Five little holes

I slept in this morning. I've been burning the candle at both ends so I needed it. Then it was off to Menard's for 5 - 6" treated landscape posts and some 8' 2X6 treated runners. Nails, large staples and 2-ply wire. I'm hobbling from a pulled hamstring, but this just has to get done.

The plan

The fence we worked on today has no gate - just 2 short lengths of fence with a little pass through section which is a 1 foot overlap about 12" wide. The original plan called for 6 posts but we found some difficulty having to avoid the electrical wire and pipe running down the middle of the area. We found we could get by with one less, but we will need to go buy 3 - 10' runners. If we planned this right, we won't need to cut any of the runners.

Dig, dig, dig

Most of the time today was spent marking, remarking and digging. The clay and rock is so tough to get through, even with an auger, that we had to fill the holes with water and wait til things softened up, then dig some more. On one hole we ran into a huge rock. Since we don't have much leeway where we place the posts, we had to dig it out. Not much to show for a day's work. Good thing I took Monday off.

Fencing lessons learned from past projects

• 1" cedar won't work - the horses just ate it and it was too flimsy
• 2" rough sawn oak was sturdy and the horses won't eat it, but they are heavy and you have to pre-drill the holes. Treated lumber is lighter and doesn't need pre-drilling
• Nail the runners to the inside! They look nicer on the outside, but the horses will push them off