Author Topic: Did my first bit of fencing this weekend ! (Read 6041 times)

Drummournie · « **on:** October 21, 2012, 09:41:39 pm »

Ok it's not nuclear engineering but it made me very happy!

Started small and replaced about 20 intermediate posts,got them from his in Inverness and they were good value about a pound or so.

Friend from work has a mate who is a fencer so he leant a post driver as I have seen them from ascot etc for sale,great tool but the down side was this one had been home made out of 6" steel pipe and was a monster!
I am feeling it today!

Popped the posts in beside the rotten ones and stapled away, very satisfying out on the far side of the field and now my fencing is a1 !

MAK · « **Reply #1 on:** October 21, 2012, 09:57:35 pm »

Great stuff - so the pects and bicepts are aching today?
Beware of muscle fatigue though. We were driving our last post in and the OH was on some steps above me helping me with the last few hits. Fatigue must have kicked in and we missed the post with the "driver" and the OH fell but managed to push the heavy "driver" away. It glanced my head but missed my large nose. Lots of blood but the broken nose was not touched. Still an ugley bugger though.

Small Farmer · « **Reply #2 on:** October 21, 2012, 10:25:35 pm »

Been there, done that and got blood on the T-shirt. Lifted the Drivall too high and bounced it off the top of the post onto my head.
I was, of course, working by myself

jaykay · « **Reply #3 on:** October 21, 2012, 11:09:55 pm »

SF, we were told to wear our climbing helmets to begin with, when fencing, by a friend who had done just that and knocked himself out.

MikeM · « **Reply #4 on:** October 22, 2012, 07:52:51 am »

ah, the curse of the last post. Being tall, I have to be careful to not lift the rammer over the top of the post, but when fatigue sets in, that's when the curse hits. It's always the last post that gets you.

hughesy · « **Reply #5 on:** October 22, 2012, 08:25:35 am »

I'm 6 foot 4 so I start knocking them in from a standing position then kneel down to finish. This keeps the top of the post high up inside the rammer.

Small Farmer · « **Reply #6 on:** October 22, 2012, 12:24:24 pm »

Yup, I'm 6'3 so needed that advice a bit earlier, but being a bloke wouldn't have listened. And it nearly was the Last Post - all it needed was a bugler with a flag - but it was fortunately a glancing blow.

When I was 16 I used to maintain the local church bell tower and wind the clock every couple of days. Locked in the tower and moving a step ladder I failed to notice the wrench balanced on the top which duly fell and concussed me. So when I woke up I washed the blood off and went back to school - duh! I also used to walk around the bell chamber with the bells "up" to fit mufflers onto the clappers for when people practised. It scares me just to think about it now - the beams were about a foot wide above a ten foot drop and the lightest bell was over 6cwt. No mobiles, no phone, no alarm and no companion: health & safety is not all stupid!

Drummournie · « **Reply #7 on:** October 24, 2012, 10:29:53 pm »

I have done exactly what smallfarmer described though, but it was on the first post not the last!

Entusiasm got the better and I lifted the driver too high, bounced on the post and clonked me right on the coupon, fell backwards over the fence catching my trousers on the barbed, lay there for a while til I worked out there was nobody to feel sorry for me and I just got up and cracked on chuckling all the way!!!!

UPoneacre · « **Reply #8 on:** November 29, 2013, 08:58:20 pm »

Well, you lot have cheered me up no end; just plucking up courage to start on mine and I've got about two hundred and sixty metres of fencing to re-post/tighten up - was looking forward to it, now I'm not so sure - must check the first aid kit first

bloomer · « **Reply #9 on:** November 29, 2013, 09:10:03 pm »

the head banging thing doesn't improve, i have done a fair bit of stock fencing now and am getting good at it even if i do say so myself.

The last run i did was 130 metres of new fencing plus some upgrades of existing fence plus gates etc was very pleased only smacked my head seriously twice on that job.

there was also an incident with the handle of a sledgehammer and a personal area of my anatomy, that's a story best kept for another day...

MAK · « **Reply #10 on:** November 30, 2013, 08:04:34 pm »

My neighbour rents land from other neighbours who rarely vnture out of their houses. Last week he re-done some fencing of their land and he fenced off a common track to the woods. Lots of hard work !
But next week I will have to take down the posts and wire he has put over the track to the woods ( to collect logs) and some time soon I need to cut down 3 trees that will fall over the other fence he has just replacd.
Not sure he will be too pleased after his hard work but the landowners tell me that he must accept it. Should be a fun week !