bracing a fence

[Tony in SD]

And yet another way. But it is a lot more digging

 

[Bikinkawboy]

What works in deep ground isn't going to be at all effective on shallow ground where you can only go down a foot before hitting ledge or where frost will heave any post in a few years. No matter what you erect, OVER BUILD the corners. I learned this the hard way...

In southern Missouri where Rocky soils are a problem, making setting corner posts impossible, they take heavy woven wire or metal netting and form it into a circle 2-1/2-3 feet in diameter about 4 feet tall and fill it with rocks they pick up. They are heavy, stable and last as long as the wire is intact.

 

[caterpillar guy]

IF you have the room we use a deadhead with a rod or heavy wire like a number 9, going from the deadhead to the top of the corner post. With the hole dug at an angle slightly so the post pulls on the undisturbed dirt at the deadhead then trim a notch in the dirt for the rod/wire and tamp dirt back over deadhead. If you don't have the room then do the same thing for each post second one from the corner now that take twice the work since you need one for each post second from the corner then just stretch the wire around the corner. IF you do all the xing and things you guys describe on here they will pull out of the ground and fence will lift with them. Seen it many time on other folks fence. We set them about 2 feet out from the corner post and put them about 2 feet deep corner post is about 3 feet. We also had a piece of post held against the fence wire and fastened to a tree and as the fence needed tightened we just pushed that corner tighter to the tree and shortened the wires holding it.

 

[tom upton]

question for fence builders?what is best way to brace a fence corner , I have braced and built a few in my time. seen many styles ,. gonna put up woven wire with a single hot wire to keep the cows off ,.. x style one wood brace and other leg being wire twist tite ,this style what my dad always liked to use or , I will try keyboard example,triangle,, I-/IcornerpostI-I or reverse the brace,.. in other words when using a level brace between should the angle brace be hi in the corner or low in the corner ,,. both would have a wire twist tighten,..honestly around here I have seen all 3 styles ,.. I guess we are still searching best way

I am not much of a fence builder as I take more out than anything but you made me think of my Dad. He was what I would call an expert at putting in anchor, brace posts, and line posts. As well he built a lot of what he called "Dancy fence" from rails mostly on ranch land were it was pretty much impossible to dig a hole more than a few inches until you hit limestone. Any way for normal page wire fencing he would do the standard X thing you descibe with the brace being a heavy rail or a small post going from bottom of brace post to top of anchor post, then the brace wire to form the x twisted up each side of the wood brace. The critical part that made the anchor post stay in the ground was he would put a 3 or 4 foot pcs on the bottom of anchor post at right angles. The hard part was digging the hole required to put this in ! Then lastly he would not allow dirt around a post of any kind. They had to be "stoned in" so post wouldnt rot. Only problem is 50 years later I am taking some of these anchor posts out. Almost as much work as when he put them in!