Wooden Fence Posts

[lman]

Iman - The primary purpose of my barbed wire fence is to keep cattle out. Secondarily - it's to establish the perimeters of my property. Because I choose EverSharp barbed wire - it does a pretty good job of keeping people out also.

Sounds kind of like it's still open range around there.

 

[hosspuller]

For horses, I installed high tensile wire 26 years ago. You will hear horror stories from many people about how a horse got hurt. I will tell you a horse is an animal that's suicidal. A horse can get hurt on any fence. wood, pipe, mesh, barbed wire, etc. My experience with high tensile has been great. The only fence damage I've ever had was inflicted by a machine. (tractor or mower) Trees that fall on it, are cut off and the wire springs back up.

High tensile relies on being electrified... AND the horse being trained to avoid it. Actually, any fence has to be electrified for horses because they will rub on it and tear it down.

As a horse newbie, listen to experience. It'll save you money and heartache. If you want more details on building and maintenance... pm me.

 

[ROUSTABOUT]

lol! The fence we removed was so old it had hand cut cedar posts. the barb wire was mostly rusted away. Many of the posts had fallen over from rot.

edit. If you go for the auger, make sure you have (or install) a PTO clutch. If you hit a big rock the auger stops. It is time consuming (shipping time) and frustrating changing a broken PTO shaft.

Just cut up a live stock panel and use the rods for shear pins. Been doing that as long as they been making panels. Never fixed any pto. Fenced hundreds of acres. Fencing 200 more after it cools off. T posts are here already.

 

[ROUSTABOUT]

Horses, I know …. Don’t say it… but my 16 year old daughter and wife seem to have won this battle. They are currently at a boarding facility @ $1100 per month, so they need to come home.

I've never paid more than 600 for a horse, much less that much to put him up.

 

[Yander]

Borrow or buy a manual post hole digger. Do about 5 as fast as you can. Then put it in the barn and buy an auger. Your perspective on the auger being overkill will be changed forever.

 

[ROUSTABOUT]

Do you got a picture?

A picture of what?

 

[Hersheyfarm]

You guys that use augers, do you concrete them in or tamp them?

my vote is to hire a local fencer to pound them in.

 

[Hersheyfarm]

Also I’m tired of wooden posts. When i redo I’m going steel. Let the woodpeckers bite into them…

 

[Tinhack]

They are currently at a boarding facility @ $1100 per month, so they need to come home.

Yikes! That would buy me a new home.

 

[hslogger]

In Western Oregon, a project like this would likely entail topsoil and then CLAY. If you buy an auger you will find that drilling holes with a tractor mount or skid steer mount by yourself is less than desired. You will want a spotter. If you drill all these holes, you wil need to clean them out if you don't put your post in right away.

You could drill your corners and use a combination of wood posts and steel posts at diferent spacing. Example wood post every hundred feet, steel post every ten feet. Much depends on what your fencing is going to be. Pounding posts with a dedicated pounder can go very quickly. QUICKLY. Pound them in and voila done. Running around filling and tamping a million wood posts is a DRAG, man. More power to you if that's the way you wanna go.

Out here we don't concrete posts.They rot. And speaking of wood posts, you will find a great array of prices. They reflect wood material and method of treatment. There's a reason a wood post can cost half or twice the money of the cheapest. That's from my experience of putting up farm fence since the seventies.

 

[Yander]

You guys that use augers, do you concrete them in or tamp them?

my vote is to hire a local fencer to pound them in.

I don't know... Those guys don't appear to fence post savey to me....

 

[ROUSTABOUT]

The livestock panel rod shear pin setup on your PTO. It’s something I can’t visualize.

Just cut the + out at corners of each square with bolt cutters. Stick the rod through the drive shaft to gearbox shear pin location. Bend both ends with a hammer and go back to drilling holes. When it shears it don't matter that you bent the ends because it falls off anyway. Need a hammer to drive piece out of gearbox shaft sometimes. Just use next pin for a punch to knock it out. Imagine how many drills I did on fencing 80 acres of pipe fence for an oil company owner.

 

[ROUSTABOUT]

Pipe fence posts sounds very nice and expensive. My neighbor was complaining about his 80acre fence done with green fence post and 3 lines of wire.
Thanks for the reply.

Weld 5 pipes between posts around 80 acres. 3 strand? I do 5.

 

[toolslinger]

If you're going to buy an auger anyhow, I'd lean toward just using that. Where I'm at, it's rock. Try to drive a 1" solid steel pin in anywhere, and 1/4 of the time, it will simple stop dead on a rock. 1/2 the time it will kick to the side. That last 1/4 they will go in. So we haven't done too much fence over the years. I did set 50 or so 12' pipes for dear fence around a garden, and that took a PHD I built for a Case garden tractor based on a Little Beaver PHD to get them down and in concrete. We still get complements on that install from the neighbors, who all well know the ground/fence situation here...

