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  • From: Glenn <glenn AT smallfarms.com>
  • To: market farming <market-farming AT franklin.oit.unc.edu>
  • Cc: Nancy Haycock <nhaycock AT pratt.edu>
  • Subject: Re: fence posts
  • Date: Wed, 02 Feb 2000 11:07:46 -1000


Hi Nancy,

When we fenced our farm seven years ago, a very good friend, the son of
a farmer, reminded me that when you do fencing, you don't have any
friends or relatives! Friendly advice givers, shoot the breeze helpers,
yes. But no friends or relatives... So forgive them before you begin
work.

A note for females here. My wife, Kathy, and Diane, our “good”
neighbor’s wife, are two smart women who look good when dressing up, are
in the middle of all this fence building! Kathy claims she’s the best
soil tamper, and Diane digs the best post holes. Hope the following is
helpful. It’s LONG.

Sounds to me like your talking about corners more than line posts. The
corners are your end posts that hold the tension in your wire, the
stretch points. We use wood post with a minimum of a ten inch diameter,
but the bigger the better. My good neighbor has used posts 20 ins. in
diameter! Be sure the posts you select for the corners are straight.
This will lessen the chances of the fence moving when the wires are
stretched. If you’re supplying your own posts, make sure you remove all
the soft wood and bark for the same reason. Don’t skimp on quality
because the corners are the heart and soul of your fence. Think
sustainability.

We go 3 ft. minimum into the ground rather than your two feet. It gives
us that stability. My good neighbor, the obsessive fence builder, will
go even deeper! When digging the post holes, ALL the rocks and organic
debris are removed and separated from the soil. The post holes are
about 1.5 times the diameter of the post, but due to rock removal,
usually much larger, and the sides of the post holes are straight,
cylindrical.

In addition to long handled shovels and post hole diggers, an important
tool for us is the O’o, the Hawaiian post hole digger. The modern
version of this is made of a 5 ft. hard iron or soft steel rod,
mushroomed at one end and bladed or pointed at the other end.

Begin setting the posts by leveling the bottom of the post hole. Then
tamp down with the O’o. Set your post to vertical for conventional
fencing or with the terrain for electric fencing. This is when a
partner with a good eye needs to hold the post in place, especially for
9 ft. posts. Shovel in soil that will tamp down to two inches and tamp
it solid. Dirt only. Then repeat this layering, laminating process.
You’ll run out of soil so bring more from a nearby source. Finish the
post off in a cone shape to help with rain water run off.

Check Attra for making the H or N braces on the corners. Wear gloves
and ear protection when pounding in your metal T posts. If possible, do
your fencing in increments so you don’t kill yourself. Talk with your
neighbor about sharing the cost and use of the fence. Over here, we
usually share, but times are changing. Place the fence on your side of
the property line or your neighbor's to avoid lawyer problems in the
future.

Uh, Nancy? You still there?

glenn
Buy from the Farmer
http://www.smallfarms.com

>From Nancy:
> So, I need to put
> up fencing this spring. I read the email over the weekend about fence
> height, and I'm wondering whether anyone has put up 9' (2' in the
> ground) fence posts without a tractor for help. Is it crazy to think
> about standing on a ladder or something to pound in posts? I was
> thinking I would use electric fencing, since I figure I will probably
> reconfigure things at some point when I'm smarter.
> Any manual fence post advice?




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