Crooked posts = crooked fence... Post driver blues

[SPYDERLK]

95% of all 4 board fence on Tbred farms, in KY is painted black. There are only 2 farms that I can think of off hand which have white fence. Calumet and Darby Dan. There are a couple more probably, but it is rare.

Black fences are better IMO. Easier to maintain for sure, but blend in to the countryside better. If I could get away with it, I wouldn't have any fencing at all. I love the open appearance of our place.

High tensile horse rail fencing would do a fine job for you. It lasts a very long time and is essentially unbreakable. You cant climb it like a wood fence, but it will stop a horse that runs into it and toss it back into the field w/o injury. Usually you just have to tighten/re tension the rails.

Horse Fencing

 

[r porter]

by wet I mean just after spring thaw. as in very wet.

next month when you are splitting posts that 3 inch rain will be long forgotten.

I have driven 10 inch corner posts by digging a pilot hole and once I put in a 21 foot light pole over my round pen with the post driver.

but straight never happened in rocky soil. I think a small pilot hole followed by driving the post will get them straight and solid about as fast and with less work than most ways I can think of. when drilling the pilot hole you will know if you hit rock.

wish you luck - it will certainly be good lookin when finished. I do understand what all the extra runs are for in this case. if I had room I would do it too.
ray

 

[Dadnatron]

Its not that I am putting them in crooked. It is that THEY BEGIN crooked. And I can't drive a crooked post into a straight post.

I haven't been hitting rock. I only have rock in one place, and I am well away from it at this location. I have a rock spike and a Danuser EP20 with rock auger should I need it.

 

[stuckmotor]

95% of all 4 board fence on Tbred farms, in KY is painted black. There are only 2 farms that I can think of off hand which have white fence. Calumet and Darby Dan. There are a couple more probably, but it is rare.

Black fences are better IMO. Easier to maintain for sure, but blend in to the countryside better. If I could get away with it, I wouldn't have any fencing at all. I love the open appearance of our place.

I pass an expensive white fence several times a week. It's turning black from whatever is growing on it, my guess is mold. Makes me feel sorry for the person who paid to have it built.

 

[RayfromTX]

Examine the posts. Look for the ones that have the heart center in the post. Those will crack down the sides much worse than those without the heart center. They may also be the ones you are having trouble with for straightness. If that is indeed the case, you may be able to specify free of heart center (FOHC) and get a much better result. I have found in the past that I can cull the fohc myself for about the same price due to the uncharge for fohc. Your posts will be better if you avoid fohc but it may be that you can just order extra, cull them yourself and then sell the rejects on craigslist as utility grade to someone who doesn't need them as nice as you do and wants to save some big money. Perhaps sell them for half off bundled and new but crooked. The supplier should be able to band them for you after you cull them but keep them out of the weather (sun and rain) so they still look new. Let us know how you resolve this and what you find.

 

[Ford850]

In case you haven't sourced a quality post supplier yet, I ran across this company:
Round Fence Posts

 

[goeduck]

In case you haven't sourced a quality post supplier yet, I ran across this company:
Round Fence Posts

Cannot seem to add anything to my cart to check prices.

 

[Dadnatron]

Cannot seem to add anything to my cart to check prices.

I have spoken with them. Their posts come from East Texas, and I think they are perhaps the best option. They are turned posts rather than peeled posts, which appears to actually be peeled branches, in my opinion.

The cost to have a load shipped to my farm is around $2500... but, given the posts themselves are significantly cheaper, it comes out to only about a 5% premium. Given the difficulty in trying to drive those crooked posts previously, I've really given them a thought.

 

[Trail_Time]

95% of all 4 board fence on Tbred farms, in KY is painted black. There are only 2 farms that I can think of off hand which have white fence. Calumet and Darby Dan. There are a couple more probably, but it is rare.

Black fences are better IMO. Easier to maintain for sure, but blend in to the countryside better. If I could get away with it, I wouldn't have any fencing at all. I love the open appearance of our place.

You should strongly consider the hi-tensile smooth wire. You can have as many strands as you want, it is durable, safe and resilient. Easily repairable and you will reduce your post need by 2/3rds. It gives good visibility to the landscape, can be electrified if needed.

I have a lot of 4 board and hi tensile, and will never put up the 4 board again, except maybe on the direct road frontage as it does give a nice look. Too much maintenance on the board fence. As others have suggested take a look at Kencove's website they have a lot of info on hi-tensile.