ok. i have started setting my reclaimed fence posts for my reclaimed iron fence.. i have about 400 feet to run… 2.5×2.5 steel posts are 67″ oc … I’m setting the posts 2′ deep in 8″ augered holes.. 6ft tall 3 rail with 3/4sq solid pickets 5″ oc (thank you federal tax payers as this was reclaimed from a federally funded housing project)
now… across the front i have a 170ft run with a steady slope/dip to the center of about 10″
do i make level runs dropping and the rising with the lay of the land this way you will see that the rails don’t match up between sections…
OR do i let the fence sections make the gradual fall & rise keeping the rails line’n up but with the steady fall and rise with the lay of the land…
if i do the step down and up method then i could run 4-5 sections level per run… with a 1.5-2″ difference between runs… OR if i did the sweep method… i can let a string fall between the 2 end posts to mock the lay of the land and i can get the fence to pretty closely follow the string… with only 65″ sections of fence i think i can make this look ok..
what would you do level and steps… or swoop i’ve seen so many good fences end up looking bad because of the install
p
Edited 4/2/2009 5:37 am ET by ponytl
Replies
level and steps -
and if your holes are only 2" deep, why bother augering? <g>
If you were building the fence piece by piece then it might be optional. But since the panels are already build, you want to do the stepped method. Otherwise your verticals will not be plumb and that wouldn't look good at all. So I say stepped.
~ Ted W ~
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You going to step it?half of good living is staying out of bad situations
i've stepped it... only have about 200ft up so far... but the posts are all set for another 200ft and 6x6sq x1/4 thick posts are set for the main gates (6ft in the ground and 10+ ft out of it)
when i took the fence & posts down (maybe 2yrs ago) they had placed the posts about 72" o/c with many sections @58-60" o/c so i have tried to stay constant in my runs... it's all i can do to place a section in place alone... this stuff is heavy... (thank you taxpayers of america as it came from a federally funded housing project)
standard posts are 24-30" in the ground... 2.5" sq steel 1/4" wall and 90" above/out of the ground...
the mix i'm using to set them is... 4 buckets of rock... 3buckets of sand and one bucket of portland... makes 2.5c/f and i can set 3 posts per mix... with a stiff mix the posts once plumb don't move... you can eye down 150ft and see zero deflection...
i have a really cool "funnel bucket " i welded up for my bobcat... i pull the bobcat between the piles of rock & sand... and load the bucket with each and the portland...
i then pull the bobcat over to the running mixer... and the funnel end fits right into the mouth of the mixer... so i can dump the full mix into the running mixer while spraying it down with water.... i then move the bucket down beside the mixer... tilt the mixing drum... add the rest of the water... let it mix... then flip the drum over and empty it back into the "funnel bucket" on the bobcat... i then drive the mix to each post hole for placement... i can either dump the mix into the hole or just place the edge of the bucket next to the hole and shovel it in... we have it down to less than 15 min per mix and setting of 3 (sometimes almost 4) posts... i only have one guy helping me... and he basicly just holds the post plumb while i place the concrete... i make the final adjustments on each post with a 6ft level...
i have 150ft of fence that will be next to the drive... i've set the posts but i think i'll place a concrete curb down the fence line before i weld in the sections of fence (the fence will be centered above this concrete curb...) this way they can recap the asphalt right up next to the concrete curb... and the grass will abutt the other side making it easier to weedeat /mow
fun for me:) but the weather is great here except for the wind which really screws with your welding... i'm getting some sun...
P :)
Good thing you are working with some quality material.
A summer camp down the street recently put in, say a year or two back, an economy privacy fence by the road as it's a state route with allot of traffic
using 4x4 Pressure Treated posts with vertical 1x's spaced an inch or two apart on each side and maybe 50 yards or so long, something like 6ft lengths, you know the drill.
Anyhow, about a month or so back the community had a pretty good windstorm run thru here knocking down limbs and tearing improperly secured vinyl off houses king of deal.
Don't know why it picked on that fence as no other manmade stuff was affected like that near this area of the city
but a slew of that fencing in the middle of the run was broken off right at ground level, the sections laying flatter than a pancake on gunner's head.
Those 4x4 pressure treated posts snapped off right at ground level and that's with the vertical 1xs being separated by the the inch or two.
So much for adapting a design to wind flow.
yep, metal's better.
No charge for that story half of good living is staying out of bad situations
I could tell the winds effect on our metal posts if i got the concrete too wet... i'd have to come back and replumb the post as the concrete set... kinda surprised of the effect of wind on a 60lb post 28" in the ground in concrete (wet)
P :)