2015 - Volume #39, Issue #2, Page #33
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He Uses Steel Posts To Repair Split Rail Fences
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He cuts 6 or 8-ft. posts in half to make 2 posts out of them, then drills 3 holes spaced 5 to 6 in. apart into the top part of each. He drives each steel post into the ground next to a rotted-off post and then uses 4-in. coated deck screws to hold them in place.
“It’s the easiest, cheapest, and quickest solution I’ve found to give split rail fence posts many more years of life,” says Bauer. “Put the steel posts on back of the cedar post and you won’t notice them from your house or yard. But even if you put the steel posts in front, they’re hardly noticeable from a distance.
“All you need is 12 to 18 in. of steel post above ground and 18 to 24 in. of post under ground. The rusty color of old steel posts matches nicely with the look of old cedar posts.”
Bauer says he came up with the idea after some of the posts in his split-rail fence started rotting off. “I put the fence in some 30 years ago, and after it weathered for a couple years it really looked great. However, after about 7 to 10 years some posts began to weaken.
“At first I replaced several posts with new ones, but it was expensive and a pain to dig out the old post. It seemed like I was replacing 1 or 2 posts every couple of years, and because the new posts weren’t weathered they looked odd for a year or two. Now more than half the posts in my fence are patched this way, and I think the entire fence will probably last another 30 years.”
Contact: FARM SHOW Followup, Loran Bauer, W5739 410th Ave., Ellsworth, Wis. 54011 (ph 715 928-1778; bauerloran@gmail.com).
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