After running errands in the morning, after noon I went out to work on my fence. My NW neighbor appeared to be burning the hay his horses had trampled on the ground and didn't eat over winter. Fortunately the breeze was from the south and carried the smoke away. His burning seemed more smoke than fire.
His burning gave me the idea to attempt to burn the hay/manure part of the corral where Dan's cattle were kept last fall. My earlier burn burnt some of the top layer. I tried again today. Not much success. More of the top layer burnt but that's about it. Just below the top layer it is wet.
On to my fence work. While I didn't get going till after noon, I worked till dark (9 pm). I put in all the fence posts I will need. I untangled the strands of barb wire I had taken off the old fence (doesn't take much for them to tangle!
) and nailed them onto the fence posts. There were three strands. No wonder dad added the snow fence: three strands won't stop a determined calf wanting to be with its mother.I stretched the wire to make it tight. Since I will add chain link fencing I put the bottom strand down low to prevent the cattle from pushing the bottom of the fence out. The middle strand in the middle and the top strand near the top of the fencing.
One side effect of my stretching the barb wire is that some of my fence posts are now slightly tipped.
) The soft ground didn't always hold the posts straight when I tightened the barb wire. I didn't go back to fix them as the chain link fencing will obscure the off-kilter posts.Before I was able to add all the fence posts I had to determine where my gate would be. Laying the chain link fencing on the ground wasn't good enough, I need to install the fencing so it would be at its final length, all stretched out.
My 5 ft tall roll of fence was 50 ft long. So it was a full roll (one can't tell when buying used at an auction). Nailing the fencing to the posts was time consuming work. With one hand I used a crowbar to stretch the fencing tight and with the other hand I juggled the "u" nail and hammer to nail the fence to the post. And repeat on up to the top of the post.
I also tried to get the bottom of the fence right on the ground or slightly below it. The fence line was the high point on either side. This must have been the ground's height 65 years ago. Each side must have been compressed from the weight of the cattle, else blown away in the wind.
I got a shovel and rake and lowered the high ground, else dug a narrow shallow trench in which to place the bottom of the fence. That will make it harder for the cattle to push the bottom of the fence out. If I ever get chickens it will make it harder for predators to get through the fence.
After I installed the 50 ft section of fencing I installed a 10 ft section of fencing. This section, and my other rolls I plan to use, are 4 ft tall - the same height as my gate.
At 60 ft this was a good spot for a gate. The gate was easier to install than I forethought. On each side of the gate I added diagonal boards between the last two fence posts so these posts won't lean and throw the gate off level. Probably won't happen as the chain link gate is rather light - unlike the wooden gate I built earlier.
Tomorrow I will attach the rest of the chain link fencing. I have enough rolls of fencing to reach all the way to the end. At this point I will be comfortable in having cattle in the corral even though I need to do "finish" work; i.e. poles along the top and adding boards/posts in-between my fence posts for extra 'sturdiness'.
The fence now looks far different as a chain link fence than with the snow fence. With the chain link I can see right through the fence, unlike the snow fence. Another reason to add 'in-between' boards/posts. I wouldn't want a steer to get into a crazy gallup, miss seeing the fence and crash into and/or through it. As it is whenever I walk around the barn I do a double take wondering where my fence has gone.
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