FENCE IN, FENCE OUT
(Page 6 of 9)
September/October 1975
Jim Fairfield
BRACES
RELATED CONTENT
When all your posts have been planted, you'll have to brace the ones at every corner and gate (and those at line breaks for knolls and gullies). The idea is to transfer the tension of the stretched wire to the ground through the bases of the main and brace posts, by means of a horizontal rail set between the two vertical timbers. Some fencemakers prefer to set the extra rail diagonally from the top of the corner (or whatever) post to the bottom of the brace post. This, however, doesn't prevent the supports from moving toward each other (somewhat like a pair of scissors closing). It's preferable to install the reinforcement parallel to the ground at a height of about 44 inches, to keep the two posts a fixed distance apart.
Scraps of pipe are sometimes used as brace rails. If you go this route, drill a socket for the horizontal brace in each vertical post and be sure to insert the length of pipe before you tamp the supports solidly into the ground.
Braces can also be made from rough-sawed 2x4s. Most commonly, though, they're poles about three inches in diameter, the leftover lengths of not-so-straight posts cut from the woodlot. (Any really crooked timbers need to be more than 3 inches across to withstand the compressive load they must bear.) Saw each wooden rail about an inch and a half longer than the distance between the two posts (so that it can rest in a 3/4-inch notch on both sides) and make sure the ends are square.
If you're working alone, here's a gimmick to hold up one end of a brace while you install the other: Make a halter of binder twine which can be slipped over the top of a post. The string will keep the horizontal bar roughly in position while you toenail it to the uprights.
Bill Deavers prefers to fasten his wooden brace rails in place with steel dowels, for better joints that won't fail if the uprights loosen a bit. He cuts the 3-inch-long pins from half-inch reinforcing rods and inserts them in 1-1/2-inch holes drilled in the ends of the rails and in the posts.
The final step is to tie the whole strengthening system firmly together with wire. In our area, brace wire comes in 9, 10, 11, 12 and 14 gauge at a single price for all sizes (you get more feet per pound of the lighter weight wire and, yes, 14 gauge is smaller in diameter than 9 gauge). Some farmers use 9 gauge single, but you need more muscle than I've got if you intend to work with wire of that diameter. Two strands of lighter gauge are preferable. In our parts the usual choice is No. 11, heavy enough to do the job, light enough to work with.
Brace wire is installed as follows: Loop two strands around the two uprights, from the bottom of the corner or gate post to a point on the brace post several inches above the horizontal rail. The loops should just fit comfortably around the wood. Pull the strands even with each other, twist the ends together, and loosely staple the wire to the timbers to hold it in place while you tighten it. Then insert a stick about 12 to 15 inches long and 1-1/2 inches in diameter at the brace wire's midpoint and twist the reinforcement tourniquet fashion. This shortens the length, tightens the posts against the brace rail, and exerts a force against the earth opposite to the tension of the soon-to-be stretched fencing.
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