Latestarter's ramblings/musings/gripes and grumbles.

[Latestarter]

Well, the clamshells I have are the old fashioned one pivot at the top of the clam design and since I bought 6-7" posts I have the hole almost a foot across at the top and have had no problem getting down 3 feet without widening the top of the hole. I don't need to go any deeper than that. The posts are 8' and I want 5' exposed. Since I only have ~13-14 posts to sink and have already done 4, I'll just continue on with what I've got.

I must have taken more out of myself yesterday than I thought. Didn't even use the jacuzzi last night, after a hard doze in the recliner I went to bed. Mel woke me up at 5am and I went back to try & sleep a couple more hours... woke up at 12:30 So I technically was in bed for over 12 hours... So anyway I didn't work on the fencing today. Instead I went over to the trailer repair place to see if they'd finished since they hadn't called. Turns out the trailer was done. They did an excellent job and exactly what I had asked of them. I now have back up lighting which the trailer didn't have before, the lights were moved to a higher, better protected spot, and they installed a standard 7 pin jack so I no longer need to use the 6 to 7 pin coupler. While there I asked about the 16' livestock trailers and found out that they actually rent them. He said it was about $65 a day and they do weekend deals as well. That's a heckofalot cheaper than 4-5 grand to buy one and the cost of registering it and keeping it on the road.

Since I now have my trailer back, I then went to TSC to pick up my 13 cattle panels. Man those things are springy! Got them home and all unloaded.

I usually use 3/8 wire rope (cable) to hold my H corners or ends together.

So it appears you just clamp the ends tight and then still twist it to tighten it? Have you used turnbuckles at all as tighteners? Is there a reason why/why not? Do you use the same 3/8ths cable at the bottoms of your floating braces as well? Figured I'd pop those Qs as I expect to be doing both types tomorrow.

 

[Bruce]

I wouldn't use a turnbuckle unless it is the type that locks. Some marine turnbuckles have lock nuts, some have holes in the threaded part for a cotter pin. Last thing you need is for them to loosen on their own. Of course you could drill a cotter pin hole in a 'non locking' turnbuckle. Another consideration is how much force can be put on the hook before it bends open. I don't know if they are rated for that but it would be something to look at. And another and you might find that a proper sized turnbuckle might cost more than a ratchet strainer.

While twitch sticks are common and way cheaper that ratchet strainers, the strainers can "fine tune" the tension one tooth at a time and the wire is wound not twisted. You don't need to clamp the ends of the brace wire because you attach it to the strainer.

 

[greybeard]

So it appears you just clamp the ends tight and then still twist it to tighten it? Have you used turnbuckles at all as tighteners? Is there a reason why/why not? Do you use the same 3/8ths cable at the bottoms of your floating braces as well? Figured I'd pop those Qs as I expect to be doing both types tomorrow.

No turnbuckles here to speak of. We did use some a few on some major sized sawn telephone pole corners down on the river in the mid 60s, but they're more more of a pita and more expense than we wanted to put into the job. The ones we did use are still there and haven't loosened up. Get them tight enough, they won't back of any more than a bolt will in it's threaded hole. I have over 25 gates here, each with a H on each side of it, probably a dozen true corners to boot. That's a lot of turnbuckles to buy.

You don't have to use cable for most corners--12ga HT wire is plenty strong.

Yes, I pull the slack out of the cable as best I can and just twist it with a 1/2 X18" long bolt. Bought a 1/2 pallet of thos bolts at an auction for $25 long ago. Nearly out of them now. I use cable, simply because I had it, and I needed something that would hold up in times of flood water. The power company used to give it away when they replaced lines after a hurricane. If you didn't watch them, they'd just leave it laying around in your pasture and you'd find it when you mowed.
I use 12ga HT slick wire on the floating braces, with strainers. It's a little hard to work with because of the stiffness. Hard to get started on the strainer spool. I usually put a bend in it about 1 1/2" from the end before I stick it in the hole of the spool--that gets it oriented in the right direction and keeps it in the hole for the first few clicks and you don't have a long bitter end sticking out to interfere with the spring on the strainer.
Don't forget to buy a tool that actually matches the strainers you buy--they aren't all the same. Found that out the hard way and trying to tighten them with a crescent wrench is not fun.

