Help w/ Field Fence Installation

[bigredfeather]

I am getting ready to put up field fence around my 1 acre pasture for my goats. I have never ran any fence before and looking for a good tutorial. If anyone can reccomend a website or a good book, please refer me to it.

Thanks.

 

[patandchickens]

An excellent book is "Fences for Pasture and Garden" by Gail Damerow. My copy is older but I believe it is still in print. Very correct and detailed and pragmatic advice on installing fences of all types (except types that didnt exist when the book came out) in such a way that they will last as long as humanly possible. Two thumbs up.

I expect there are websites out there too, but I don't know offhand, sorry, try google or maybe someone else will come along with suggestions.

IME the three biggest things are 1) set your corner posts REALLY WELL AND EXTRA DEEP, using sturdier posts than you use for the rest of the fence; 2) brace them REALLY REALLY CORRECTLY with a diagonal brace going from top of corner to base of the next fencepost, on both sides of the corner, and do the braces right; and 3) strain the fencing properly for the type of fencing it is, using a fence-puller or tractor or whatever's necessary for whatcha got (high-tensile field fencing is different than 'normal' field fencing).

Good luck, have fun,

Pat

 

[bigredfeather]

Thanks patandchickens. I called the library and requested it to be brought in so I can read it.

 

[cmjust0]

Quote:
Not sure if by 'brace' you mean brace post or brace wire..

If you're talking about putting a brace post diagonally from the top of the corner to the base of the 1st line post, then I'd also recommend a brace wire going the other way...connecting the bottom of the corner to the top of the 1st line post.

If you're talking brace wire in an H-brace, where there's a horizontal brace post between the corner and 1st line post..run the wire the same way as described above. Bottom of corner to top of 1st line post. That way, if the corner tries to lean, the force is transferred through the horizontal post to the 1st line post, attempting to lean it over as well.. With the wire connected from the top of the 1st line post to the bottom of the corner, it tries to pull on the bottom of the corner as the leaning force is applied.. Again, the corner is acting upon itself....literally trying to pull itself out of the ground, instead of leaning.

Another good corner brace is a 'knee brace' or a 'floating brace'.. In that one, there's a diagonal post from the top of the corner to the ground, pointing in the direction of the pulling force on the corner. A wire is run horizontally from the ground-contact end of the diagonal post back to the bottom of the corner post.. So, as the post tries to lean, it attempts to push the diagonal post...which then pulls on the bottom of the corner.

As you can see, the goal of all these braces is to transfer pulling force from the top of the corner back to the bottom of the corner.. Reason being, it's much harder to pull a post out of the ground than to lean it over...which is why these types of braces work so well.

 

[herfrds]

I think it is a "box" brace. We are setting a few this year.
We use 6"x6' treated wooden posts. We place the posts 8' apart. After setting the post in the ground to the desired depth the DH chisels out a 2" wide space about 6" from the top of the posts. A 2"x4"x8' is placed in the the chiseled posts and nailed in place.
He then runs some barbed wire from the top of one post to the bottom of the next post, he runs that about 4-6 times and ties the ends together. He will take a 1"x2" stake and place it in the middle of the wire that is run around the posts and twisted it tightening the wire.

I will look I might have a picture of one that was done recently. If I can't find it I will try to get out tomorrow and get a picture.

 

[patandchickens]

Really there are a variety of ways of bracing a corner, IMO the best is usually diagonal post held by metal pins with (as you say) a well-tensioned wire holding the opposite diagonal, but YMMV of course... I wasn't trying to describe the full process though, just trying to give a hint as to what bracing a corner might entail

This is why you really do want a good set of instructions (or help from someone who knows what they're doing, or at least go and examine a properly-braced fence corner), because there are a lot of little things that can make a surprisingly big difference but you might not realize it and might accidentally change things a little so they don't work well at all.

Pat

 

[bigredfeather]

After a $900 trip to TSC, I think I have everything I need to do some damage. The guy at TSC seemed to be very knowledgable about fencing. He was able to give me some good ideas. I am going to get the book recommended and try and piece together his info and what the book says.

Thanks everybody. Hopefully in a few weeks I will have it done. I will take some pics when I'm done (as long as it turns out good) LOL

 

[StupidBird]

Oh, please take some photos along the way! Especially that corner and post detail. thanks.

 

[bigredfeather]

I thought I would get the pic show started with these:

Here's the pile of supplies.

Here is the area that needs to be fenced in:

I going to get everything laid out this weekend and maybe get some holes dug. According to the old timers, I need to wait until right after the full moon to cement them in.

 

[Brunty_Farms]

Craig,

I'm looking for supplies as well, if you didn't get your fence up yet, I may be able to help you out on cost. I'm waiting for a few quotes for fencing. What did you pay for a roll? $300?

I'm just not ready to spend that kind of money for fencing when I can go straight to the source. I'm looking at getting 17 acres fenced so the price difference should be big as far as a discount.