Fence Posts - need advice where to buy

[heitjer]

Greetings -
this spring we will be doing some serious fencing. I need about 3000 ft of horse fence to get all my pastures done. The front of the property has the nice vinyl fence but I am not doing this in the back.

I am looking for suggestions that are more cost effective.

I am thinking about the standard treated fence posts and then run the slick wire on two lines (middle & bottom). At the top I am thinking about the RAMM FLEX. This will give the horses the visual aid to identify the fence.

Right now my concern are the fence posts. 375 posts at $3.50 a post at the local Lowes/Home Depot is killing me already.

Any suggestion where I can get this cheaper in the Greater Houston Area?

 

[handirifle]

I'd like to know what kind of post you're getting for $3.50? I can't get anything that cheap. Heck, I pay $6 for a treated 2"x4"x8', much less a fence post. Even 4" peeler cores cost more than $3.50.

 

[heitjer]

This is what I was looking at:

Lowes

Home Depot

I heard from a friend that these can be bought for $1 a piece sometimes.

 

[bcp]

I've used those for landscaping but not for posts. They didn't last much better than untreated wood in this climate. Much shorter life than any treated 4x4 I've used. I wouldn't use them where any long term strength was needed.

I've started seeing multiple strand high tensile wire fences. They claim posts can be about 50 feet apart. Might look into that.

Bruce

 

[forgeblast]

I use them for fence posts, you can get them for 1.97 if you wait. I have some in the ground 8 years with no problems. I just back fill with gravel around the post.

 

[MMagis]

Two things:
One, as mentioned those aren’t fence posts. Unless you plan to re-do the fence in the near future, don’t use them.
Two, you don’t need posts every 10’. You can at least double that, and if you use stays between posts you could triple it.

 

[MarkV]

Landscape timbers would not last in our soil. They hardy last 5 or 6 years in contact with the top of the ground around flower beds. Of course things may be different in Texas. You might want to check the treatment rating on the landscape timbers compared to a PT 4x4 as an example. You sure would not want to go through all that work to find them rotting in a few years.

MarkV

 

[MF1652]

Check out the Kencove fence supply website.

Electric Fence, High Tensile Fencing Supplies

They have links to lots of video's on building electric fence and uses of various types of fence posts. You can learn a lot from their catalogs. I would be leary about using landscape timbers as fence posts. Plus Kencove has much cheaper posts available which can be found at many local suppliers if you don't want to mail order them.

 

[ralphy6177]

Find someone in your area that sells cedar posts. Those landscape timbers will not last long. Cedar will last longer than any treated posts in our climate.

 

[Verticaltrx]

Do not use landscape timbers.


It sounds like you are wanting what is called high-tensile fence. Two or three wires would be enough for horses if they were good and hot. With high tensile fencing you put the line posts about every 20-30' apart (more or less depending on terrain and type of fence) and build good solid brace assemblies at each end. The wires are then stretched very tight using in-line tensioners.

For the line posts you need 4" round posts about 7' long (about 30-36" in ground) and for the brace/corner posts you'll need 6" posts 8' long (42-48" in ground). Around here the 4" posts are about $6 each if bought in a bundle of 60. The 6" brace posts are about $9-10 each in a bundle of 45. Prices are higher if you buy less than a bundle.

 

[stub]

I'm putting in about 2000' of the Ramm 5" flex using 4-5x8 line posts and 6-7x8 corners. Got posts from TSC, they are yellow pine, CCA .40. The 4x8's were $7 something and the 6x8's were $15. Ramm has a sale on this month, they were cheaper on flex than anybody else. TSC gave me 5% off for buying posts in bundles. Centaur also has flex fence and might be closer to you than Ramm for shipping. 11 rolls of 5" flex and h/w was 1800# on the ticket but when I unloaded it I don't think it weighed but about 1/2 that.

CCA treatment is only available now for farm/industrial so you want to look in farm stores. Rural King had the same posts, made by Green River post company in Sebree, KY. I would think you could find CCA yellow pine posts pretty easy in TX.

