Fencing and Posts

[Fuddyduddy1952]

I put up a lot of fence and a 6"-7" x 8ft PT post every 50 ft, 7ft heavy T posts every 10 ft. Wire stretched super tight I put 10" up. Every bend three posts 5ft apart with 4" post at top, cross ratchet/wire strapped and at gates.

 

[oosik]

Very few use wood posts around here. 10 to 20 year life - maybe. T-posts is the normal way folks go. I fenced my 80 acres with T-145 posts. They are a very HD post and survived well. I installed the fence in 1982. 665 T-145 posts. 28 rolls of Eversharp barbed wire. Also called Redshank.

Brother - am I ever glad I did that 40 years ago. It was a real PITA - even 40 years ago.

 

[EddieWalker]

I'm a bit surprised by the negative comments on wood posts. I guess it's a regional thing because I've had great luck with round wood posts in the ground. My soil is acidic red clay, my climate is humid with an average of almost 60 inches of rain in a year. It's not uncommon to get a few thunderstorms that drop 3 inches in an hour or two a few times a year. One inches of rain from a thunder storm is common.

In my experience, I've neve seen a wood post of any kind rotted out in the ground. In every case, the part that in the ground is always pristine. Almost brand new looking. The rot is always at ground level, where the water sits around the base of the post after it rains. Usually this is a low area that doesn't drain. When I replace these posts, I build up the soil or concrete so the water flows away from the post. In the last couple of years, I've removed several of my wood posts to change the location of my fence, and 100% of them where in perfect condition, even though some of them have been in the ground 20 years. Some have only been in the ground 10 years. They are also mixed between being set in concrete and packed dirt. The ones in dirt come out easier then pulling T posts. The ones in concrete take the most effort to get out.

All of my wood posts are round. The worse post for anything is a treated 4x4 because they twist and bend more then anything else. They used to be fine, but when all the changes happened to how they had to be made, they are no longer worth using. I'm not even comfortable with 4x6 treated posts for anything higher then a foot or two above grade.

For staples, I'm still hammering in the barbed staples. I looked at a few of the staple guns out there, but the barbed staples that I saw where not hot dipped galvanized, and they where thinner then the ones I'm hammering in manually. Some of them will only take smooth staples, which I believe are worthless.

To make it a little easier, I have a tool that holds the staple while I get them started. They staple fits into a slot, and after you place the staple, you hammer the tool until it's started. Something that surprised me was how important a good hammer is. I have several hammers, and I started out using a solid wood handles hammer. But my forearms started hurting so bad that I almost gave up, but then I tried my Bostic framing hammer with a rubber type handle for the gripping area, and all the pain I was having when hammering wasn't there.

 

[oosik]

My 80 acres is a pure rectangle - 1320x2640. The homesteader had the property fenced. Some of the heaviest flat barbed - barbed wire I've ever seen. Fortunately - the corner posts were a very resilient wood. Perhaps - cedar or black locust. The remainder of the posts - long gone.

I have an idea why so few use wood posts around these parts. T-posts are so much easier to pound in. The wood posts around here are from wood that, simply, has a short life span. The majority of fencing, in these parts, is to control cattle - not horses.

My fence line goes thru a wet area. It's either wet or the water is 2 to 3 feet deep - most of the year. The T-posts will only last 6 to 8 years thru this area. They "rust off" right at the ground level. So...... every five years or so. I go down to this area - called the "moat" - and pound in new T-posts. The idea being - pound in new posts before the existing ones fall over.

 

[ponytug]

I'm a bit surprised by the negative comments on wood posts. I guess it's a regional thing because I've had great luck with round wood posts in the ground. My soil is acidic red clay, my climate is humid with an average of almost 60 inches of rain in a year. It's not uncommon to get a few thunderstorms that drop 3 inches in an hour or two a few times a year. One inches of rain from a thunder storm is common.

In my experience, I've neve seen a wood post of any kind rotted out in the ground. In every case, the part that in the ground is always pristine. Almost brand new looking. The rot is always at ground level, where the water sits around the base of the post after it rains. Usually this is a low area that doesn't drain. When I replace these posts, I build up the soil or concrete so the water flows away from the post. In the last couple of years, I've removed several of my wood posts to change the location of my fence, and 100% of them where in perfect condition, even though some of them have been in the ground 20 years. Some have only been in the ground 10 years. They are also mixed between being set in concrete and packed dirt. The ones in dirt come out easier then pulling T posts. The ones in concrete take the most effort to get out.

All of my wood posts are round. The worse post for anything is a treated 4x4 because they twist and bend more then anything else. They used to be fine, but when all the changes happened to how they had to be made, they are no longer worth using. I'm not even comfortable with 4x6 treated posts for anything higher then a foot or two above grade.

