Fence questions

[Otto Syracuse]

If you are having holes drilled and setting posts inside the holes, I would suggest using square posts. They will be easy to line up on a string and give you more nailing space. I just had a section of fence replaced and the black locusts posts were pounded into the ground with a pile driver. (Very sturdy!). My posts were 6-8" round with a sawn flat face. The installer had a heck of a time lining up the sawn face to the line, but he did a great job. He did mention almost every day, " gee, I wish these were round posts, it would have been much easier!"

 

[MH8675309]

Round posts are stronger since they don't have flat sides to take all the stress - the stress is spread out to rest rest of the post. You KNOW that treated round posts are designed to be buried - they are fence posts after all. All they will be considerably cheaper. I've got over a thousand feet of fence up around the house and also in the round pen and the boards fasten to the round posts just fine. Be sure to stagger your joints.

 

[HarleyRob]

Last summer i replaced about half a mile of 3 rail wood fence with 4x4 posts. I still have probably another mile to go or so, and i learned some valuable lessons. Number 1; it isn't so much building the fence that's hard, but taking away the old one. Logistically, that starts to pile up quick. 2) if you want it really straight, you'll be doing some 'cleanup' on nearly every hole with manual diggers. (i also did not buy a huge auger, theory being it'd limit the tamping) 3) no, it doesn't, you'll be tamping and tamping to get the dirt in the hole. Tamping is annoying. 4) in places where the previous fence was set in concrete, it was totally rotten. 5) Painting it is really a pain. (i ended up getting a sprayer). 6) old fence board nails show up in the strangest of places, like your foot if you're not on eggshells 100% of the time.

I even pre-sealed my treated 4x4s with paint in hopes to help long term.

Nearly 6 months or so after i sat my last post, i look at where i started and where i finished and can tell that I started to improve. I'm over all pretty pleased, but i wish i had started with the other end, instead of right smack dab in front.

I just bought a fence post driver to help me finish the remaining mile or more (depends on how i end up partitioning this area off).

 

[Ken45101]

If you use square posts, you have to have them perfectly lined up before you backfill and tamp. And by "lined up" I mean square to the fence line, not just aligned vertically and in line.

As mentioned, make sure you get posts rated for ground contact. A lot of dimensional treated lumber is for above ground use only.

As for landscape timbers, i guess it depends on how they are made but I used some as above ground braces and they did not last over 5 years even without ground contact! I do not think there is any guarantee as to how long they will last or how much preservative is in them.

 

[newbury]

<snip>As mentioned, make sure you get posts rated for ground contact. A lot of dimensional treated lumber is for above ground use only.

As for landscape timbers, i guess it depends on how they are made but I used some as above ground braces and they did not last over 5 years even without ground contact! I do not think there is any guarantee as to how long they will last or how much preservative is in them.

And DEFINITELY be aware that many "landscape timbers" are NOT designed for ground contact, even if they are pressure treated. Home Depot sells a 3.5 in. x 3.5 in. x 8 ft. Pressure-Treated Landscape Timber, normally about $4 but usually on sale during a few days in the spring for about $1@. Well worth $1, not worth $4.

 

[Creamer]

I was always told that round posts have less contact area with the board which allows it to dry out and not rot as fast for a longer lasting fence.

 

[SaddleBronc]

Some time back, I happened upon a happy treatement for wood posts that I thought I'd share. Pretty sure it extends the life of the post.

I use enamel paint in gallon cans for lots of outdoor projects, mostly Rustoleum. There's always a half-used can around from the last project whenever I start. I guess it's the nature of the product to form a skin on the surface of these cans with air in them, and sometimes that skin is thick enough to be cut out and removed intact, probably between 1/16" and 1/8".

One day, I was painting near a fence when I needed to dispose of one of these skins, and found a convenient place to lay it. Ever since, that's what I do with all of them.

Just sharing in case someone else out there is as tight as me and wants to find a use for everything. :thumbsup:

 

[weedsportpete]

We had Mennonites come to pound in our posts (it is their side business) and they much prefer round posts because if the post hits a rock it is likely to spin it a little, and then your squared up post is no longer lined up with the flat side even with the other post's flat sides. If you are digging the holes then it is easier to control.

 

[Otto Syracuse]

That was probably the same crew that did mine. He said next time I expand the corral, it will be round posts only.

 

[weedsportpete]

Was that Nevin Horst? He does good work. That post-pounder is amazing - six-way positioning. Pounds the posts in faster than you can get the tractor in position for the next one. The first few years I did it myself with a post-hole digger and concrete. After wearing down the blade, we brought him in and I'd hate to go back to do it myself. We have had him here twice.