That said, if your ground will take a post via pounding, then I'd be looking for that system on the used market. Sell it off when you're done. You can always do the repairs on your line by hand or auger as they come up, and then you don't have a piece you're not going to be using just hanging around deteriorating.

 

[Torvy]

Our fencing plan calls for a mix of tposts, with a wood post every 4th one, or so, and in the corners with a brace configuration. We will go with the auger. One of us on the tractor and the other lining it up. I've pounded t posts manually for smaller projects and even at 6'1", it can be a reach...not to mention the wear on my old body. I would consider a pounder, but the auger is more of a multitasker. We can also use it for planting trees and such.

 

[Spike56]

You guys that use augers, do you concrete them in or tamp them?

my vote is to hire a local fencer to pound them in.

I am not a "fence master", but have built a number of stretches over the years. FOR MY SOIL, I learned the hard way that you must concrete in the posts. I do not concrete in any *single* line posts (use a 4" every 3-4 T-posts), but if I include a bracer (2x4" with cross brace) in the line, I use some concrete. Of course, for the Corners... all are in concrete. After all the work to mark, drill, clean out the holes, I add some rock/gravel to the bottom prior to concreting them in.
If / When I did not do this, over a couple years, even the corners would move/lean. The clay soil I have is terrible in spots and swells / dries out and would move an 8" corner post without any concrete - and a MUST is get below the freeze line or the freeze thaw will push the post out.
It is a pain to dig the holes out after using the auger, add gravel to the bottom (making sure its below frost line) and then concrete. BUT, what is *way* worse is having to re-do it !

 

[Torvy]

I am not a "fence master", but have built a number of stretches over the years. FOR MY SOIL, I learned the hard way that you must concrete in the posts. I do not concrete in any *single* line posts (use a 4" every 3-4 T-posts), but if I include a bracer (2x4" with cross brace) in the line, I use some concrete. Of course, for the Corners... all are in concrete. After all the work to mark, drill, clean out the holes, I add some rock/gravel to the bottom prior to concreting them in.
If / When I did not do this, over a couple years, even the corners would move/lean. The clay soil I have is terrible in spots and swells / dries out and would move an 8" corner post without any concrete - and a MUST is get below the freeze line or the freeze thaw will push the post out.
It is a pain to dig the holes out after using the auger, add gravel to the bottom (making sure its below frost line) and then concrete. BUT, what is *way* worse is having to re-do it !

You shouldn't have to worry about the frost line in Texas unless you are putting in really short posts. The rule of thumb is 1/3 of the length of post is buried (2' on a 6' post). The deepest frost lines in Texas are up in the Panhandle and those are only about a foot. So, if you use the standard depth, even on a 6' post, you are going to be well below the frost line. Frost line in Central Texas is closer to 5".

 

[Sawyer Rob]

edit. If you go for the auger, make sure you have (or install) a PTO clutch. If you hit a big rock the auger stops. It is time consuming (shipping time) and frustrating changing a broken PTO shaft.

Why ?, everyone I've seen/used has the drive line, sheer bolt protected, and I've yet to sheer even one bolt on the PHD I have now.

I did sheer a few on the cheapo PHD I use to have though, that thing was a POS!

SR

 

[Spike56]

You shouldn't have to worry about the frost line in Texas unless you are putting in really short posts. The rule of thumb is 1/3 of the length of post is buried (2' on a 6' post). The deepest frost lines in Texas are up in the Panhandle and those are only about a foot. So, if you use the standard depth, even on a 6' post, you are going to be well below the frost line. Frost line in Central Texas is closer to 5".

Well, you may be correct on the frost line requirements in Central Texas. But, using an 8' post, I have found that (with the clay) it better be in concrete and at least 3' in the ground. Perhaps not so much for a freeze, but the amount of tension on the posts. So, I stand corrected about the frost line, although if you do not use concrete and the ground shrinks around the post (which it does when dried out) it *seems* to be able to get water and freeze near the bottom of the post ?
There are fences all around where they did not bury the post deep enough or use concrete that are leaning or being pushed up out of the ground. So, maybe I am over doing it, but replacing a corner post on barbed wire fences is a real pain. Last fence I contracted with someone to do metal corners - the best, but I do not have a portable welder and all the tools (torch...) to do that out in the field.

 

[jigs_n_fixtures]

If you have decent a timber supply, you could do jack fence. Just sits on top of the ground. Very common heart, as the ground is mostly big rocks with smaller rockets and clay. Digging or driving is impossible, and Lodge Pole Pines are very common and available.

It is readily visible to the animals, and you can see the property line for decades, even if it falls down.

labor intensive, but low cost if you have the suitable trees and are doing it your self.

And if your paying to board the horses at $1100/month it might be worth hiring a pro and getting it done quickly. If it cost $12,000, pay off is only 11-months.