FENCE IN, FENCE OUT
(Page 7 of 9)
September/October 1975
Jim Fairfield
WIRE
RELATED CONTENT
Don't be in a hurry to stretch your fence, particularly if you put in the posts during wet weather. The corners, especially, need time to settle and dry in tight. "If you rush the job, you'll pull your corner and brace posts right out of the ground," says Bill. In case the climate doesn't cooperate and you must put up your wire while the ground is wet, add an extra brace as insurance.
If you have a choice of starting points, begin at the highest corner so that the heavy, awkward rolls of steel fencing can at least be unwound downhill. Handling will be simpler if you proceed as follows: Stand the roll by the fourth post down the line, with the smaller spaces to the bottom, and unhook the ends of the strand. Without moving the roll, unwind several turns of fencing, enough to reach back to the comer post and about 18 inches beyond. Why? Because, before you go any farther, you'll be wrapping the mesh around that comer upright, and if you set the bundle of wire close to the point of attachment you won't be able to tip it over once the end is made fast. It's a lot easier to unwind a few turns of fence than to wrestle a full roll 20 or 30 feet until it can be laid flat without binding.
Wrap the ends of the fence wire around the comer post with the bottom strand an inch from the ground and clip one or two rows of vertical stays so you can thread the horizontal ends around the support and back through the mesh. Then twist the end of each strand around itself. Make sure you get the same tension on each wire. Finally, staple the bottom and top bars in two places to keep the netting from shifting up or down on the post.
An essential tool for the above operation is a wire twister, an ingeniously shaped piece of flat steel not unlike a juice can punch. The device has a short finger which loops over a strand and catches the end in a notch, so that you can easily wrap it in a tight coil around another wire. Another "must" is an implement we call a "fence beast," which looks like a combination claw hammer (with one pointed claw) and heavy duty electrician's pliers. It's an all-purpose tool: wire cutter, staple puller and driver, wire twister, nutcracker and much more.
OK, the ends of the netting are attached to the corner post. Tip the mass of wire over and roll it out as far as the next corner or gate post. If the distance is long, you may need to splice on another roll. That's easily done: Overlap the old and the new mesh at the last vertical stay on the old roll and the first one on the new. Then clip the end of each strand free, and wrap it around its counterpart on the other side of the doubled stays. When tension is applied, the wrapped wires will pull up tight against one another with the vertical stays in between. At the next corner post, set up your stretchers. There are many kinds and they operate on one basic principle: The end of a section of woven fencing is clamped across every strand, top to bottom, and the whole run of wire is then puffed tight by a tensioning device. I've seen outfits that retailed for as much as $89.95, but before you buy one at any price, ask around the neighborhood. Many farmers have fence stretchers and you can usually arrange to borrow a rig for the few days you'll need it. Someday the owner will need a favor from you. That's what neighbors are for, to help each other, right?
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