Author Topic: Putting up fence posts  (Read 6652 times)

thexman

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Putting up fence posts
« on: August 05, 2015, 23:12:25 »
I am considering putting in some fence posts from which to hang both an anti-rabbit fence (which I know you to erect) and a fruit cage.

I have never put in long term posts before and would value some advice.

Do any of you have any experience of buying and erecting posts? What type of posts should I be looking for?

It seems to be a case of digging a 12" to 18" deep hole and then inserting the post. The land is heavy clay, leaving some people to suggest that there is no need for cement and that simply packing in the soil would do. Do you agree with that?

If I use something like pressurised timber, how long will that last if place directly into the ground?

Any idea of what I should be paying?

Thanks for any comments.

galina

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Re: Putting up fence posts
« Reply #1 on: August 06, 2015, 00:16:08 »
Timber straight in the ground will definitely rot in heavy clay, because water is pooling in the hole during the winter months and the fence posts won't dry.  Our builder did concrete them in, but then added soil on top of the concrete to make it look pretty and the posts all rotted within a few years.

Metpost spikes concreted in are ok, if the load on them is not too heavy.  Metpost spikes hammered into the ground will not support anything very much.  If the site is windy, metposts are not good enough. 

Better are spur concrete posts with timber posts bolted to them, or all concrete posts concreted into the ground.   

Paulines7

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Re: Putting up fence posts
« Reply #2 on: August 06, 2015, 01:12:53 »
We put up trellises over ten years ago and attached them to 3"x3"x 6' timber posts which were supported by metpost spikes hammered into the ground.  The posts are still solid despite the trellises now rotting and coming apart.  We are on chalk and in a very windy situation, being on the edge of Salisbury Plain.

We have just put up some new trellises and archways in a different area of our garden and we used metpost spikes again.  They make the job so much easier.  The 3"x3"x 8' posts we bought this time were £5 each In Excess, Salisbury, a lot cheaper than those we had seen in timber yards.  The metposts were £5 each too.   

BarriedaleNick

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Re: Putting up fence posts
« Reply #3 on: August 06, 2015, 08:27:30 »
I always have used postcrete to put up posts. Dig hole - Insert post - add water and postcrete. It is simple and it is easy to make to sure the post is 100% upright.  Also I use treated wooden posts as it is easier to attach fencing, wire etc to them.  I dislike spikes as it is harder to get them in the ground and make sure they are perfectly upright - very difficult to adjust it you go off course but that could just be me!

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ACE

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Re: Putting up fence posts
« Reply #4 on: August 06, 2015, 09:32:53 »
I shall be building a fruit cage this autumn. Posts will come from Mole Valley who do a half round post for about £3 most country stores  do these cheaper than timber merchants and diy shops. http://www.google.co.uk/imgres?imgurl=http://www.burnfencing.co.uk/wp-content/uploads/2015/03/Half-Round.jpg&imgrefurl=http://www.burnfencing.co.uk/shop/products/machined-rounds/half-round-fence-posts/&h=480&w=640&tbnid=GpaYE5jULjc1ZM:&docid=yJAAAYgBginDuM&ei=EBnDVb7eK8vH7Ab_kK-QAg&tbm=isch&ved=0CCQQMygEMARqFQoTCL6m3amDlMcCFcsj2wodf8gLIg

They are  pressure treated and pointed  one end, they will give you at least 15 years in the ground. Hire/borrow a fence post hammer which is a heavy tube with handles, dig the hard stuff off the top of the ground and hammer into the clay. The country stores are also good for cheap wire or netting. There might even be a VAT dodge if you know the right person.

Robert_Brenchley

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Re: Putting up fence posts
« Reply #5 on: August 09, 2015, 21:08:52 »
If you're using timber posts, make sure it's been treated. when I took on my plot, there was a metal gate in place, with wooden posts which were well eaten away at ground level. I replaced it after a couple of years. It precisely fitted the description of a gate which was put in place at the end of the 1940's, and I found a reference from a few years earlier to it 'still being there'. So it had been there for about fifty years. I assume it had been well and truly treated with creosote.

sparrow

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Re: Putting up fence posts
« Reply #6 on: August 10, 2015, 06:37:29 »
If it's on an allotment, it might be worth checking if you are allowed concrete? We can't use it on ours.

chriscross1966

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Re: Putting up fence posts
« Reply #7 on: August 29, 2015, 15:11:41 »
If you're using timber posts, make sure it's been treated. when I took on my plot, there was a metal gate in place, with wooden posts which were well eaten away at ground level. I replaced it after a couple of years. It precisely fitted the description of a gate which was put in place at the end of the 1940's, and I found a reference from a few years earlier to it 'still being there'. So it had been there for about fifty years. I assume it had been well and truly treated with creosote.

YEah, but they were alowed to use some truly appalingly toxic preservatives back then, arsenic-laced creosote dissolved into tar  would be the least of it :-)

thexman

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Re: Putting up fence posts
« Reply #8 on: August 30, 2015, 21:41:04 »
So, if that is true, why is it ok to use old railway sleepers for raised beds?

Somebody once asked on another allotment forum whether they should line their raised beds with plastic to stop anything nasty seeping into the soil from the sleepers. The reply was that worse things would be generated by the plastic!!

 

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