My husband and I are about to start our summer project of setting 500 wood fence posts for a new pasture. Posts will be 8 ft long (3 ft in gound and 5 ft above) and 5" in diameter. According to Quikrete’s website I would need approx. 5 bags of concrete per post!!! That seems like a lot! Has anyone else built a fence lately and if so how much concrete did you use? Also if it matters, the railing will be Ramm’s shockline electric fence that tensions so my posts need to be sturdy however I don’t want to spend excess $ if its not needed.
What size hole are you going to drill to get that much post and concrete in?
We generally use three 90lb bags of concrete mix per gate post and braces, in line post one to two.
It also depends where you are, if you give an idea what region and soil type, someone may have direct experience with that there.
I just did a 350’ fenceline with 6" wood posts for Horseguard electric tape. I had the holes dug professionally with a big Beltex rig, to the same depth as you. Sorry I forget hole size, but I think 8". I used Quickcrete on only the end posts and the gate posts, and one post in the center of the fenceline.
For my soil (typically about 8" of soil, then caliche), with a few hard rains, posts set really well without any cement at all. I figured for that short run of electric, I’d give try without it. Would not do it for non electric fence though. Just something you might consider. My helper did use a spud bar to pack dirt back in around the post as he filled the holes. I let it rain hard a few times before messing with them for line insulators.
For the posts I did use cement for, I only used 1 bag, maybe 1 1/2 for the gate posts.
ETA: For the Horseguard tape, I don’t tension any more than I can do by hand! Looks fine. Love Horseguard, especially the bipolar.
Would it be cheaper/easier to rent a pounder (not sure actual name) to just pound the posts in? I’ve heard horror stories about having to replace fencing that is cemented in. the pounded in posts do pretty well. I realize this doesn’t answer your question, but though it worth suggesting.
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I second the pounded posts, especially with 500 of them. The coated wire mostly “floats” along the line posts in the insulators but end, corner, gate posts need to be sturdy and well braced because they will carry the tension in the wire. We have used both cemented and pounded posts in our pastures. The pounded have held up as well as the cemented ones and went in much faster.
Agree about pounding them in. Mine are pounded; no cement needed. It might even be cheaper to pay to have it done for you; I’d price that out before renting one.
If you are using the concrete as a ‘footing’ – a pad at the bottom of the hole for the posts to sit on – then that’s fine (if you have ground that is very sandy or otherwise unstable for posts) – but concrete really isn’t needed in any capacity for wood posts that are installed properly in normal soil.
But if you are planning to actually set the posts IN concrete – don’t do it. The concrete will create a well around the post bottoms. This well will hold water and eventually your post bottoms will rot. Granted, treated posts (I assume that’s what you’re using?) would take a long time to rot – but why ‘go there’ at all. IOW’s – wood and concrete don’t play well together. Concrete is always used to set metal posts – but not wood.
Pounding in the posts is the best idea. They really get ‘locked in’ when pounded.
Best to get a professional ‘post pounder’ to do the job. These machines are tricky – can be very dangerous – and it is rather an ‘art’ to get the posts in straight and true and uniform in height. Not really a DIY job IMO.
Is it a tensioned fence? If so, only the corners need to be concreted in. The line posts just need to be tamped or pounded in. For the corners we use 160 lbs (2 80 lb quickrete bags) per corner post with bracing posts. We have 4 rail Ramm flex rail.
Pretty sure the instructions on the bag is meant for posts being used for a structure of some sort, deck, etc. Which most likely meets “code”. The diameter of the hole dictates how much is needed. “Code” dictates this for structures not fence post. 5 per post X 500 = 2,500 bags @ $4+ per bag $10,000!
If you think you really need to use cement, back fill the holes with the dirt and rocks and use 1 bag. But that will still cost around $2,000 for 500 bags. And 20 tons to haul around.
At that cost it would be very much worth hiring someone to pound them. There are very good towable post pounders to be rented. But not a lot of rental yards offer them.
I use 4X6 posts (actual measurement 3 1/2 X 5 1/2) and a 6" wide auger. The posts fit tight in a 6" diameter hole but they need to be pressed in with the FEL bucket on my tractor. This way sets them very tight with little back filling and tamping.
I paint a depth line on my auger using bright fluorescent ground marking spray paint. Use the same to mark the holes when laying out. Better to go shallow and cut the top to height then going too deep. Good chance not all holes can be dug 3’ without hitting rocks. I only use cement on shallow holes.
There are a number of “tricks to the trade” that make the job go quick and end up with a nice looking fence line. 500 post fence line is a BIG job for the average person. Hope your marriage survives, lol. Building a nice looking fence is not as easy as it looks. Especially if you don’t have all of the necessary equipment and a bit of experience.
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Yup, lol.
To be clear for others. Do not pour the concert first. Set the post back fill with some dirt and then dump a bag in the hole. You don’t want the bottom of the post to be “sealed” in concrete. Water will seep in around the post and concrete “jacket”. This will greatly shorten the life span of even pressure treated posts. Leaving the bottoms “open” will allow the water, moisture to wick away.
If you live in an area that gets regular rain no need to add water and mix. Nature will take care of this in a few weeks.