I have to have stouter fences here than most backyard farms would need due to the stock we've had and because I have floodwater every year. Wire can't be loose and the corners can't give. Even then, flood water gives me trouble sometimes.

 

[Latestarter]

Thanks Greybeard, that helps. Thankfully I don't have to deal with flood waters, but I do have the occasional "river" running through the property that has piled stuff up against the fences that are here. That's with it presently being barbed wire... I can only imagine how much crap is going to float into and get caught by the goat fencing. Will deal with it as needed I guess.

 

[greybeard]

Depending on how wide and how deep the "river' is, there are ways to deal with it even with field fencing. None are perfect. I always reccomend that people go down to those kind of areas and get an eyeball on them DURING times of flow--it's the only way of really knowing what one is up against. And even if there is no debris in the water flow, the energy of moving water against a fence of any kind can still be significant. I use wooden posts in those areas, but the area in the picture is an outlier--water flowed across about 30 acres, impacting 3 different fences. I did notice the offset you have in your plan in order to stay away from that area for now. Not seeing it, it's hard to suggest a solution, but if it's just a wide and relatively shallow swag, you may be able to put some tile or culverts in, and cover them once you get a tractor and some equipment to work with.

 

[Baymule]

Sometimes after a hard day of work, you have to take the next day off to rejuvenate. It's called survival of the un-fittest. I'm taking today off......

 

[Devonviolet]

I've been watching this discussion with interest, because we are badly needing to get some fencing in. Although, fortunately, we don't have to worry about flowing water like you two do (@Latestarter & @greybeard).

I am curious about a flooding problem, that indirectly affects us, though. The neighboring farm has a road running through it, which floods when we have a couple weeks of heavy rain in a row. The end of 2015 was like that.

This farm has a series of ponds, that are the result of rainwater runoff, from a hayfield upstream. In 2015, the ponds overflowed, causing the road to flood. Along the road, that flooded, there was an h-post, that had 8" posts in concrete. Those two big posts floated right out of the ground. They are still there. So, every time I drive on that road I see them. It amazes me that such big posts - in concrete - could float out of the ground! Can you explain that? It seems to me, the concrete would keep the post in the ground.

 

[greybeard]

I've never had one float out, and some of mine have been submerged within inches of the top of the post so I dunno, but my big posts are all 4' deep or deeper. You can see one of those larger posts down the line in the pic I posted a few posts up. If not for one of those every 100' and the tightness of the wires, that fence would have been laid over. Water certainly got over the top (5th) wire.

I have posts right down at water's edge of my ponds and they have never come up during high water either. Probably accurate to say that 50% or more of my property and it's fencing has seen 3-4-5' of water on it several times most years. I've never had a fence fail due to high water.
(falling trees are a different story)

 

[Devonviolet]

Now that you mention it, @greybeard, I don't think those posts were in a full 3'. I'll have to check the next time we go by there. We always go down a full 3' with our fence posts.

The previous owner put the ones, around the chicken yard, down 18" and they aren't very firm. We have had to reinforce a few, for gate posts, with 3' deep posts right next to them, to make sure they were strong enough for LGDs and goats. Two of the corner posts will come out of the ground if you pull on them. We found that out by trying to use them to stretch new fencing.

 

[Bruce]

Sounds like all the posts here put in by the prior owner @Devonviolet. He didn't put them in much deeper than where the pointed end was the full diameter of the post.

Given @Southern by choice had a T-post BROKEN by her LGDs, I would not trust your existing posts to contain an LGD, the goats or keep out any halfway decent sized predator unless you have hotwire on them that the animals will touch before they can put pressure on the fence.