And here is my NW corner post, floating braces and cemented. Not real fond of the idea of the strainers just laying near ground level. Do people do anything to protect them from the elements so they will still be workable in a year or 3?
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The ones I use and have seen are all galvanized and aluminum. Never had problems with them later down the road. Some of mine have ended up almost buried in the dirt and still work fine.
I got called away on family stuff out of state right after I said I would show how I did my uneven ground fence lines, but you did fine.
One thing tho. Use as large a slab concrete under the floating brace as you can find. That slab or rock takes tremendous pressure 24/7 for years and if it gets pressed down into the ground, the vertical post will lean and the fence integrity will be compromised. You can go back and take a few more clicks on the ratchet but odds are, it will just sink again later.
For general purposes, and mostly for future reference to those who have never built a fence, let's look at how corners and ends actually work. I have often been accused of overthinking things, but I have always found it easier to do and/or fix things if I know 'why' things work. This is probably one of those times
On a traditional H brace, the wire tied to the anchor post, (post a below) and H braces work, by transmitting 1/2 the tension that is on that anchor post, on to the vertical brace post (b). Ideally, both of the vertical posts will have equal tension on them, with that tension transmitted by the horizontal post(c) between the vertical posts. Remember--the whole point of any brace type is to prevent the anchor post (a)from moving laterally in the soil. The staples in the brace post(b) don't really take much of the strain off the anchor post--they are driven in after the strain is applied to the anchor post--on top of that, wire tends to slip thru the staples after a period of time anyway.
In the above example, I have two 8" diameter posts planted 36" in the soil. The thing that prevents a post from moving, is the total area of soil presented to the posts. Depth X width. In this example, each hole presents 288 sq inches of soil resistance to strain caused movement for a total of 576 sq inches. This can be increased in a number of ways.
a. Dig the hole deeper and/or use a larger diameter post.
b. Dig the hole wider (let's say 12" diameter) and pour concrete around the 8" post effectively turning two 8" dia posts into two 12" diameter posts.
c Dig the hole wider, and deeper & pour the concrete.
It's all about presenting more area of soil resistance to tension.
Take an index finger, stiffen it and poke it into the ground- note the penetration.
Make a fist and push with the same effort-note the penetration. Penetration will be less with the fist because of increased soil area in sq inches to force exerted.
For discussion and comparison, let's just stick with 8" diameter posts, buried in native soil 36" deep..
If, you have a rock or other impenetrable strata where you want your corner or end posts, and can't dog very deep, you are stuck with having a shallower hole, so you will want to use a larger diameter post or.. the same diameter post, but a larger hole with concrete poured around the post. It all depends on soil type, rainfall, and how long the run of the fence is.
Now, let's look at how a floating brace works. You will have your same anchor post (a) but no vertical brace post upon which to transmit tension to. The tension in a floating brace setup is transmitted down to the rock or slab that sits under the diagonal brace. The diagonal takes the place of the horizontal post (c) and the slab or rock takes the place of the vertical brace post(b).
In order to relieve and disperse about 1/2 the strain on the anchor post(a).. the area in sq in of the slab or rock needs to roughly equate the same area in sq inches as the vertical brace post would offer in an H setup.
In the crude drawing below, we have the same 8" diameter anchor post(a) 36" in the ground. The same 288 sq in of surface area of soil presented in resistance to movement.
The slab in this picture is only 12"x12" which means it has a surface area of only 144 sq inches, providing a combined total soil surface area of resistance to movement of 432 sq inches. We have saved ourselves digging an extra hole and the cost of a big post, but now have a setup that is
less effective than a traditional H post corner or end. What to do?
Increase the size of the slab or rock to approximately "17 X 17" or anywhere close to it. 17x17=289 sq inches + the 288 sq inches from post a=577 sq inches. Any increase will do fine tho. I sometimes use two 14"x14" paving stones, with a 12"X12" paver centered on top of the seam where the 2 pavers meet. That roughly doubles the size of the slab.