Fences made with metal T-posts and wire are the easiest and fastest to install of all permanent fencing. They are relatively inexpensive and require few tools in comparison with wood or vinyl fencing. A single person can set a great many posts in one day, so enclosing even large areas goes quickly---making this method perfect for setting up pasture fences for livestock.
Instructions
Measure for Materials
1. Sketch out your proposed fence lines to determine how many corner posts and regular T-posts you will need. Figure three wooden posts for each fence corner ( and two brace posts).
2. Measure each fence line from corner to corner. Divide the distance by 12 or by 16, depending on whether you want to set your posts 12 or 16 feet apart. This will tell you how many T-posts to buy for each fence line.
3. Determine how many gates you will have and where you will set them. You will need at least two gate posts per gate. The type of gate materials you buy will determine how tall your gate posts should be. The heavier the gate, the sturdier your posts. Tall posts can be used to brace across the top or to support the gate with a cable.
4. Add all the fence-line dimensions together and divide by 12 inches to determine how many feet of fence wire you will need. Fencing comes in rolls of various lengths. Both barbed and barbless twisted wire come in 1320-foot rolls. Field fence usually comes in 330-foot rolls.
5. Factor in additional materials such as staples for securing fence wire to corner posts, gate materials and post-hole diggers.
Set Your Corner Posts
6. Use heavy-duty posts for corners, because the fence wires put a lot of tension on them and you don't want them to sag. Either set them in concrete or cross-brace them, or both.
7. Dig your post holes with the post-hole diggers to a depth of at least 36 inches. Set your first post and level it vertically.
8. Use the excavated dirt to fill in the hole (unless you are using concrete). Pause often while filling in dirt to tamp it down with the bar or the handles of the post-hole diggers. Rock the post slightly as you go to help settle the dirt and test how tight the post is in the hole.
9. Cross-brace your corner posts by setting a second post about six feet to either side and nailing or screwing a 4x4-inch timber horizontally between them about two-thirds of the way up.
Set Your T-Posts
10. Step off or run a long tape measure down your first fence line and lay a T-post every 12 to 16 feet along the line.
11. Secure a string or the middle fence wire to one corner post, then run it down the length of the line to the next corner. Stretch it tight enough to serve as a guide to keep your posts from straggling all over.
12. Mark on the ground where each post should go, or lay each post down at the 12- or 16-foot mark. You want the posts to have a nice, even appearance.
13. Set each T-post with the flat, knobby face facing inward so that if you use electrical wire with your posts, it will be on the inside of the pasture.
14. With the face of the post just touching your string when the post is vertically level, place the open end of the post driver over the top of the post. If you are short or the post driver is very heavy, lay the post down on the ground and put the over the post first, then stand it up against the string on the mark where it should be driven.
15. Raise the post driver as high as you can comfortably hold it without lifting it off the fence post, then bring it down sharply to drive the post into the ground.
16. Drive the T-post in far enough to cover the fins on the bottom end. Do not over-drive it. Animals often lean over the fence, pushing the posts down into soft ground. Getting them out may involve a chain and a lift if they are too far into the ground.
17.Keep an eye on your fence line to ensure the posts are driven in uniformly for height as much as possible.
String Your Wire
18. Run your wires one at a time to avoid tangling them as you work. Start with the bottom wire if you are running four wires, and with the middle wire if you are running three. For four wires, start about 12 inches from the ground and run successive wires every 10 to 12 inches above that. Space a three-wire fence slightly farther apart, but close enough so that animals cannot reach through comfortably.
19. Secure the first wire to the corner post with staples and run it the length of the fence. Make sure you run it out on the correct side of the T-posts (the flat side).
20. Cut the wire at the next corner, leaving a four-foot to six-foot "tail" to help you stretch it. Fasten the tail to the bumper hitch of your truck or tractor and slowly tighten it (or "hand-tighten" it by pulling it as tight as you can). Secure it at the correct height above the ground with a staple or two loosely driven in as guides. Leave the wire connected to the tractor while you are securing it to the T-posts.
21. Do not over-tighten wires, as this could break the wire and cause serious damage or injury. Likewise, while you are working with it, don't drive the staples in too far, as you may need to get them back out to make adjustments, and over-driving could break the wire.
22. Clip the wire to each individual fence post, using the clips that come with the posts and your fence pliers. Definitely wear gloves for this step, as pinched fingers are common.
23. Hook one side of the clip to the wire on one side of the post, then stretch it around the back side of the post and clip it to the wire on the other side. Crimp the ends down tight around the wire with the fence pliers.
24. Keep the wire evenly spaced on the posts and as level in height from post to post as you can. The wire will tighten as you begin securing it to the posts, so make sure it has enough give to work with it easily (another reason for not over-tightening to begin with).
25. Secure each finished wire to the corner post at the far end of the line. Drive in the staples you used to keep it at the correct height on the post, then slowly let off the tension on the line by backing up the truck or tractor. Your wire should remain taut on the posts.
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Wrap the tail of wire around the post and secure it with staples. Don't cut it short, as you may need the extra wire to pull sagging wire taut in the future or to make repairs. Clip off any protruding ends so they don't present a danger to livestock, and you are done with this section of fence.
Tags: corner post, fence line, post driver, post then, wire corner, your posts, corner posts