Reclaiming 5000 feet of 4 board horse farm fence.

[Raised on a Deere]

The fence wood is solid except some ends are rotted at the nail spots. I have accepted an offer of this fence if I have it gone By june 15. I have two strapping hard working 19 year old boys promising to help me get it done. I am thinking of ways to detach the boards from the poles without destroying them. One thought is to skill saw the boards about 2" from the ends since I will be doing that anyway so as to have fresh material for re-nailing on my farm.

The poles will be pulled using front loader and chain but those 2" pieces will have to be removed before reusing the posts in my new build.

Right now, I don't know how stubborn those nails are going to be, but the sheer quantity makes me think this is going to be a challenge. The boards are solid with some of the ends decayed so that the board will probably pull off leaving the nails, and some will split.

There is probably not much experience out there in salvaging horse farm fence. When I drive down our highways, I sometimes see a fence being demolished and I imagine it is because any other way costs more than the boards and posts are worth as salvage to those folks.


this started out as a post salvaging project but upon examination of the boards I am saying no way am I trashing those.
But labor intensive could be an ouch, - - - need to be as efficient as I can.

 

[CH4Ohio]

What I normally do is use my battery powered reciprocating saw and just cut the nails between the board and the post. Zips right through them. Like a hacksaw.

PS -- You can usually cut them close to the post and this leaves enough nail sticking out of the board that you can tap them out and pull the nails from the front. But just cutting them lets you stack them up on a trailer or wagon and get them all removed quick. You can pull nails or cut off the ends later at your convenience.

 

[riptides]

Big project. Working with old outbuildings and oak boards I have found nails to be unpredictable in how they come out. Some are easy, others are stubborn. Some do more damage to the wood coming out, if at all.

Don't have much to add other than wear gloves, and best of luck.

 

[grsthegreat]

Having visited some Kentucky horse farms, those fences usually have 110 layers of white paint on them. One farm we visited told me they have men continually painting fences. When they get done, they start over again.

is this one of those fences.
i think your ides of cutting inplace is a sound one. I could not imagine trying to pull all those nails inplace. Also, i doubt the owner would want any nails left on the pasture to injure animals.

i love the look of wood fencing, but hate the maintenance labor. Thats why i went with 3 rail white vinyl about 20 years ago. Minimal maint and still looks great.

if you can get a sawzall behind them, cutting mails is a great way to do it also. Unless wood wont allow you prying boards to get behind them.

 

[2manyrocks]

I'd try a battery powered recip saw plus a blade designed for sawing metal to cut the nail shank between the board and the fence. The Diablo blades at Home Depot are generally good blades. You'll want a blade that's long enough to have some flex to get between the board and the post.

If the nails are just loose to the point they can be pulled without tearing up the rails, you might try a pry bar with a wide head. But you can wreck the rails if you go gorilla trying to pull the nails out in a hurry.

 

[big bubba]

what type of fence wood are you salvaging, hardwood or treated?

 

[Raised on a Deere]

White paint on Hardwood
Starting on it today. Thanks for confirming that pulling and prying is problematic. I am heading over to the place with generator on UTV and different cutting tools. And a couple furloughing marine grandsons to speed things up.

Since I am on a timetable, I may just skill saw the ends and deal with the posts later. I do need to avoid leaving pieces of wood with nails in them that would likely result from knocking the boards loose or prying and pulling etc.

Sawzall might be the winner. I will probably get it figured just before I finish, after hard lessons .

 

[riptides]

White paint on Hardwood
Starting on it today. Thanks for confirming that pulling and prying is problematic. I am heading over to the place with generator on UTV and different cutting tools. And a couple furloughing marine grandsons to speed things up.

Since I am on a timetable, I may just skill saw the ends and deal with the posts later. I do need to avoid leaving pieces of wood with nails in them that would likely result from knocking the boards loose or prying and pulling etc.

Sawzall might be the winner. I will probably get it figured just before I finish, after hard lessons .

Good luck. Sawzall probably easier to work with.

 

[Torvy]

Deal with the ends later was 100% my 2 cents. Given the timeline, I'd focus on removal and deal with the nails later.

If you have 2 saws, have a boy at each end to cut boards. Once they get ahead by 3 or 4 lengths, start pulling posts with the tractor. Adjust timing so you are always just a bit behind them. Trailer pulled behind tractor to stack boards as needed. That way you don't have to mess with a separate vehicle along the fence line. You can always transfer the trailer to a truck to haul back to your place.

I'd just hammer random nails back into the posts if boards come loose.

Have fun.

 

[rScotty]

I did a lot of demolition, and I like good used wood.
Use a 24" flat "cat's paw" pry bar just enough to get a fraction of an inch between the post and the board.
Then use a battery powered reciprocating saw with a long metal-cutting blade to zip through the nails. It just takes a second.

That way you end up with both posts and boards that you can reuse - or cut to a different length if desired.

There are rental tools to jack posts out of the ground. Easy that way.
Or, a FEL & chain will also pull posts - IF you lean to get them to wiggle first.
You rarely need to lean on them with the tractor. A 19 year old is enough.

For building/rebuilding fences or any wood-to-wood connection I now use the new type of structural self-tapping gold wood screws instead of nails. HD has them. GRK type.

rScotty