At what height should the brace in an H brace be....or what is the proper height? I went to a fencing school a couple of years ago put on by Sta-tuff fence and I'm thinking they said about 2/3rds the height of the woven wire but i don't remember exactly....getting ready to put in some H braces for some wire i'm getting ready to stretch.
Positioning of brace post or pipe.....
- Thread starter Banjo
- Start date
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callmefence
Keyboard cowboy
Around 2/3 is right. Keep in mind where you will be tying off wires and put it where it won't be in your way.
M.Magis
Well-known member
It seems like the "common" placement varies by region. In Florida, all horizontals are at the midpoint. Here in Ohio, they're all within a foot of the top. I never understood why they put them so low down south. From a geometry standpoint, placing them in the upper 1/3 provides the most strength.
Rafter S
Well-known member
I'm not a professional fence builder, but I've built quite a bit, and thought about it quite a bit. I don't think the location is as important as the length, as long as it's at the mid point or higher.
I've seen too many that were too short, which forces the brace wire at a steep angle, so that instead of mostly pulling horizontally to keep the wire tight it's pulling more vertical. I've seen some that had the anchor post pulled up a foot or more.
I've seen too many that were too short, which forces the brace wire at a steep angle, so that instead of mostly pulling horizontally to keep the wire tight it's pulling more vertical. I've seen some that had the anchor post pulled up a foot or more.
I'm just putting in our first fence with steel braces versus wood. We pounded the posts (8ft) into the ground until we had about 54" of post left. We will saddle and put the horizontals on top versus mid way. Was told this would make them stronger, so we'll see. Next fence we do will adjust a little and move horizontals down some and see which ones stay put the best or if there's even a difference. Not many In my area using steel, most still using wood posts.
Ebenezer
Well-known member
Not so. The length of the diagonal gives the strength so higher is better. But a 10' brace is as strong as a double 8' brace.
I'm using 10' braces, but they are getting hard to find...treated 10' brace posts. i had some pipe i was cutting and using but ran out......steel pipe is getting extremely high. Guess i could cut some cedars or locust or maybe white oak for the braces....got more to do later on.
We build braces with the brace post within a foot of the top. I think the spec on brace post length is 2x the height of the fence. We do 7.5-8' length brace post because that's whats left after cutting 2 post from a piece of drill stem. Always do double H if possible.
If it works I wouldn't want to contradict, but at the fencing school put on by Sta-Tuff fence....they said double h braces aren't necessary( i had done that all my life too) if you build a correct H brace on each end...that was all you needed, and they said it doesn't really matter how long the fence is either. Also they advised against using squared posts for a brace.... like what you would find at a building supply place...they will tend to bow. That is true too, I have some square braces in a few places that have bowed a lot. They said if you need to use a wood post(they advise pipe) use a round one...Said a tree grows like a straw or a whole bunch of straws on top of each other which make it much stronger...cutting those "straws" weakens it a whole lot.
Dusty Britches
Well-known member
interesting
gitnby
Well-known member
go to scrap yard get some galvanized 1 inch or 3/4 pipe drill hole in post....put in brace and tighen brace wire ........
backhoeboogie
Well-known member
Top and bottom. 52 inches apart. Weld a 4 foot section of cow panel onto it.