Landscape timbers end up rotten and full of termites around here.

Having said all that, I see mostly hot wire on T-posts or just regular welded wire, barb wire, around here.

 

[beppington]

I'd like to know what kind of post you're getting for $3.50? I can't get anything that cheap. Heck, I pay $6 for a treated 2"x4"x8', much less a fence post. Even 4" peeler cores cost more than $3.50.

Same here!! 4x4x8' treated pine posts at my Home Depot are $5.97 (and sometimes $6.97 ) ... If I saw some for $3.50 I'd start dancing right there. But only for a moment, then quickly buy them all.

 

[ruffdog]

I used 6" by 8' treated wood FENCE posts about 16 years ago and am doing great. I would rather spend extra now than have to redo later. I have heard you don't even THINK about using landscape timbers for fencing up here.

 

[handirifle]

For the OP, why not upgrade the posts you want to use (ie, get better ones) and build the fence in stages, as the money becomes available. That's how I do my projects.

 

[two_bit_score]

Greetings -
this spring we will be doing some serious fencing. I need about 3000 ft of horse fence to get all my pastures done. The front of the property has the nice vinyl fence but I am not doing this in the back.

I am looking for suggestions that are more cost effective.

I am thinking about the standard treated fence posts and then run the slick wire on two lines (middle & bottom). At the top I am thinking about the RAMM FLEX. This will give the horses the visual aid to identify the fence.

Right now my concern are the fence posts. 375 posts at $3.50 a post at the local Lowes/Home Depot is killing me already.

Any suggestion where I can get this cheaper in the Greater Houston Area?

Check out this: Stay Tuff Fence Mfg Inc. - High Tensile Woven Wire Fence and Fence Installation Tools

Also go to mccoys and talk to somebody about getting a bid on the materials you need.

Lumber and Building Supplies | McCoy's Building Supply


.

 

[BeezFun]

I put in high tension fence 2 years ago. Spaced the wood posts 100', used steel Tposts in between to maintain wire spacing and follow ground contour. Some Tposts are 25' apart, some are closer depending on terrain. I used 6" round tapered treated posts from Tractor Supply, 8' long, 5' above ground for the line. End and corner post assemblies are 10' and driven deeper, lots of force pulling on that wire. I used a post pounder to put them in, only takes about 30 seconds to pound a post. I used 6 wires, alternating hot and ground so even if earth ground doesn't work, horse still feels a jingle when they touch 2 wires.

 

[Bird]

You can add me to those who would not use those landscape timbers. I've used them for a number of things, including fence posts. They're great, if you intend to rebuild the fence in a year or two.:laughing: I'll never use one again except for indoor jobs where they never get wet. Incidentally, I also tried building a fence by drilling the post holes, set the posts and filled in around the posts with pea gravel which I'd heard worked well. But it didn't work well at all in my "Wilson Clay Loam"; i.e., black clay. When it got dry and the soil cracked, all the pea gravel sank out of sight into the bowels of the earth and I had to fill in around all those loose posts with dirt.

 

[Western]

I'd use 2 7/8" drill stem pipe for the corner braces and "T" post for the line post. Both are easy to find here in Texas.

I would also use railroad ties or cut down telephone poles before I used the post you had the link for. A good fence isn't cheap, but should last you years.
Like mentioned, there isn't anything much worse than having to re-work a fence.

 

[wrooster]

Find someone in your area that sells cedar posts. Those landscape timbers will not last long. Cedar will last longer than any treated posts in our climate.

Cedar or Larch.

wrooster

 

[Eric_Phillips]

Two best tools I bought when putting in our fence was a driver to pound the posts and a palm nailer. We put flex fence around the back and the palm nailer made quick work on the fasteners. The post driver was a great to until I hit the rocky area. I used Pt 4x4 for the runs and the 6" round posts from TSC. The corners I did cement in. It has all been standing for the past three years, only time will tell how long it will last.