In discussing putting up some fencing, my husband and son said there has to be a better way to put it up that the old nail-on staples. I said there is not:).
So, they came up with something they saw online. You use a one-inch washer and attach it with a screw which is then screwed on with an electric drill.
I am skeptical. Has anyone ever done this? Does it work well? Is is easier?
Ugh. I am just imagining threading all those washers in the middle of a field x300 posts. I drop enough staples (and then spend time searching for them!) as it is!
Is it REALLY that hard to knock a staple in? I’m all of 120lbs and can knock one into a treated or locust post in two or three hits…
Maybe you need to get shorter staples instead? I’ve never had an issue with the shorter ones holding up.
DH carts around two drill motors all chucked up to screw stuff down. One with the drill bit that pre drills holes, and the other with the driver bit.
That’s his opinion of using screws versus a hammer and nails or the old staples.
He will do this even though it requires hundreds of feet of extension cord or a cordless drill motor which he usually beats to death in record time and numerous trips for new drill bits plus the possible higher cost of the washers.
If your DH wants to use the washers, then let him give it a shot.
Sort like “re-inventing the wheel”!! Staples are easy, cheap and the established method of fastening fence to wooden posts. I’d think that the fence could wiggle out from under the washes.
I have a staple driver.
http://www.rammfence.com/fence/horse-fencing-accessories/tools/barbed-staple-driver.html
If you have a lot of fence, there’s a Paslode staple driver. I have the Paslode nailer and it’s great!
Thanks for the ideas and suggestions. We’ll look into them. I’m an hammer and staple person like you GoForAGallop and crosscreeksh. Those drills and drivers and batteries and cords do drive me crazy and I don’t alway find them as easy as others - but like you said, if they want to do that, that’s fine lol.
They mentioned the wirefencestapler and were going to see if one could be rented locally to see how they work - at $800, they’d have to work well. I wonder if it isn’t too heavy and awkward.
How much fence is a question - There is about 15,000 feet of fence line and some will be all wood posts, but some will remain t-posts with an occasional wood post. I think the goal this year will be about 3000 feet of wood posts - possibly 3500.
Thanks everyone.
Stripping/un locking the ends of the fence to get the “strings” I needed to wrap to tension were the worst part of no climb, imo. So if you come up with a faster way to do that, let me know.
We pulled ours up a bit so I could mow underneath. I don’t know if a washer could do vertical and horizontal stabilization as well as a staple?
[QUOTE=TrotTrotPumpkn;8117360]
Stripping/un locking the ends of the fence to get the “strings” I needed to wrap to tension were the worst part of no climb, imo. So if you come up with a faster way to do that, let me know.
We pulled ours up a bit so I could mow underneath. I don’t know if a washer could do vertical and horizontal stabilization as well as a staple?[/QUOTE]
Yes. Yes. There is a faster way to do that. I have done it with 18" bolt cutters and you just do one nip and the little connector thing pops off. There is a video online where I saw it. I’ll try to find it and post the link.
One of these http://www.amazon.com/s/ref=nb_sb_noss_2?url=search-alias%3Daps&field-keywords=bolt+cutter in the size of about 18 inches. Then you just do one clip of the back side of the connector and it falls off. These are supposed to be available at Tractor Supply, but I didn’t find one there.
The staples are the easy part.
[QUOTE=Tom King;8118509]
The staples are the easy part.[/QUOTE]
LOL. That is exactly what I thought when the subject came up! :).
Hey, since you are in this thread, if you still are, may I ask you a question? My daughter bought her first house, a 1920 cabin in the mountains near Denver. She did have a structural engineer come out and everything is quite stable. The foundation is rock (and some vertical logs). I am wondering what product to use to fill in any gaps that exist in the rock and mortar. There isn’t anything major, but there are places where I think a filler product may be helpful. The area gets a lot of snow/moisture - for Colorado anyway.
Lime mortar, not modern mortar with Portland cement in it like you buy in Lowes or building suppliers. I don’t know where to buy it from since Virginia Lime Works went under a couple of years ago, but Google should be able to find a supplier out that way, or a recipe to make it.
Thank you! I’ll do some searches.
Use fence staples long enough so you can hit the staple without having to compress your fingers holding it-like 2". The night before such a fencing job, I straighten the staple legs to parallel with a hammer on an anvil. Supposedly they are stronger with splayed legs, but I have plenty of proof otherwise. They are certainly easier to start, and don’t split the wood with parallel legs.
[QUOTE=Tom King;8119871]
Use fence staples long enough so you can hit the staple without having to compress your fingers holding it-like 2". The night before such a fencing job, I straighten the staple legs to parallel with a hammer on an anvil. Supposedly they are stronger with splayed legs, but I have plenty of proof otherwise. They are certainly easier to start, and don’t split the wood with parallel legs.[/QUOTE]
We do the same thing - straightening the legs. Works LOTS better, and if you get barbed staples, they are even harder to get back out.
We also have a heavier, longer handled “staple” hammer that has a textured head on it. It “grabs” the staples instead of slipping off them and sending them pinging into the grass. It does eat into the staples a bit, but not enough to cause any concern.
Thank you all for the great advice. It’s a great idea to just take the staples in the night before and straighten them all. I like the idea of the hammer with a textured head and the idea of using linger staples. The thing I ran into last time was perhaps the staples that are supposed to stay in longer, but I found them harder to drive. The exterior wasn’t smooth, but rather it was rough.
Thanks for all the help and advise. This is always the absolute best place to come for such advise.
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