Wood rots too fast. I’ve used PVC/vinyl. I like it because the only maintenance is pressure washing, but it gets brittle and breaks if a horse kicks it. In the northeast, I use flex fence, but, the posts will rot in FL.
What do you think?
Most good Fl. horse fences do use wooden posts. The heavier, wider sized posts are worth the extra money as they’re
stronger and last longer. How long they last depends on several factors such as how moist is the soil or is it very sandy
and well drained.
I currently have the Red Brand No Climb-54" tall- woven wire- keeps all pets in and most other animals out. Unless deer want to jump in
and bears want to climb over. Electric wire on top if horses kept on both sides of fence.
Vinyl fencing becomes brittle and breaks in Fl. sun.
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Though I’m not anywhere close to replacing all of my fencing, I have the same battle going on in my head when I think about it. Our farm is all sandy soil, very very sandy. We put up some feeding pens in a pasture two years ago, using 4" wood posts. One of four has already rotted at the base, and it’s at the top of a hill, zero standing water there ever. I’m so annoyed. There are some rotted 8" posts I’ve come across in changing out some pieces of fencing. No idea how long they were in the ground, at least 6+ years. Then I’ve got several lines of regular 4" wood posts in excellent condition, also at least 6+ years old. It seems really hit or miss, I can’t find a pattern.
I’ve been seeing posts on Facebook for this new stuff called Equi-safe; it looks quite interesting, but haven’t seen it in person.
I have one fence line that is T-posts with caps, with wire mesh fence and a top strand of electric. We put the T-posts in three years ago when we bought the farm and they show zero sign of wear. A lot of the cattle farms around me have some T-post fencing, and it looks fairly rusty, but I’m betting it’s been up for DECADES.
I’m in Central Florida and have wood fence with red brand wire that has held up fine. The perimeter fence line is going on 4 years and shows no sign of rot. My one mare is a chronic fence rubber and we haven’t had issues with her popping posts out of the ground despite having sandy soil. What I like about having the wood fence is that I can replace posts or boards as I find them broken and just move on. A friend who has PVC has a harder time replacing her broken sections.
I just bought a farm with 6 year old wood fence in FL. The rails are fine, but I’m finding quite a few completely rotten posts. Its not from standing water. I’ll be darned if I’m going to replace them all with wood. In other climates, posts can last 20 years, but not here.
The ‘allowed’ chemicals for pressure treating have changed, and the posts aren’t as good as they used to be. You will be replacing posts eventually if you use wood, so just plan for it.
I’m planning to do split rail across the front, and there is a warranty on the posts, but I’ll have to pay for labor to replace them. Works for me! I have built enough fence in my lifetime, I’m ready for it to be someone else’s job.
I am exploring DIY concrete posts for the areas that are extremely wet.
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I lived in north Florida for many years. I used wooden posts - pressure treated pine. I can count the number of posts I had that rotted off in the ground on one hand. It just wasn’t an issue.
I now live in North Carolina. At my new house, there are 7 wooden fence posts holding picket fence on one side of my driveway. I’ve had to replace three because they were rotted off at the ground.
I don’t think you can make blanket statements like “wooden fence posts in Florida all rot quickly while those in other climates last a lot longer.” I think there are plenty of other factors at play.
Bottom line, for me, is that wood isn’t perfect, but it’s still the best choice.
I use timeless fence its got a 20 year warranty
Going to bet those were not PT posts. I also know folks who, when setting posts, first dip the end that goes into the ground in a can of creosote type “paint”.
