Putting in the Fence

I was going to show you this last week, but I was distracted with everything going on.  My expert helpers put the fence in using the backhoe.  It’s really good for removing old posts.

It’s also what they used to put the new posts in.

You just want to trust your backhoe operator.

It’s a lot faster than the post driver, but they are a bit harder to get perfectly straight and at a uniform level.

Jeremy uses the feet of the hoe to make himself level and try to make the post straight.

It can be something of a challenge on my hills.

You really don’t want to see him sitting at an angle like this.  At least I don’t.  He seems to enjoy the challenge.

He’s pretty good at operating it, and uses the arm to push himself back onto a more level ground.

He’s across the ditch and ready to finish setting posts!

After the posts are in, you need to unroll the woven wire.

It was getting late in the day by the time they got this far.

I guess I’ll have to present the finished fence next week!

Linking to Friday’s Fences, Forever Farmgirl Friday and Farmgirl Friday.

Fencing

I have been complaining about the fence on my south border all spring and wishing it was already replaced.  Last weekend, the day finally came for us to get to work on it.  We started by ripping out that wonderfully photogenic worthless fence.

My son was removing the chicken wire I used to try and hobble it together while my nephew started removing strands of barbed wire.

We tried rolling everything up neatly to make it easier to haul away to be sold for scrap.  Good gloves are a requirement when working with barbed wire.

I think my other nephew really wished he had jeans when he found himself in the midst of the rose bushes and gooseberry bushes and raspberry bushes. Ouch!

About 1300 feet of up and down hills through the thorny shrubs removing wire made for a long day of hard work.

After finishing the barbed wire, we removed the netting and rolled it up also.

After the removal was complete, we brought in all the new barbed wire, posts and netting.

These things are quite heavy, so I was glad the boys were here to help and do most all of the work.

We had our equipment ready to go.  The post driver I got just for all of the fence I knew I’d have to replace.  My nephew’s backhoe has been great to have around.

We used it to pull out all the old posts and set the new ones.  I’m thinking the backhoe and it’s usefulness will have a post of its own.   The one thing I don’t like about the new fence going in is how much of the grass we smashed because of the equipment and materials.  A large part of this Back Forty pasture is what I use to make hay for the winter’s food.

 At least we’ll still have plenty of hay, and the goats will get to join the cattle in the Back Forty.  I really am thankful that we are getting this done.  I’m sure next week’s Friday’s Fences will include another installment of my fence being replaced.

Linking to Thankful Thursday, Friday’s Fences, Farmgirl Friday, and Forever Farmgirl Friday.

Fence

We’ve been working on the fence on the back forty for several months.  It’s been a long process, but we have the next section in and functional.  Finally.  First we removed the barbed wire and took the staples out holding the woven wire netting.

The backhoe makes removing the fence so much easier.  We just wrap the chain around the old posts and pull it tight, so Jeremy can lift it out with the hoe.

Look at that powerful piece of equipment!

Now that the posts were gone, we could fasten a chain around the netting and pull it with the backhoe.  Because the fence had been here a while, it was getting buried, and there’s no way we were getting it out by hand.

Once we had them all pulled and the woven wire removed, we set the new end posts.  These are a lot bigger and stronger than the rest of the posts, but these are the ones that have the most stress on them.  We used the post driver to set these end posts, two on each end.

Then we use a brace to fasten them together and add more strength.

Once the brace is attached, we use number nine wire to create another brace to finish supporting it.  Some braces, like below go straight across the top.  Some people use another wooden post for the brace.  Some metal braces go at an angle.  If you have one at an angle, you still want the metal brace on the top of the outside end post.  The wire will go on the bottom.  Sorry I don’t have more steps showing the way to attach and twist the wire, but I was actually working.

After the end posts are completely ready, we stretched a strand of barbed wire and pulled it tight.  This serves as the guide to set the new posts.

We used the backhoe to set the rest of the new posts.  We put one wooden and then two metal posts all the way down.  Then we unrolled the woven wire.

This is the part where I lost some of my help, and I don’t have more pictures.  To sum up, once we got it rolled out, we used a fence stretcher.  It attaches to the woven wire and then a chain hooks it to the backhoe.  Then you stretch.  As it gets tighter, it will stand up.  Then you just have to staple and hook it to the posts.

I confess, this isn’t the stretch of fence we just did, but it was done the same way, and it was hot and rainy and I didn’t get a picture of the one we did.  Maybe I’ll get these details in the next stretch of fence we do.

Be sure to visit Deborah Jean for more Farmgirl Friday posts.  Please note, she does have a new web address now.