sssshhhhh my pup sees this and he will want to jump out of fenced area, i just built for him, to play out side.
chain link fence, can be fairly nice, most of all hardware you will need can all be bought.
lowes, homdepot, and menards, all have rolls of chain link for sale, then the posts if you want the metal posts. most carry a fence stretcher. but for chain link fences. the very last link, you want to run a piece of metal down on the ends and then tie chain link fence to metal. and then metal piece to the fence post.
for myself for dog fence, prefer a pipe that runs right along the ground at the bottom of the fence, the pipe pulls double duty. 1st helps keep the dog from trying to dig a small hole and slide underneath of fence as the fence gets pushed out. 2nd it helps on weadeater string. with pipe running 1/2" to 1" off the ground. and the fence is placed above the pipe. keeping the ugly wires that tear up wead eater string left and right.
if ya going with metal posts. might advise, drilling 2 holes all the way through pipe. and then sticking piece of rebar into holes to create kinda like a X near bottom of the post that will below ground. and then dumping concrete around the rebar and bottom of the post. the rebar or bolts helps keep the metal post from sliding out of the concrete. the concrete helps keep the post from falling over in the dirt as time goes on.
it may be worth getting special connectors to attach chain link to metal posts. if you just run wire around metal post and fence wire to attach it. give it a few windy days, and the wire you use will just slide down along with the fence, down to the ground. special connector can keep that from happening. and also reason why many times you see a top pipe that runs the entire length of chain fence. the top pipe and some wire to attach fence to top pipe. helps keep the fence from sliding down to the ground.
chain link fence, being what it is, will roll and warp and twist, if you do not have the fence tight. hence bottom pipe near ground, bottom pipe across top of the fence, and then posts. with fence tied to all of them. they all help reduce need to get chain link so tight it is about to bust. and help keep things looking good for years to come.
once you get posts and top and bottom pipe on. there is less need for X or / or \ bracing for corner posts. granted having this bracing for corner posts greatly helps in tightening / stretching the fence tight. and then keeping the fence tight for years to come.
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if you look things up on the internet they normally make all different size of wire. from regular field fence wire, to chicken coop wire, to other. from heights of 1 feet, 2 feet, 3 feet, 4, feet, 5, feet, 6 feet, 7 feet high.
field fence and other fence differrs from chain link fence, due to vertical and horizontal wires are normally welded or twisted together. and that helps keep the fence from sagging down between posts. and as you attach field fence to posts. you can place staples over both vertical and horizontal wires. so each stable also helps to keep entire fence stretched and tight. but with chain link fence. you rely back on those upper and lower horizontal bottom pipes.