For staples, I'm still hammering in the barbed staples. I looked at a few of the staple guns out there, but the barbed staples that I saw where not hot dipped galvanized, and they where thinner then the ones I'm hammering in manually. Some of them will only take smooth staples, which I believe are worthless.

To make it a little easier, I have a tool that holds the staple while I get them started. They staple fits into a slot, and after you place the staple, you hammer the tool until it's started. Something that surprised me was how important a good hammer is. I have several hammers, and I started out using a solid wood handles hammer. But my forearms started hurting so bad that I almost gave up, but then I tried my Bostic framing hammer with a rubber type handle for the gripping area, and all the pain I was having when hammering wasn't there.

Can you share a photo or link to your staple holder? I'm with you on staples; heavily galvanized with barbs is the way to go.

I switched to a Fiskars anti-vibration hammer, and I'm not going back. It is sooo much easier on me. (Ok, I was too cheap to buy it, but it was gifted to me one year. I would buy it another in a heart beat. Lifetime warranty, too.)

Fiskars® Pro IsoCore™ 16 oz Finishing Hammer (13.5") | Fiskars

Great for adding trim, mounting cabinets or any detail work, this finishing hammer features our patented IsoCore™ Shock Control System to reduce shock and vibration by 4X.

www.fiskars.com

All the best,

Peter

 

[ruffdog]

Instead of staples in wood posts, these are a joy to use. They are great for repairs when the staples pull out.

Murdoch's – Cat's Claw Fasteners - Fence Fastening System

 

[MAX-24-Dean]

I use this staple starter/holder, works quit well.

Staple Starter

Staple Starter - Staples - Hardware

kencove.com

And I use double barb staples.

 

[EddieWalker]

I use this staple starter/holder, works quit well.

Staple Starter

Staple Starter - Staples - Hardware

kencove.com

And I use double barb staples.

That’s the one I use. It’s been great!!!

 

[Darth_DMack]

GREAT THREAD!

We too, are looking for fencing.

We have 15 acres, wooded, with 2 acres cleared for our homesight we are building. We will do a nice fence around the "yard", with a nice road frontage fence, stone pillars and nice gate along the frontage road. I am looking at T Pole Fencing around the perimeter of our property. We have two 6 yr old German Shepherds that will be out and about on the property. They stay very close to us when outdoors, but I just don't want them to be tempted to stray.

I'm also looking at 8-10' centers between the T Poles.

 

[Carl_NH]

We did 600' and I used TSC 5/6"x8 .40 CCA treated round SYP posts 15' OC and black 2x4" PVC coated to 9 GA fencing. Looked at the staplers and got this one https://www.amazon.com/Freeman-PFS9...locphy=9002476&hvtargid=pla-451230851015&th=1 on sale for $230 and a box of 1000 9GA staples for total of $300.

So far all are holding up well.

 

[ponytug]

Instead of staples in wood posts, these are a joy to use. They are great for repairs when the staples pull out.

Murdoch's – Cat's Claw Fasteners - Fence Fastening System

What kind of fencing do you use them on?

All the best, Peter

 

[NoTrespassing]

I'm building a fence around my place to keep cattle, horses and goats in, but also to keep wild hogs out. For my fence, I'm putting 6 inch round posts in at my corners, and every 100 feet. I'm putting 6 foot T posts in every ten feet. My fence is four feet tall, 2x4 horse fence. It's super expensive, but because of my goats and horses, I don't want to use anything with a smaller spacing. I also use the same 2x4 fencing on my dog yard.

From what I'm seeing, your costs are about as good as I've seen. I just paid $5.09 for 6 foot T posts.

If you are going to add wood rails to the posts, then the 8 foot spacing makes sense, but then you really don't want to try to attach wood rails to T posts. I would reconsider that idea and then spread you T posts out farther. For high tensile field fence, you can easily go 15 feet apart for your T posts. Especially if all you are doing is marking your property line and keeping your dogs in. I've read that some high tensile fence manufactures say that you can go 25 feet in spacing your T posts. Where I have my cows, I've been paying attention to what everyone else is doing, and it's all over the place. I've seen T posts spread out 15 feet apart, and running for thousands of feet with just T posts. I've also seen fence lines with all wood posts without any T posts used to hold in cattle. I'm not sure if there is an actual wrong or right way to do this since nobody really seems to know, or care. My goal is to build it as good as I can, and not have to do it again.

How are you stretching your wire? I bought one of these 4 foot stretcher bars from Kencove that I highly recommend. I put a come along on the top and another on the bottom, and I can really pull the fence tight quickly and easily on my own. I use my backhoe with some chains to anchor the come along's.

Fencer's Choice Stretcher Bar

Fencer's Choice Stretcher Bar - Woven Wire Accessories - Woven Wire

kencove.com

View attachment 805362

We used 5' 2"x4" for horses and electric to keep them off the fence. The goats figured out of way to escape on a regular basis. They would go under so I ran high tensile along the bottom. That slowed them down but didn't stop them if they saw something the wanted. Electric at the bottom works but you have to keep the weeds off of it.

 

[ruffdog]

What kind of fencing do you use them on?

All the best, Peter

Either the field fence like the OP has or barbed wire. What is nice is I can install them while I'm on the other side of the fence with a screw gun.

 

[paulsharvey]

I did consider 3 strand barb wire on sides and back; for cost savings; but I think I'd rather the field fence. No matter what, it's gonna a pretty expensive.

 

[quicksandfarmer]

I'm a bit surprised by the negative comments on wood posts. I guess it's a regional thing because I've had great luck with round wood posts in the ground. My soil is acidic red clay, my climate is humid with an average of almost 60 inches of rain in a year. It's not uncommon to get a few thunderstorms that drop 3 inches in an hour or two a few times a year. One inches of rain from a thunder storm is common.

In my experience, I've neve seen a wood post of any kind rotted out in the ground. In every case, the part that in the ground is always pristine. Almost brand new looking. The rot is always at ground level, where the water sits around the base of the post after it rains. Usually this is a low area that doesn't drain. When I replace these posts, I build up the soil or concrete so the water flows away from the post. In the last couple of years, I've removed several of my wood posts to change the location of my fence, and 100% of them where in perfect condition, even though some of them have been in the ground 20 years. Some have only been in the ground 10 years. They are also mixed between being set in concrete and packed dirt. The ones in dirt come out easier then pulling T posts. The ones in concrete take the most effort to get out.

All of my wood posts are round. The worse post for anything is a treated 4x4 because they twist and bend more then anything else. They used to be fine, but when all the changes happened to how they had to be made, they are no longer worth using. I'm not even comfortable with 4x6 treated posts for anything higher then a foot or two above grade.

For staples, I'm still hammering in the barbed staples. I looked at a few of the staple guns out there, but the barbed staples that I saw where not hot dipped galvanized, and they where thinner then the ones I'm hammering in manually. Some of them will only take smooth staples, which I believe are worthless.

To make it a little easier, I have a tool that holds the staple while I get them started. They staple fits into a slot, and after you place the staple, you hammer the tool until it's started. Something that surprised me was how important a good hammer is. I have several hammers, and I started out using a solid wood handles hammer. But my forearms started hurting so bad that I almost gave up, but then I tried my Bostic framing hammer with a rubber type handle for the gripping area, and all the pain I was having when hammering wasn't there.

I'll add that when a post does rot off at ground level, and you want to replace it with another post in the same spot, getting the part that's left in the ground out is a royal pain. I have a corner I need to deal with and I'm dreading it.

 

[ruffdog]

I'll add that when a post does rot off at ground level, and you want to replace it with another post in the same spot, getting the part that's left in the ground out is a royal pain. I have a corner I need to deal with and I'm dreading it.

Yep...that is what I'm dealing with...more than a few.

 

[bcp]

Usually the worst wood is within a few inches of ground level. The in-ground section may be still really solid.

I would get a screw eye or hook, 1/2 inch or larger, and 12 inches or so long. Drill a pilot hole to help prevent splitting the post, screw in the eye/hook into solid wood, and pull up.

Bruce

 

[ning]

I enclosed about 8ac with 10' posts; there's 5' horse fence (2x4 woven) and then three strands of barbless above that with 8" gaps; there's a hot wire in the gap between the horse fence and the first barbless on the outside. 6" posts at the corners and bends, and then after every 3 or 4 t-posts. Used an angle iron+rebar+bolts stretcher with the tractor tugging.

I've pulled pt wood posts that I sunk 25 years ago and by and large they're fine; they had the same chemical mix then as now, so I'm confident with what I put in the ground.

My target was keeping wildlife out and potentially goats in if I can convince my wife that they're a win.

So far, no coyotes have climbed the fence, and the bobcat is staying out - haven't lost a chicken since the fence has been up.

 

[Fuddyduddy1952]

Other thing I did was fence charger, t post top insulators and porcelain insulators for wood posts. A driven ground for charger black ground terminal also wired to woven wire fence. My thought is the more ground the better and many feet of woven wire with t posts every 10ft makes a super ground all the way around.

 

[quicksandfarmer]

Other thing I did was fence charger, t post top insulators and porcelain insulators for wood posts. A driven ground for charger black ground terminal also wired to woven wire fence. My thought is the more ground the better and many feet of woven wire with t posts every 10ft makes a super ground all the way around.

Plus that way anything that touches the hot doesn't have to touch the ground, any part of the fence will do. Helps with climbing animals.