T Post Fencing

[jen_in_southtexas]

Does anyone know of a good "How to" link for T-Post Fencing? I want to learn how to put up a t post fence, materials needed etc.

I've done a Google search but surprisingly an instructable does not come up.

Thx.

[WRTN]

Lot of good information here:

http://www.tractorsupply.com/webapp/wcs/stores/servlet/DisplayCategory_10551_10001_140200_14359__14345%7C 14359

[HockeyFan]

I hope your ground isn't filled with sand stone like mine. All the stuff they say about how easy it is to drive t-posts, is bunk on my property. About the only thing I've seen that will make the job easy is a post driver on a tractor, but I'm not willing to pay the money for one of those.

Good luck on your t-post adventures.

[Nobody]

As long as you have good corner post, such as heavy treated timbers, and about every 100' feet or so another heavy timber, t-post fencing isn't that difficult. getting good solid corners is the key.
I fenced 13 acres this way and it has lasted very well even with 4 horses and 20 goats testing the fence.

[bee_pipes]

We've done a little fencing here. I spent a lot of time looking at the fences around the county before we tried - we had the luxury of time on our side. Some of the fences looked older than Job. Out here (the soild may be different from where you are living) there are sections of three posts - one timber post and two t-posts. At interval - I haven't figured out if there's a rule to it, or just where a roll of fencing ended - there are two wooden posts with a horizontal support between them. Corners are a wooden post with a second wooden post on each leg of the corner and horizontal posts between the corner post and each of the secondary posts. Gates are the same - wooden post on each side of the gate, second wooden post and horizontal in between. On these double wooden post structures there is a loop of wire, pulling the posts together, with a small piece of wood used to twist the wire and tension the posts together, keeping it tight in the horizontal between them.

I have also noticed that sometimes the secondary post is not used, and rather than a horizontal, A timber or wooden post is set up at a 45 degree angle from the top of the wooden fence post to the ground. I assume there's some sort of stake or something to keep the diagonal tight into the ground.

There's a dandy little book available out there - "Fences, Gates and Bridges" by George A. Martin. It was written in 1887 and is full of a lot of basic ideas from an age before electricity. Amazon has it for $10.

Fencing is a bugger of a job, and when you do it, you want to do it right so you never have to do it over. There's a world of difference between repairing a fence and replacing a fence.

What do you want the fence for? Does it need to serve as a physical barrier to keep large livestock in or out? That's a heavier fence. Our first one was a simple fence around the garden to discourage poultry, deer and rabbits. Deer can jump over anything they set their mind to, so rather than a sturdy physical barrier, we put up a simple poultry wire fence. We used landscape timbers for fence posts, with t-posts in between. For the actual wire part, we used 5 foot poultry wire. The fence was made 4 foot tall, and the bottom foot was place on the ground. We covered the fencing on the ground and planted sunflowers to anchor it with their roots. So far, no rabbits in the garden. The deer were discouraged by cutting plastic shopping bags into strips and making pennants on the wire. The flapping in the breeze seems to keep them away from the fence.

The key to putting in a lot of t-posts is getting a t-post hammer. This tool is a heavy steel tube with a closed end and handles. The top of the t-post is put inside the tube and the post is hammered into the ground by sliding the tube up and down. Sure beats swinging at a t-post with a sledge or maul.

We have chert here, for soil. It is a rocky mess and difficult to dig into. I used to feel like we got hosed on our soil, until I met WRTN. He has large rock in the ground and can't use a post-hole digger. They have to use a pile driver to pound the fence posts in. Now I feel pretty fortunate ;D

Regards,
Pat

[Deberosa]

Ken Cove fencing has some great pdf files on different kinds of fencing that you can download. Lots of info there.

Our post pounder got a good workout this weekend - fortunately the soil here is very good so the poles sink right in. We used all cattle panels and t-posts for our fence with these special curly connectors for the panels. It's expensive but didn't want the cows out in the road as this part is along the outside of the property.

[jen_in_southtexas]

Thank you all for the advise. My soil is kinda hard because there is caliche a few feet under. It is very dry out here right now. Im wondering if Im going to have to use a post hole auger.

Thanks again. Everyone here has been so helpful.

-jen

[lostinthewoods]

Found this jen, it's a brief overview but easy to digest.

http://www.grit.com/country-tech/2008-03-01/

Good Luck,
lost

[MooseToo]

i hate, hate, hate t-posts - i am so proficient in driving them that anyone driving by could not possibly suspect the posts were installed by a sober person - i've tried all the suggestions given for driving a VERTICAL post but must come to the conclusion that skill in post-driving is some form of arcane wisdom -

[mikkelibob]

I'm Texas too, but north/central (Mills County). We've got great soil. Well, its soil anyway. T-posts work great and are very cheap. Give me a few dozen t-posts, 4" welded wire, and a MIG welder, and I think I could re-invent the space program should there be an apocalypse.