[suziequeue]

We've had a lot of good fencing done in recent years and a number if people have mentioned the importance of capping the fence posts.


Does anybody have any ideas for a smart but utilitarian/functional solution? I look online but all the caps seem too fancy. I don't want to go the route of sticking old buckets on top. I thought of getting some sort of malleable sheet metal to cut into discs and mould onto the top of the posts. Lead is too expensive and too nickable


Any ideas??

[Fowgill Farm]

Don't know if its any use but we get very thin tin sheeting from our ag merchants to go on the backs of our pig gates (our boars chew the wood otherwise) which is quite malleable.
mandy

[edessex]

How about using something like bitumen?  Its basically black tar, like what is used on road surfaces, but without the shingle.

Warm up the tin and paint a cap on the top of each post, completely waterproof, easy to repair if it cracks (although it can 'repair' itself as the sun softens it slightly), and very cost effective.

[MAK]

Funny you should ask but we walked past a riding school near us  yesterday and they have invested in wooden fences and they have put tin cans on each post. Not your baked bean sized ones but the larger ones.
Good idea I thought but given that no one in these parts spends money on fences ( just chestnut poles with string or wire) it seems a strange thing to do after spending a fortune on stock fences.

[hughesy]

It won't stop them rotting at ground level which is what happens to the crap quality posts that are about these days.

[bloomer]

i was going to ask why you were capping them all the fences i see to replace are rotted at the bottom not the top!!!

[MAK]

yep - we use simple chestnut poles - when they rot we put another one in. BUT we are lucky in having so much sweet chestnut woods and the only cost is a few hours cutting them.

[pgkevet]

Ditto to the replies above..alternative might just be to cut an angle so water runs off

[FiB]

bits of plastic feed bags tied on with baler twine?  Not pretty, but would do the job? 

[Catweazle]

I wouldn't bother if you have sweet chestnut posts,  they take ages to rot.  It might be worth doing for cheap softwood posts.  The most important thing it to ensure good drainage around the base,  throw some gravel in the hole first and water will drain out the bottom of the post.  If setting in concrete then slope it up to the post so it sheds water away.

After the 87 hurricane I had to replace a fence and someone gave me some 4x4 softwood from giant packing crates,  I soaked the bottoms in a blue barrel full of creosote and some old engine oil I had collected over the years.  Being a natural lazy sod they ended up in the barrel over winter and were installed in spring 4 months later.  I left that house last summer and they were still solid.

[Big Benny Shep]

ive collected used engine oil for people treating their fence posts, they keep coming back for more so it must work


HTH

[edessex]

A lot of people have used engine oil (especially from a diesel) for years, I've used it myself on fences, gates and even sheds.

But there are environmental issues with using it, and the local council (and local busybodies) take a dim view on people using it.

[Big Benny Shep]

oh i thought it was a nice way of recycling it, ah well

[Foobar]

We have lead flashing on some of our big old ones ... lol ... I'm surprised it hasn't been nicked yet.

[Marches Farmer]

I cut the legs off holed farm wellingtons, cut the rubber into circles, place them over the top of the fencepost and make 8 cuts from the edge to the fencepost.  Fold each one over the next, tapping in a large tin tack.  Can do the same with old rubberised waterproof jackets and trousers, although they don't last as long.  Our boot fencepost caps are fine after six years.