Fence Repair

Following a two day wind event, I took a walk along the new fence line to see if any branches had fallen on the fence.  No branches were found, but one large tree trunk had run afoul of the fence on its way to the ground.  To anyone unfamiliar with this view, the abundance of downed trees makes it hard to identify that one that is causing the problem.

There it is.  I have to admit it chose a nice place to fall.  Centered between two wood posts on a patch of level ground, it was probably the easiest place along the whole line to work on removing the log.  The most time consuming part of the job was the one mile round trip to the barn and back to get the tools I needed.

With a high tensile fence such as this, each wire strand stretches independently of the others.  The upper most strand takes the most punishment, while the lowest strand is hardly disturbed.  In this case, the fence wire is actually supporting this section of log off of the ground.  It was fortunate that the log, partially decomposed and heavily worked on by Pileated Woodpeckers, broke into sections on impact with the ground.  The log was held at an ideal position for cutting.

The fallen log caused increased tension on the fence wires that produced an upward pull on this steel post.  This was identified as an at risk post during installation of the fence and was equipped with a steel cable attached to a ground anchor.  The post was able to lift about half an inch before the cable came taught and stopped the rise.  This is how it was supposed to work.  I’m glad it followed the plan.

After cutting the tree trunk in two about a foot back from the fence wire, the remaining log could be pushed up and away from the fence.  Once the log was clear, the fence wires jumped back into place.

In order for the fence to take this kind of abuse without damage, it is necessary to install post clips and staples in a way that allows the wire free movement.  When the tree hit the fence, the added tension was spread over several hundred feet of wire.  Had the wire been firmly attached to these two posts, it surely would have broken as the tree made its way to the ground.

The fence is back to being good as new.  This is why high tensile makes such a good choice for use in wooded areas.

Fence Repairs

Along one mile of my property line is a fence that has been in place for close to 50 years.  The effective lifespan for a fence expected to contain livestock is 20 years.  Since my neighbor and I neither have livestock, the fence needs only to serve as a visual indicator of where the two properties join.  This fence is primarily bordered by woodland.  The combination of falling trees and deteriorating posts results in a fence that sags and at times lays flat on the ground.

The fence wire is rusty, but is still strong and functional.  I periodically select a section of fence where I will splice broken wire and replace non-functional posts.  This year I chose an 1100 foot stretch and spent five days cutting and setting posts, cleaning obstructions from the fence line and attaching the fence to the new posts.

Posts are cut from cedars in the woodland that died long ago from lack of sunlight and have stood long enough since death to lose their outer coating of bark and sapwood.  A typical tree will give three eight foot posts with diameters ranging from eight inches at the base to four inches at the top.  The red inner wood of these posts is rot resistant enough to survive for many more decades.  Notched poles are used to hold broken posts in place until I’m ready to attach the fence to the new posts.

My primary fence building tools are the spade, spud bar, and posthole digger.  The star of the show, and the tool I would most like to leave in the barn, is the 18 pound spud bar.  The chiseled end is used to break up rock encountered while digging postholes and the flattened end is used to tamp in the earth used to fill the holes after post placement. 

This is a common sight in most of the postholes.  Shallow bedrock is responsible for the conditions that allow such a diversity of rare and unusual life to exist at Blue Jay Barrens.  I remind myself of that fact as I chisel away at the rock with my spud bar.

My work is helped along somewhat by the condition of that rock.  The meteor that hit this site 350 million years ago fractured, and in some cases pulverized, the bedrock.  Much of the time, I’m able to break out chunks of rock by applying pressure to already existing cracks.  There are times though that the spud bar rebounds from the rock with the sound of a clear chime and I know that I’ve found a bit of rock that is both massive and unbreakable.

Even when it does break apart, dealing with rock is tedious and time consuming.  Sometimes I accumulate a nice pile of rocks.

In some locations the limestone bedrock occurs in thin beds sandwiched between clay.  These beds, usually an inch or less thick, eventually yield to the spud bar.  Getting the first break in each layer is the hard part.  After breaking through, it’s fairly easy to chisel an opening large enough to accommodate a post.

The most uncommon experience is to encounter no rock at all.  This was my only rock free posthole.  It just served to remind me of how quickly I can set a post when I don’t have to deal with rock.  That made the rock filled holes that much more aggravating.

The fence isn’t pretty, but at least it’s recognizable as a fence.

I’m pretty good about staying on task while I’m out working, but occasionally I’ll take some time to look at nearby things of interest.  I was wondering why there always seemed to be a shaft of sunlight breaking through the tree canopy at just the place I was working, when I noticed the chewed condition of these Prickly Ash leaves.

It didn’t take long to find the cause of the chewed leaves, the caterpillar of the Giant Swallowtail butterfly.  This is one of those bird poop mimics and its camouflage is quite effective.

I had to pull the branch down in order to photograph this guy and in the process, I annoyed it enough that it displayed its red osmeterium.  The osmeterium is a defensive mechanism designed to discourage predators not put off the bird poop appearance.

I also found several clumps of Indian Pipe just beginning to emerge.  Indian Pipe is a saprophytic plant that lacks chlorophyll and harvests its energy from decomposing organic matter.

I had my own fan club of Hackberry Butterflies.  These butterflies love to lap up sweat and I sweat enough to support legions of these guys.  Most of the butterflies were going for my back and shoulders, but a few found that I had imparted enough sweat to my tools to make them a convenient place for a drink.  Though they seemed to have abundant energy, none of the butterflies helped with the fence building in any way.