Fence post bracing

[Bruce]

I am working on fencing this:


The NW corner has to be a floating brace as described by @greybeard since I hit ledge at 2' down (going to have to concrete the corner post and make sturdy floating braces both directions). My question relates to the area at the bottom, in the middle. I can't run straight down the property line along the road because there is a HUGE pile of very large rocks around the tree just to the left so I have this stupid "cutout" until I somehow get equipment to move those rocks which may be never. I think they were "found" when the road was put in ~11 years ago by the prior owner of our property.

The question: the N/S length of that section is only 14'. Do I need to brace the posts in the N/S direction for that little distance? I'm using 4' field fence and will put a T-post half way between the corner posts. I've dug a 3' hole for the upper one today and will do the same for the lower one tomorrow. Hopefully, I can get that far without hitting a large rock. That should make for a fairly sturdy post 3' in 5' out, no?

 

[Baymule]

I would brace them so you can stretch the fence tight. A huge pile of rocks? Thought about a rock fence? Or put them on Craigs List-FREE Landscape rocks! Call some landscapers in your area to see if they want them. people pay crazy prices for rocks.

 

[Bruce]

They would have to come get them, I can't move them. If I could, I would
I think rocks are Vermont's biggest non cash crop. Don't think anyone will pay big bucks

While I'm here, another question about fence post bracing. When doing an H brace, the "wisdom" says the distance between the two posts should be 2.5x the height of the fence posts and that the high end of the brace wire should be at the level of the horizontal brace. What does it matter how tall the fence and brace posts are? The important thing is the angle of the brace wire. In my case, the posts will be 5' out of the ground with a 4' fence so the horizontal brace would be no higher than 4'. I think I also read that the horizontal should be placed at 75% of the post height which would be 3.75'. If the only pull on the posts will be from the 4' high field fence (the hot wire on top not being tensioned as much as the fence), I don't see why the distance between the post and brace post would be different if they were 5' out of the ground or 10'. The horizontal brace will be working at 3.75' and the tension on the gate post would still be at 4' and the "ideal" angle would be achieved with a brace length of 9.3'. An 8' brace would be a factor of 2.1 the height of the 3.75' high brace.

 

[babsbag]

people pay crazy prices for rocks.

Except in areas where rocks grow. When I lived in the city I paid for rocks...here I would pay to get rid of the the rocks.

Can't help with the fence question. My only non-tree corner post is one of those wedge-loc ones so I have no experience.

 

[norseofcourse]

The question: the N/S length of that section is only 14'. Do I need to brace the posts in the N/S direction for that little distance? I'm using 4' field fence and will put a T-post half way between the corner posts.

Just an idea, but what about using something like a cattle panel for that 14' distance? They are 16' long. The t-post halfway along it would keep it stable. Then you'd only need to brace the posts for the E / W fence pull.

 

[Bruce]

Not a bad idea @norseofcourse !! Quite good in fact and WAY less work, I'll just need to stick some 2x4 wire over the CP to keep the chickens on their side. I might do the same thing for the E/W piece between the little barn and the big one. It happens to be almost exactly 16' but it wouldn't need to be covered.

Most of the fence put up by the prior owner is on posts that are much too small (like 2" or 3" and rarely even 18" in the ground so they are loose and wobbly and often held in place by some other short post, piece of wood or rebar shoved in next to them. None of it is tensioned field fence though, mostly chicken wire with top and bottom rails. But the rails aren't PT so they rotted off the posts and pulled the chicken wire down with them. Guess it worked as long as he needed them to.

I need to get a few 12' corral panels to use as 5' high gates, that will give support to the cattle panel on the roof racks on my car. Going to be a few trips between the house and TSC since I have no truck and need wood posts, T-posts and two 330' rolls of field fencing (which will go on the cargo tray on the receiver hitch, but only 1 per trip. Corral panels on the roof may be the same, maybe 2 at a time). Sure hope TSC will give me the 10% off everything even though I can't take it all home in one trip.

 

[Baymule]

You need a trailer. Can you borrow one?

 

[Bruce]

Nope. The receiver hitch is there only for the cargo tray. The Prius isn't wired for a trailer. Supposedly not a tow vehicle but I bet one could with a light trailer, load and not a long distance.

 

[farmerjan]

No neighbors that you could just pay gas to make the trip or a farmer neighbor that has a truck or trailer going to the stockyards that could load it all up for a return trip? We often haul stuff like that in the cattle trailer on our way back from taking animals to the stockyards....maybe a landscape contractor that could do a little side hauling now that the colder weather and slower work time is coming????

 

[farmerjan]

Are you planning to get the rock pile along the road moved in any conceiveable future? Why not invest in enough 16 ft fence panels to just do the cutout piece completely. Then you can just take them down when you do get someone to take the rock off your hands. That way you are not doing alot of corners and braces. We use 16 ft panels for catch pens at some pastures with just a couple of extra t-posts for support. Unless you have crazy animals, putting 4 posts per panel for strength and support is not that big a deal and then you can reuse them. Plus if there is a lot of rock, moving one 6 inches one way or another will often find a spot to drive it in. And I know there is alot of rock in VT; that said, contact the highway dept and see if you can't convince them that they can use it for a road project somewhere or get ahold of a builder or a stone mason and offer it free just to get it moved or at least diminished in size.