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POST HOLES & TREE HOLE DIGGING - DRILLING |
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ABOUT FENCE BUILDING & MARKING YOUR HOLES One of the most important things to consider is the proper linear alignment of the holes. If you were building a wooden privacy style fence using all same size posts, you have a corner post at the left corner, and a corner post at the right corner, and lots of posts in between set at appx 8 or 10 ft intervals. With this type fence it is ok to place your marks for drilling holes in center to center fashion. You can stretch a line, and put spray paint marks along the line of the string. But other styles of fencing will not come out correctly if you use that same technique. Stretch wire fences such as barbed wire,
woven wire, welded wire and all other types of roll out wire. Marking
your holes will be just a little trickier if you are using different posts
sizes. T-posts may
be more expensive than cedar posts depending on where you find your cedar,
but only by a narrow margin. You could do all cedar or use
both type posts and I don’t think your cost will vary by much. The
most critical part of your fencing is the end supports. You would need
end supports at all fence corners, and termination points because the
wire would need to be stretched from those points. Any time you
are stretching wire, there is an enormous tension against the corner posts,
and they have to be constructed properly to stand against that stress.
I like to use 5" or 6" treated pine posts at the corners, or top
grade cedar with 6" bottoms. Pipe is a good choice too. You
put 3 posts in the ground with concrete, 8' or 10' apart.
Starting with the farthest outside post, use a chain saw to notch out a
2" nook somewhere near the top of the post, and cut a notch near the
bottom of the middle post. Your vertical support post would fit
fairly snug into the gap. You repeat this for supporting the middle
post to the 3rd post. There is an alternative if you don’t like that
vertical look. You can do the notches mid way up the posts and put the
support posts into the notches running horizontally. Horizontal
supports are not as strong so you must also use some barbed wire or smooth
stranded wire and bind the bottom of 1st post to top of middle post, and the
same with middle post and 3rd post. Hope this helps! I arrive at jobs all the time and when I stand at a vantage point and look at the line of holes that the owner has marked, so many times they are quite a bit out of alignment. If it can be seen by the naked eye, just wait till your fence is built! It's just like the old Accountant adage, garbage in, garbage out! If you don't take the time to mark your post holes so they are straight as an arrow, your fence will be a mess. It is very tough to drill straight holes in the Texas hill country, but marking is easy, so make them straight! Some of the factors that may cause a property owner to mark holes that are not straight may be placing your string line too high above ground level. 12" to 18" above ground is too high, unless you are using a plumb-bob from string to ground. If you are not using a plumb-bob, that distance allows for discrepancy in visual spotting of the mark under the string. Be sure and stretch your string 6" to 8" above ground level. Also, stretch the string very tightly, and don't try to spot the marks on a windy day as the string will bow left or right. To spray your marks, walk along the string with one foot on each side of the string, straddling the string. And be careful to spray the mark exactly under the string. Once you have a little spot of paint on the ground, next make a 24" X across that paint mark. Another factor that may cause bad hole marking is not being aware of what may be interfering with your string line. If your line is being touched by plants, trees, rocks, branches, etc.. your holes will not be straight. Take the time to walk along your stretched line, and cut and clear all possible interference. Also, stretch those lines very tight!
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