by leaning on it and pawing it. Next year I'll be pulling it all down and putting up a "no climb" fence which is heavier in guage and has a very tight mesh "V" pattern and then running the tape at the top and middle. I've used the hand held T-post driver and drive the posts about 2-2.5' in the ground in less than a minute. Keep us posted on your fence!

 

[Poppa]

</font><font color="blue" class="small">( I have experience with both using a post hole digger and a post driver. To give you an idea of the time difference. I first tried the PHD. I spent 74.4 tractor hours to dig 186 holes and install 29 4" x 4" x 8' posts, approximately 24 minutes/hole. My original plan was to dig all the holes, then install all the posts. I dug all the holes over the summer, and began installing the posts. I only got 29 posts installed before winter arrived. The next spring and summer were so wet, I couldn't get any posts installed. Guess what? Most of the holes I dug, filled back in! There had to be a better way! /forums/images/graemlins/crazy.gif )</font>

Yup. I have a nice PHD for my tractor but with no down pressure, if I ever had more than fifteen posts at a time to install I would go rent a skidsteer with a PHD. I did 189 holes in just over eight hours. About three minutes per hole. In soft soil the auger time was seconds and in harder clay I was able to place a significant amount of the weight of the skid steer on the auger.

Of course that just meant I had 189 open holes. Took me nearly a month to fill the holes with posts and tamp them in. I can see where a post driver would be nice if the soil is soft enough. AND, like I said before, I will not look at a pile of t-posts without renting a driver for them.

Mike

 

[cmuncy]

WOW!!

I'm gone for 4 days and getting a lot of great responses!

THe fence will be electrified, the top and probably the bottom of 4 runs of straight wire. I was out at the land tonight and looked at the neighbor's fence. 3" wooden posts with 4 T posts between. The wooden posts were not very secure. I believe I will go with the T post route and deep 8" corners with reinforcing.

This decision weighs a lot on my labor as well as the ability of wood posts to hold up. I like the look of the wood, but it looks liek the T posts wil be easier to install and the labor savings can go towards the toppers.

Thanks again guys,

Chris

 

[mathey]

the t-post caps with the clip for electric tape/rope are 50 cents each...the plain caps without the clips are 30 cents each.

 

[cmuncy]

After a good night sleep, here's what we have decided:

T posts spaced 8' with 3 - 8" post anchoring the six corners of the property. We are stil lthinking about using 4" posts every 4 or 5 T posts just to break up the look a bit. We will go with the toppers and insulators on the top and bottom of 4 runs of straight wire. At every gate opening ( counting 6 so far) we will use 8" posts .

There will be at least 2 - 2 " PVC pipes buried under each gate opening for hot wire and possible water/misc electrical lines ( not in the same pipe) This will save trenching the openings later.

The only thing I have yet to determine is my gates on my driveway. It's 500' long and 30' wide. I will probably end up putting up a twin electric gate setup as the budget does not yet allow for a really nice pipe fence entrance. Probably will lend up getting a twin mighty mule setup. The reason for the wide girth concern is that my wife pulls a 38' Sundown and I want to make sure she has plenty of room, plus my daughter will be learning to drive here really quick /forums/images/graemlins/frown.gif

Another item we are planning on is a camera, numeric keypad, and intercom system at the entrance to the drive. Total footage is almost 900' to the house. So Ialready have to run conduit that length. I plan on checking in to getting inner duct for these long runs as it will be cheaper by the foot vs. using PVC pipe. All in all I'll probably have 4 total runs of pipe from the front to the house:
water
telephony
misc gate stuff
electric

I can't wait. Just hired the gentleman that will be cleaning the driveway up and clearing my property line.
/forums/images/graemlins/cool.gif

Sorry about the rambling, but it looks like we are finally making progress in getting our new house and farm together.

Chris

 

[cowboydoc]

I think the idea of one 4" wooden post every 4 t-posts is a good idea. Sounds like you are going to have a nice place. We are just about finished with out home place and I have already gone back and redid certain things because I was trying to save money to begin with. I would highly suggest you do everything exactly like you want it and forget about price. To go back and do it like you want it later is going to cost you double or more. I tryed to save here and there and the "I could just get by with this". Now I'm going back and doing things like I wish I had done them in the first place. /forums/images/graemlins/frown.gif