- Joined
- Apr 28, 2010
- Messages
- 1,155
I've been doing a lot of fence building over the last year, and thought I'd share pictures of some the rough use the BK-9 is subjected to when I'm setting posts.
I like hedge posts for my fences. Hedge (Osage Orange) is a very hard wood that resists rotting. And if you have the trees on your property, a chain saw, and some log chains, they're free. They do, however, require some labor.
Fence building is an art, perhaps the official art of rural America. Yes, so-called artist like to put up sculptures that consist of random bits of metal welded together or oddly painted panda bears on street corners in big cities and call it art. But I'm not impressed. Farmers have been erecting sculptures on road corners at least since the invention of barbed wire in the 1860's. A good fence is a monument to a landowner's constructive prowess, their dedication to hard work, a testament to their dominance over the whims of livestock. And a bad fence serves as a long term reminder of the builders incompetence.
Every farmer has their own unique methods and philosophies of fence building. I'll now give you a brief glimpse of some of my fence building techniques, and they happen to involve knife use.
I like my posts set 4 feet deep (as deep as the auger will go, plus a little bit more).
For barbed wire fences, I use a corner post and a brace post with a galvanized pipe as the brace bar. If you pay attention to fences when you're out driving around, you'll notice that brace bars often come loose. Not mine. I drill a hole with a 1 1/2 inch spade bit and put the ends of the pipe in the holes. As long as the posts are intact, the brace bar cannot fall out.
A Vic Farmer and some paracord make a fine plumb bob to check that the post is straight. Then put the dirt back in the hole and tamp. Tamping is the key, the most important part of all fencing. I have strong opinions on tamping which I will not delve into here.
Next I need a notch to hold the tightening wire.
Then wrap the wire.
Then I need to cut a good stick.
Run it through the wire and tighten.
On this post, my gate hinge came up a little short.
I can't make the bolt longer, but I can make to post narrower.
This is what the tang extension is for; batoning point first.
Now it fits.
I like hedge posts for my fences. Hedge (Osage Orange) is a very hard wood that resists rotting. And if you have the trees on your property, a chain saw, and some log chains, they're free. They do, however, require some labor.
Fence building is an art, perhaps the official art of rural America. Yes, so-called artist like to put up sculptures that consist of random bits of metal welded together or oddly painted panda bears on street corners in big cities and call it art. But I'm not impressed. Farmers have been erecting sculptures on road corners at least since the invention of barbed wire in the 1860's. A good fence is a monument to a landowner's constructive prowess, their dedication to hard work, a testament to their dominance over the whims of livestock. And a bad fence serves as a long term reminder of the builders incompetence.
Every farmer has their own unique methods and philosophies of fence building. I'll now give you a brief glimpse of some of my fence building techniques, and they happen to involve knife use.
I like my posts set 4 feet deep (as deep as the auger will go, plus a little bit more).
For barbed wire fences, I use a corner post and a brace post with a galvanized pipe as the brace bar. If you pay attention to fences when you're out driving around, you'll notice that brace bars often come loose. Not mine. I drill a hole with a 1 1/2 inch spade bit and put the ends of the pipe in the holes. As long as the posts are intact, the brace bar cannot fall out.
A Vic Farmer and some paracord make a fine plumb bob to check that the post is straight. Then put the dirt back in the hole and tamp. Tamping is the key, the most important part of all fencing. I have strong opinions on tamping which I will not delve into here.
Next I need a notch to hold the tightening wire.
Then wrap the wire.
Then I need to cut a good stick.
Run it through the wire and tighten.
On this post, my gate hinge came up a little short.
I can't make the bolt longer, but I can make to post narrower.
This is what the tang extension is for; batoning point first.
Now it fits.
