I was out on a job last week near the old Johnson farm off Route 9 and saw a fence that had been up for maybe 10 years with just packed dirt around the T-posts. Not a single one was leaning. I always thought you had to pour concrete for anything to hold long term, but that field changed my mind. The soil was heavy clay and they drove them deep, like almost 3 feet. Have any of you guys had good luck skipping concrete on soft ground?
Last summer I had a 300 foot run of split rail that just fought me every step. Three digger teeth broke on rocks before noon on Tuesday, then a delivery driver dropped half the rails in a mud puddle. Has anyone else had a job that just seemed cursed from the start?
Honestly, I used to just eyeball the depth on every hole for wood fences in my backyard jobs. An old guy from down the street walked over one afternoon and asked why my posts were at different heights. He pointed out that my holes were all off by 2-3 inches because I wasn't setting a string line across the top first. I felt like an idiot, but now I use a laser level to mark each hole before I dig. Has anyone else had a simple mistake like that totally change how they work?
Had a guy from a local lumber yard chew me out last week because I was only going 30 inches deep with gravel base. He said I should be going 36 minimum with concrete all the way up. I've been doing 30 for years in this Texas clay soil and never had a leaner. But now I'm second guessing myself. For a standard 6 foot board on board privacy fence, what depth are you guys actually setting your posts?
I had this fence I put up near Portland last fall that started leaning after two months, and I couldn't figure out why. Then a old timer walked by and asked how deep my holes were, and I told him 18 inches for a 6 foot fence. He laughed and said I needed to go down to 30 inches minimum for that soil type. Has anyone else found out their hole depth was way off after thinking they had it right?
After 4 hours of sweating in 100 degree heat trying to get posts in rocky ground I finally gave up and rented a jackhammer from Home Depot for $48 and it saved my whole schedule, has anyone else run into limestone layers they just could not punch through?
I was visiting my sister in Portland last month and noticed her neighbor had a fence going up a crazy steep hill. Most guys I know would just stair-step the panels or cut them crooked, but these guys did something different. They used custom angled posts and let the pickets follow the ground contour perfectly. It looked way better than the normal hack job you see on hills. I asked one of the workers about it and he said it only took them an extra 2 hours but cost $300 more in materials. Has anyone else tried this method or do you still just stair-step everything?
Last month I was digging post holes for a 6ft privacy fence in Spokane and this old foreman walks by, looks at my holes, and goes 'you gonna set that or plant a tree?' Turns out I was going 42 inches deep on every hole when 30-36 is plenty for standard frost line here. He showed me how to check soil type and adjust depth based on that. Has anyone else had to unlearn bad habits from watching YouTube tutorials?
Been doing fence work for about 6 years now. Always mixed concrete wet in the hole like everyone else. Last month on a job in Boise, this 70 year old retired fence guy walks by and says I'm wasting my time with the hose. Said just dump the bag in dry, tamp it down, and let a few days of weather handle it. I laughed it off. Then I had a 200 foot run of privacy fence to finish and ran out of water on site. Figured what the heck. Set 12 posts dry. 3 days later it rained. Checked them this week and they are rock solid. Not one shifted. Has anyone else tried this trick or am I just lucky?
Old Hank from down the street swore I didn't need concrete for my 4x4 posts in sandy soil near Dallas. I listened to him and set 8 posts with just tamped gravel. 3 months later, 5 of them are leaning like they're drunk. Who here thinks concrete is always necessary or is it just me being unlucky with the ground?
For 5 years I swore by wood posts because they were cheaper and I thought the rot was overblown, but after pulling a rotted pine post out of a wet clay patch near Austin last month I finally tried those galvanized steel posts. Set up a test run of 10 steel posts on a tricky slope and they held perfect after 3 heavy storms. Anyone else switch materials after being stubborn for too long?
I had this job with a real rocky patch near the back corner and had to pick between renting a one-man auger or just busting out the manual digger. Went with the auger and it chewed through the first three holes in like 10 minutes flat. Anyone else rent equipment instead of fighting with hand tools on rough ground?
I was hanging a heavy cedar gate on a slope last Tuesday and used those plastic composite shims to level the hinges. They crushed down about an eighth of an inch under the weight after two days and the whole gate sagged. Anyone else had shims fail on them like that or do you stick with metal ones?
I was replacing rotted posts on a cedar privacy fence from 1993 in the South Austin neighborhood, and the old guy who built it used railroad ties instead of standard posts. The whole structure was still rock solid except where water pooled near the downspout. Why do we keep pushing treated pine when stuff like this lasts decades longer?
Trying to set posts for a deer fence on a limestone ridge and the auger just bounced off so I had to hand-dig through that hard clay and rock with a digging bar, has anyone else had to resort to a rock pick or sandbags to get through a job like that?
I was reading an old farm manual from 1910 and found out they'd just wedge posts in with packed clay and field stones, no concrete at all. Shocked me since half my jobs now involve mixing bags of quick-set. Has anyone else run across weird old-school methods that still hold up?
Been keeping count on a notepad in my truck and 500 posts at exactly 90 degrees felt like a bigger deal than I thought it would, anyone else track little stats like this or am I just weird?
I used to hand dig all my post holes with a clam shell digger, took forever but the holes were perfect every time. Switched to a skid steer auger on a job in Des Moines and the holes are way faster but I've noticed they're not as consistent depth wise after 2 years of use. Anybody else run into this shift in quality and figure out a fix?
I had to set 20 fence posts on a rocky property where digging was near impossible, so I tried the Simpson Strong-Tie anchors out of desperation and they held up fine through two wind storms, has anyone else had luck with them on tricky ground?
I was on a job in Denver where this older fella was setting up a curved section of cedar pickets and he pulled out a string line instead of a laser. He showed me how he uses the string as a guide to keep the top rail consistent even on the arc, and it looked way cleaner than what I usually do with guesswork and eyeballing. Has anyone else tried this approach for curves, or do you stick with lasers and measuring?
Out in Aurora last Tuesday, I was putting up a 6ft privacy fence. Got to the last gate and figured I could save 15 minutes by not digging out the old concrete from a previous post hole. Just set the new post in with some quickcrete and called it good. Three days later the homeowner texted me a picture of the whole gate leaning sideways. Had to go back, rip the post out, dig down 2 feet, and pour proper concrete. Cost me an extra $40 in materials and 3 hours on a Saturday morning. Anyone else ever learn a lesson like this the hard way?
He showed me how he drives them on a slight angle into clay soil and they hold just as good as wood for half the cost. Has anyone else found a trick that changed their mind about a certain material?
Broke my third one last month on a job in Austin, and it finally hit me that I've been wasting money on the wrong tool. My buddy Ron showed up with his old school steel digger from the 80s and finished my holes in half the time. Anybody else ditch the plastic handles for good and never look back?
I just wrapped a gate job outside Nashville where the previous crew set H-posts barely 18 inches deep in clay soil. By spring the whole 100 foot run had shifted a good 4 inches. Why do people think skipping depth saves time when it just creates callbacks?
I was digging post holes for a 150 foot privacy fence in a new development. Hit a gas line about 2 feet down that wasn't marked on the map they gave me. Had to sit there with the gas company for 3 hours while they fixed it. Customer was cool about it, but I lost a whole day of work. Anyone else have a utility hit story that cost you a full day?