building barb wire fence

[Caustic Burno]

GMN if you need a tutoral I am currently offering free lessons and even furnish the gloves.

:nod: wished I'd thought of this...........

CB is that tutoring at your place or theirs.

I'd venture three guesses....first two don't count :cboy:

Mine of course.

 

[Florida cattle]

Be wary of using "used" corner post like cross ties, they just don't last long enough. The less fence repair and building I do the better off I am.

Here is a good link to a pdf file drawing of a NRCS standards which is a good place to start.

ftp://ftp-fc.sc.egov.usda.gov/FL/drawin ... L-382A.pdf

http://www.fl.nrcs.usda.gov/technical/drawing.html

 

[backhoeboogie]

All I can say is you folks don't deal with fire very often.

Vertical tube steel or pipe with top and bottom crosses. Weld a cow panel piece to it. Use it for an H brace or gate post. Use three verticals for corners. Set them all atleast 3 and a half feet deep or one foot deep when bursting through a several ton limestone slab.

Most of my T posts are 6 and a half feet minimum. I prefer 7 footers driven deep. Usually they are on ten foot centers but 12 foot would be fine.

Stretch the wire as taught as you can.

Cut the mountain cedar posts and sell them to the folks who live elsewhere. They'll last 150 years in this climate except for grass fires. I can show you some over 150 years old.

 

[Caustic Burno]

Can't burn water Boogie, keeping a fence up in these sloughs and creek bottoms is a whole nuther challenge.
Some of my t post are driven through a bag of ready mix it will hold them down when the ground gets as wet as it is here.
Came in about 330 I had enough of H braces and barb wire for today, it will be there tomorrow. Thats one good thing about not punching a time clock if I want to work on it for 4 hours or 8 is up to me.
I have been rebuilding a run of fence here and there that has been pacthed up since Rita, putting a lot more H braces in so when a tree falls it doesn't take out such a long run.

 

[Wewild]

I have been rebuilding a run of fence here and there that has been pacthed up since Rita, putting a lot more H braces in so when a tree falls it doesn't take out such a long run.

Good post.

I really like a wood post every 5th post and the H bracing somewhere around 250'. It makes for easier repair.

 

[Caustic Burno]

East fence line is 2800 feet and not near enough H's I am going back in every couple hundred feet.
It was a real mess after Rita.

 

[Wewild]

East fence line is 2800 feet and not near enough H's I am going back in every couple hundred feet.
It was a real mess after Rita.

We replace a half mile several years back of an old locus post fence from the 50's this way. The old fence was actually in a made for TV movie of which I forget the name. The movie was set in the 30's.

It is nice to be able to stretch replacement wire 40' even if a tree takes out a section.

 

[dyates]

Y'all would laugh at the road fence I'm building. I'm using big black locust posts. Some are quartered and still are 8" or bigger. My neighbor thought I was building a wooden model of Stonehenge. I told him that was to stop his bratty little kids when they start driving. They'll bounce off of these dudes before they tear 'em down!

 

[arkie 74]

CB you said you drove t post through cement bags. You mean just lay the bag on the ground and drive post through it.

 

[dun]

CB you said you drove t post through cement bags. You mean just lay the bag on the ground and drive post through it.

That's what I have done in the areas that are steeply loweer then the rest of the fenceline. Do it to give the post more weight so that the tight wire doesn;t cause it to pop out of the ground

 

[Caustic Burno]

CB you said you drove t post through cement bags. You mean just lay the bag on the ground and drive post through it.

That's what I have done in the areas that are steeply loweer then the rest of the fenceline. Do it to give the post more weight so that the tight wire doesn;t cause it to pop out of the ground

Yep what Dun said in areas that stay wet in the winter and in the creek bottoms lay a bag of ready mix where you want the post and drive the t post right through it. No more problem of post pulling out.

 

[L.A.]

CB you said you drove t post through cement bags. You mean just lay the bag on the ground and drive post through it.

That's what I have done in the areas that are steeply loweer then the rest of the fenceline. Do it to give the post more weight so that the tight wire doesn;t cause it to pop out of the ground

Yep what Dun said in areas that stay wet in the winter and in the creek bottoms lay a bag of ready mix where you want the post and drive the t post right through it. No more problem of post pulling out.

Never heard of this before, but sounds like this might work around here in deep draws. Do you dig a hole for the bags or leave them on top of the ground? Do you pour water on it? Thanks for this idea.

 

[Caustic Burno]

All you do is set the bag where you want the t-post. Drive in the ground through the bag and walk off.
It will harden to an 80 pound block holding the post down.

 

[never2old2learn-ron]

Doggone it, I kinda like that idea. I would never have thought of it. I have always tied a big ol' rock to the post. But I like the sound of that concrete. Gonna give it a try.

 

[grubbie]

I am liking this post because we are getting ready to convert alot of elec. fence to barbed wire. I have alot of 3" drill pipe. Is that good to make corner posts and braces with sunk about 4' deep with concrete and weld the braces.

That's exactly what I do. The corners will last a lifetime. I also paint them heavily with industrial paint to prevent rust before I sink them, and cap the uprights (or run the brace across the top of the posts) to keep moisture out of the inside.
You won't find a longer lasting corner brace.

 

[Hippie Rancher]

Those NRCS specs will give you a pretty good fence. Some other good tips here. I will add if you have any kind of hills or other fluctuation in "level" then DO NOT pull as tight as you can. As you clip the wire to the t-posts it will tighten up just fine. If you pull it too tight it will either break or pull off the "taller" posts or yank the low ones out of the ground.

You CAN eventually pound a t-post into rock. Just keep at it until you are sure your brain is never going to stop ringing and the next thing you know it is in!

Another tip for nice even wire spacing is to count the little bumps on the t-posts. Starting from the BOTTOM. That way if you hit rocks and don't get every post in the same distance the wire will still look nice and even. Count from the top and it will not come out right.

On range we do about 20 feet between posts with 3 twisted 9 gauge stays between each. 4 wires. We have a lot of railroad through the place so we have more access to ties and telephone poles than steel for bracing. They will stand after a fast fire or two, but of course steel would last longer.