fence tips and tricks

[fence_it]

Pipe or wood line posts are really only required at a change in direction or elevation. T-posts would be sufficient for everything else. I've built a 1/4 mile of fence with nothing but t-posts in line. 2' deep is sufficient for line posts, but I prefer 3'. Ground is soft here.

 

[libertygarden]

Thank you fence_it. It saves me a lot of work and money. I'm also in soft clay soil during the rainy season.

 

[fence_it]

Some alternatives to crimp sleeves I have been experimenting with. Knot on top is a figure 8, speed knot on the bottom. Not as strong as crimp sleeves, I believe they are around 70-80% strength from what I've researched. But definitely cheaper than crimps and gripples. Pretty easy to learn, If I can do it anyone can.

https://imgur.com/Kc5asYN]

 

[greybeard]

In a barbed wire fence stretch of 225 yards with double H assemblies on both ends and using 1.33 T-Posts pounded 2' deep and spaced 10' apart, is a strong post needed every 5th T-Post? If so, will a 2 7/8" pipe pounded 2' deep suffice? The H assemblies are 6" treated pine posts, 4' deep, 8' apart, with 60 pounds of concrete per post and the rest back filled with road base.


Thank you.

It all depends on what you have going on with your fence and what kind of stock you have (and any neighbor might have)

If I had not put a big post in about every 150' and had used anything except HT, I wouldn't have a fence left standing. Can't tell it in this picture, but the wire IS still attached to the big post, which prevented the tee posts from just laying on over.


Looking the opposite direction:


(last 3-4 years,this has been at least an annual event for me)

 

[fence_it]

In a barbed wire fence stretch of 225 yards with double H assemblies on both ends and using 1.33 T-Posts pounded 2' deep and spaced 10' apart, is a strong post needed every 5th T-Post? If so, will a 2 7/8" pipe pounded 2' deep suffice? The H assemblies are 6" treated pine posts, 4' deep, 8' apart, with 60 pounds of concrete per post and the rest back filled with road base.


Thank you.

It all depends on what you have going on with your fence and what kind of stock you have (and any neighbor might have)

If I had not put a big post in about every 150' and had used anything except HT, I wouldn't have a fence left standing. Can't tell it in this picture, but the wire IS still attached to the big post, which prevented the tee posts from just laying on over.


Looking the opposite direction:


(last 3-4 years,this has been at least an annual event for me)

Very good point, something I forgot to mention. If the fence has pressure, it needs a "strong" (pipe or wood) line post every so often.

 

[bbirder]

Damn GB,
Looks like you are in the fence cleaning business..

 

[libertygarden]

This is a highway frontage fence, straight and with a 30' change in altitude over 700 yards. I'll probably go back and replace every fifth T-post with a 2, 7/8s pipe, when I find a CAT with a post driver.

The pics above, however, I'll keep in mind because one side of the perimeter runs along a creek that sometimes over flows.

 

[greybeard]

This is a highway frontage fence, straight and with a 30' change in altitude over 700 yards. I'll probably go back and replace every fifth T-post with a 2, 7/8s pipe, when I find a CAT with a post driver.

The pics above, however, I'll keep in mind because one side of the perimeter runs along a creek that sometimes over flows.

I've very rarely had any problem with a fence that runs parallel to water flow, even if that flow is 4' over the top of the fence.
All my problem areas are fences that are at right angles to water flow..those running perpendicular to flow.
The fence I posted above is labeled 'B' in this picture. Had 'some' trouble with 'A' and 'C' too but hardly ever problems with fences D & E even tho those 2 are closer to the river and actually see higher water.

 

[libertygarden]

What I've seen over the last 3 years is T posts that once stood 54" above the ground reduced to 44" posts and the first wire covered by silt.

That's a nice piece of land you have there.

 

[greybeard]

What I've seen over the last 3 years is T posts that once stood 54" above the ground reduced to 44" posts and the first wire covered by silt.

That's a nice piece of land you have there.

Thanks, but it stays too wet way and too often.

I have some corner posts along that river that were part of the original fence my brother and I built in the mid 60s, that only a few inches of post stick up above the sand. I moved the whole north-south fence back off the river bank about 20 yards back in the mid 90s.

 

[libertygarden]

Got another H brace done.

 

[libertygarden]

Had to remove a fallen hackberry from the fence line. It wasn't there last week.

 

[libertygarden]

Using the golden rod to remove the slack from HT brace wire before putting a strainer.

 

[libertygarden]

The Google car caught me working on my fence:

 

[libertygarden]

Finished another chunk of fence: 80 yards between braces.

 

[libertygarden]

I see barbed wire fences along the road that no matter how much the terrain undulates all t-post are at the same height and all strands are level. I'm not sure if this is an optical illusion, but I suspect it has to do more with superior fencing skills than I have.

I pound all t-post until the plate is flush with the ground. I clip the top wire on each post at 52" height and thereafter the spacing for the remaining 4 wires is the length of my fencing pliers. While this guarantees that my fence is always 52" high, the t-post and wire look uneven. Not sure if this is a mistake or just aesthetics. I'm sure the cows don't really care, but it bugs me. I want a perfectly looking fence, and strong , too.

Any tips are highly appreciated.

 

[greybeard]

I do it about the same way, except I put the tee posts in farther than just the top of the spade. I follow the ground's contour...that's what the cows' hooves are going to be doing too.
Function over form...I'm not much on trying to be the "Joneses' for other people to try to keep up with.
I'm perfectly happy with the size of my pecker.

 

[libertygarden]

Well, that's pretty much the way I see it. I was just curious how people get perfectly straight fences. I rest my foot on the t-post plate, and when I feel the ground I pound it one more time and done.

P.S.

For the record, I haven't asked the neighbor to compare willies. Not yet.

 

[greybeard]

For the record, I haven't asked the neighbor to compare willies. Not yet.

Evidently, for some people here, that's 'a thing', metaphorically speaking.

 

[libertygarden]

Unrolling wire solo: