Welcome Back
We’re ready to start the next guide series. This is for everyone that has been thinking about building a fence on their property, but has been on the fence about it. Building fences is actually not complicated but it is somewhat labor intensive so most people outsource it. However, you can save a ton of money by doing the work yourself.
This guide will focus on animal fencing, however you can take most of the principals discussed here and use it to build just about any type of fence you desire!
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I’ve also added handmade soap bars to the store. These are fresh smelling soap bars made with all natural ingredients and made right here on the farm.
I haven’t bought soap from the store in years!
Fencing Basics
Fences have been used for thousands of years. They are important for protecting gardens, containing livestock, protecting property, establishing property lines, and more.
A well built fence will last many years. Good fencing can add value to your property by allowing you to expand your operation and increase income possibilities. Whether you’re building a fence to keep animals in, or building a border to protect your property from wild animals, fencing is invaluable in helping you reach your goals.
You can build a fence out of almost anything. Most modern fences consist of posts that are inserted into the ground, and horizontal members attached to the posts to establish the fence. A good fence is strong and built out of quality materials that will stand up to mother nature and significant abuse from animals. Some applications require a fence with good aesthetics, while some simply require substantial strength characteristics.
Different fences are suitable for different applications. We’ll discuss the pro’s and cons of each below.
Common problems with fencing usually occur when posts become weak, or where the horizontal members attach to the posts. Different fences require different post designs and requirements. We will cover the most common types of fencing that people use to keep animals in or out of an area.
Where to Start
Before you purchase materials, you have to figure out exactly where you want to put your fence. Next you will need to decide what type of fencing you want. There are many possibilities when building fences so I’ll try to cover most of them today.
The most important decision is where to put the fence. This is primarily going to depend on what you are building the fence for. There are a several reasons one would want a fence:
Protecting your property from people
Keep animals out of an area
Keep animals inside of an area
Establish a boundary or property line
Privacy from neighbors/passers by
Protect people from danger (pool, equipment, etc)
If you are thinking about building a fence you probably already have a general idea of where you would like the fence to be. However, it’s important to consider a few things first, because, once the fence is there, it’s going to be there for a while. It’s good to make sure you do your homework and plan everything out in advance.
If you are only fencing in a portion of your property, this is where you will need to take time and think about different scenarios to make sure you don’t fence your self in, so to speak.
Lets say you have a 10 acre plot and you want to fence in 3 acres, well you might be able to fence in the back three acres along your property line. But maybe there is a huge creek or hill running along the middle of it. This may be a problem if you are trying to keep animals inside of this area due to the creek or deep valley.
I covered some common considerations for planning your fence in a previous post, you may find it helpful in deciding where to put your fence on a larger piece of property and general layout of your homestead.
The next major decisions to make, once you decide on your fence location is gates. Gates are very important because they provide easy access inside the area. I recommend drawing your property on paper and sketching out where you want your fence to go.
You’ll then run through different situations that might come up that would require access to the area. You’ll come up with your gate locations this way. You may want a small 4 foot “manway” gate placed at the south corner by your house for easy access to your garden. You might also need a larger 16 foot gate on the northside to pull trucks or large equipment into the area.
These are all very important decisions that need to be made now, before you move forward.
Fencing in a large area, you’ll want to take a look at the land and see if there are large trees in the way. Keep note of large ditches, hills, creeks, and any other obstacles/land elevation changes when planning your fence. It may be better to avoid a line of large trees by moving the fence inside your property line by several feet if possible. You may decide against fencing in an area due to the steep elevation change in a certain area.
If the fence you are planning needs to go through major creeks, large trees, or thick brush, heavy equipment may be required to prepare the area for fencing. This will add significant cost and time to the project, so it’s important to keep this in mind when you’re planning. A width of at least 5 feet is ideal to be cleared through brush and trees in order to install fencing correctly.
You can reduce the amount of work (and cost) greatly by finding an area with a small amount of brush or an area already open to install your fencing.
Fencing Types
There are many different options for fencing styles and materials. Here are some of the most popular:
Barbed Wire
Woven Wire
Wooden Ranch Style
Electric High Tensile
Each type has pros and cons, and each style is suited for different applications.
Barbed Wire
Pros
Quick/Easy to build
Lower cost
Low maintenance
Easy to make small elevation changes, go over bumps or small hills in the land
Can pull through patches of trees and brush if necessary
Easy to mow under using a string trimmer or mower if needed
Suitable for holding cows and small animals (with enough strands)
Cons
Not ideal for horses because they can scratch themselves on it
Not aesthetically appealing
Can be a problem with small children
High Tensile Electric Fence
Pros
Quick/Easy to build
Lower cost
Easy to make small elevation changes, go over bumps or small hills in the land
Can be built for “temporary” fencing, since it’s somewhat easier to move
Can pull through patches of trees and brush if required
Easy to mow under using a string trimmer or mower if needed
Suitable for holding cows and small animals (with enough strands)
More aesthetically pleasing than barbed wire
Cons
Requires power to charge the strands
Requires clear fence lines from brush/grass touching it
Can be a problem for small children (only once! 🤣)
Woven Wire
Pros
Can keep any type of animal in or out (except deer, unless you build 8’ tall fencing)
Aesthetically pleasing. This is a beautiful fence when done correctly.
Low maintenance
Cons
More expensive to build (less than wooden style fence)
More labor intensive
Not able to cover elevation changes or dips easily without increase cost
Need a 5’ wide clear opening in trees or brush in order to unroll and install correctly
Hard to mow or string trim, usually requires spraying herbicide for weed control
Goats can get head stuck in the larger hole fencing, 4” square fencing is recommended for goats.
Wooden Ranch Style Fencing
Pros
Beautiful Aesthetically
Good for horses
Easy to mow under the bottom board
can be built for garden borders with added wire
Cons
Not ideal for smaller animals because they can get out (you could add wire fencing to the back of the wood panels to get around this)
Expensive and labor intensive
Requires maintenance on old rotting boards
Untreated material may need painting
Here are the different types of fencing requirements for different applications:
NRCS
I’d like to point out is that there is a government program available in some states that will provide funding to build fences on your property. It’s a long process to be approved, but if you’re interested in learning more, you can do so here.
Estimation Preparation
Now that we’ve covered the different fence styles and considerations on where to build your fence. It’s time to estimate your materials. If you have decided where your fence will go, you hopefully sketched out your fenced in area on paper. Now you know where it’s going and how many gates you need. Next we have to figure out the distance of the fence lines.
This can be done a few ways. One way is to simply go out in the yard and start marking out your fence location. You’ll want to locate your property line if you are building a property border. This can be done by finding the deed of the property. It will tell you the distance from the road to the property line or some other established land mark.
You will need a few items to help you with this process and you will need these later on in the fence building process too!
6’ T Posts from the supply store, you’ll need at least 2 to set your fence lines up. I recommend getting 10, because you always need a t post on the farm.
T Post Driver*****
*Important Note*
T post drivers like the one I linked to can be dangerous. I linked to the longest one I could find. The shorter ones with handles are dangerous because when your driving the posts, towards the end of the job when you get tired you’ll start to lose focus. The diver can get stuck on the notches of the T post as you’re driving it and slam the driver into your head causing serious pain and possible injury. I’ve seen it happen and have had it happen to me.
I use a custom made driver that is 4’ long made out of pipe with a cap welded on one end. The length of my driver reduces the risk of an accident. If you’re building a fence using T-posts you are going to be driving lots of them, so it may be a good idea to find someone who can weld you up one of these.
It’s made with a 2-3/4” steel pipe about 4 feet long with a cap welded on the end. You want a heavy duty pipe with some weight to it, this one probably weighs at least 20 pounds.
This is a good stopping point for this week. Next week we’ll start measuring our area and marking where the posts will go, and come up with the final material estimate.
We’ll see ya’ll next week.
WAGMI
Farmer