Tuesday, April 5, 2016

JaZzEd AbOuT PoStS





You might be asking yourselves what kinda goober gets all excited about posts. Well let me tell you when you have been working on fencing for over a year and only now are finally reaching the worst spots of the old stuff it's kinda a milestone.

This old farm has concrete pads littered all over the place. Remains of ancient wells, cisterns, forage chutes, grain bins, machine sheds. You name it. In almost all cases the buildings or whatever structures have been long gone since before I ever arrived. However there were many spots that needed clearing out and with this gate section the last (and worst) of the eye sore areas will be gone.

Well as long as you don't count the lean too off the old equipment shed in the pasture but more on that later.

I planned the fence project to eventually give me three 2 to 3 acre paddocks to rotate the flock around on and the 10 acre hay field for Winter forage. I was in a pickle and needed at least one immediate paddock last year so I started on the West side which was the part that had no problem areas. After a trip to the back of the hayfield when that fence failed last Summer it set me back months due to weather.

I enclosed the West paddock, the barn lot, the hay field and am now at the East side of the barn where I need to make a breeze thru area that allows me to run the flock from the barn to the East paddock. I also have to work around the two ram paddocks in the process. This area I am working on now is the heart of the entire plan. It is where the barn lot breezeway, horse pasture, East paddock, front drive and South paddock will eventually all come together, along with a new concrete pad I am putting in for sand blasting old implements and stuff.

This area will also contain a 34'x12' storage shed/outbuilding and be able to be enclosed off as it's own separate space to help feed the donkey since the horses take her food otherwise.

Another words it's complicated but the posts for the first two gates are finally all set. This is huge because as soon as they settle enough I can hang the gates and begin clearing out the mess you see below.



Yes this eye sore will finally be gone now. Those old posts were set into concrete and no way to fix em when they started shearing off. I have em propped and knitted together with old T-posts, baling wire and cattle panels right now.  When I finally pull all that old wood out of there I will still have a long thin concrete pad to deal with but at least the eye sore will be gone.

After this section is cleaned out I can make the breezeway and use it as a temporary paddock for the ram and go back and finish his area then move on to the East paddock for the ewes and new lambs. Hopefully it will all be done by May weather permitting. Once the East paddock is finished I will be completely done with electric wire as well. Which will be another huge landmark in my fencing project.

The reason it has taken me so much time is not the fencing specifically but the gate and corner posts as they need time to settle properly for the whole thing to work. Making sure there are no gaps for baby lambs to slip through is the real issue to be honest.

They don't leave you with much wiggle room honestly.

I hope to have the gates hung by the end of this week!!!!

Keep Prepping Everyone!!!!!!!


12 comments:

  1. We had some posts in concrete, they were put in by an optimist, he should have made the posts out of concrete as well. Getting cold again so we had to pull the plants back inside at Lowes and will put them back out on Monday, may be the last cold. The chickens probably don't know what to make of lambs.

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    1. Sf - Well I have to give who ever did it credit as the whole arrangement did last a long time. Now of course it is a mess AND that concrete is so old I may never get it broken out of there either. Gonna see what it looks like once all the old wood is gone maybe I won't have to remove the concrete. It's been chilly here again too. The winds are cold enough to make it chilly but it would be nice if it was calm.

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  2. Looks good Preppy. Maybe a foolish question on my part, but could you get the lip of a tractor bucket under the edge of the concrete and lift them out?

    Cool-ish here but the worst is done I think. Moved the citrus back out and it got a little colder, but seems to be warming up now.

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    1. TB - Well I don't have a tractor with a bucket currently but even if I did I am not sure just how much concrete is there under decades of debris and dirt or how deep it goes. It might be possible to remove it by hand I will just have to see when I get the old boards cleaned out.

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  3. I am glad that we only have thirteen acres in total to fence, otherwise I don't think we would ever get the job finished! We use acacia for our fence posts, which is also used in the vineyards to support the vines, and the posts are sunk into the ground. As for lambs, they are rascals at finding the tiniest gaps to get through, but we seem to be winning that particular war this year.

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    1. Vera - Ya those lambs seem to always find the gaps and they can wiggle through some surprisingly small spaces too. I am most worried about one getting into the rams pens. I don;t think either ram would hurt a baby but...

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  4. We had the forestry man out the other day as there land bounds ours and the fences are not brilliant, they have agreed to replace all the fencing including around the 15 acres we are buying and the quarter of a mile up the drive, it should be started in the next month or so :-)

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    1. Dawn - Well that certainly is a bonus. Most of my fencing right now is all internal but last year someone else taking care of the border would have saved me a lot of time and money.

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  5. Awesome! I get excited about new, solid fencing too. It looks so nice when it's done and it's nice not having to worry about escape artists.

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    1. Lisa - Ya I wish it would never sag and the smaller critters would not push on it :)

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  6. PP,

    Fence work is a constant ongoing job. Good work my friend!

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    1. Sandy - Yes it is. Never actually done and always maintenance needed somewhere on it.

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