Locust fence posts

randy41 · Sep 17, 2008

I'm looking to save money (who isn't?) on my next deer fence idea around my 3 acre garden. I thought I would start with those free potential locust posts that are now standing around doing nothing in the woods but dropping leaves. I was thinking of splitting some of them in half and getting 2 posts out of one. I got some splitting wedges around. Anyone see any problems with doing this? This fence need not last more than 10 years since I'm 58 and will probably stop growing so many veggies by time I'm 68.

zionview · Sep 17, 2008

randy, I'm not convinced you'd save alot of work splitting the posts. Just speaking from my neck of the woods, if it was enough fence to stop the deer, it wouldn't stop the bear.

The other thing(again, from the Northeast), deer fence around here is 8 feet tall. Would you still have enough strength with half the post? I know what you're saying about locust. Back in the '80's, we took down a 9 acre woven wire fence and put up hi-tensile: some of the corner posts were 35 and 40 years old, and we left them in. They're still there! One guy up here put deer fence in on a 45 degree angle. Deer can jump high or long, but not both. Just a side thought- do you sell any veggies? In Pennsylvania, if it's a source of income, you can get some assistance($) with deer fence for nuisance deer. They're all nuisance to me. And tasty.

Chicken-Farmer · Sep 17, 2008

People in our neck of the woods with orchards just put an electric fence around their orchards to keep the deer out. They use the same electric fence as the farmers use for their cows. They say it keeps 99% of the deer out. Every once in a while an old doe will be smart enough to jump over it but most them will just have be shocked once and they will stay away. That would be a lot less work then splitting locust posts. just my 2 cents.

randy41 · Sep 17, 2008

I have a fence that keeps out deer around my strawberry patch. It is 6' high but the top 2' are barbed wire...2 strands. The bottom 4' is woven wire. I have an electric fence around my 3 acre garden now that has been effective for about 6 or 7 years but this year the deer have figured out how easy it is to jump over. My plan is to continue to use this electric fence but have some barbed wire running around at about 7'.
I sell veggies but I'm not one for seeking financial assistance. I know there's a lot of money out there for farmers for different things but being the fool I am I don't try to get any of it.

Matt_W · Sep 17, 2008

randy41 said:
I'm looking to save money (who isn't?) on my next deer fence idea around my 3 acre garden. I thought I would start with those free potential locust posts that are now standing around doing nothing in the woods but dropping leaves. I was thinking of splitting some of them in half and getting 2 posts out of one. I got some splitting wedges around. Anyone see any problems with doing this? This fence need not last more than 10 years since I'm 58 and will probably stop growing so many veggies by time I'm 68.

I priced out 300' of 4' split rail fence and coming in at $1000 I was crazy enough to say why can't I TRY to make some of that from all the locust laying in the woods.
The fence is now standing at 14' now and it is alot of work!
But spliting it is not that bad as long as it is straight grained with few knots. If you can swing a sledge and have a couple of wedges you can split a 9' log in half in less than 5 minutes. Maybe less than that!
The hard part is drilling the holes.
Keeping the deer out is another subject.

ToadHill · Sep 17, 2008

If it's black locust and you remove the bark the posts should last well over 40 years. I've split locust fence polls with an ax, sledge, and wedges many times and while it's a little work, it isn't too bad.