Board fence repair advice needed

[endlessclimb]

Fencing pliers make a huge difference, hence my question lol. Staples are so easy, easier to me than nails for sure.

[cardinale]

Thanks for all of the great information! COTH does not disappoint! Glad I didn’t run out and buy supplies before starting this thread.

LCDR, love your fence mending toolkit. Two drills–genius (as I remember the time spent switching bits)!

NancyM, did you say “deer”? Fence complete with downed board and peeling paint.
And, sure enough, a few days ago a stretch of old hotwire on 5" extenders got pulled down. No horses in there so must have been deer.

Yes, the fence here is too low. The previous owner had QHs which I guess weren’t interested in jumping out. Unfortunately there’s hundreds of feet of this fence. But, in other parts of the property it’s higher.

NancyM, which insulators would you use for the hotwire? There are several types which hold the wire a couple of inches away from the board. Presumably those would work and be unlikely to entrap deer? And wood is a poor conductor so wouldn’t short out any wire that touches the boards?

Here’s several–any recommendations among these or other types? 2, 4 and 5 are made for stringing wire across posts so sit very close to the fence–probably too low for board fencing? But 1 or 3 might work?

Simkie, it’s fir and at least one of my horses has already started chewing the boards. I don’t believe oak is available here (PNW).

[ASB_Stars]

So, after decades of trial and error, here’s what I use:

1. 5/4 by 6" by 8’ oak boards. Only. I wouldn’t touch pine or pressure treated for any reason. For one thing, pressure treated is fragile, and will just explode when hit, and could cause injury more easily than the oak, which you’ve got to hit hard to break, and even then, it just breaks. No splinters.

2. I have given in to using screws as my wrists have gotten weaker with arthritis. I used to use sinkers, but then I had to drill the oak. I have six inch posts for my cross fencing, with a board on both sides, so there are many boards to look after. The screws of choice are exterior screws. For anyone worried about getting nails in your horses feet- I’ve had it happen, and a nail is a whole lot easier to get out of a foot than a screw.

3. The guys who installed my perimeter fence, which is 2 by 4 non-climb, with an oak board on top, used 16’ boards. I can’t work with those, at all.

4. Agree completely with having 2 drills, using screws with a star top, and using one screw as a deadman, to hold the other end of the board up as you are working. I use two screws, generally. I literally only get out one screw at a time, as I am concerned about dropping them out of my leather gloved hands.

5. I have a Gator (his name is Cocorillo) and I load eight boards at a time onto him, bungee them down, and add my circular saw, tool bucket that has everything from a hammer, to fencing pliers, vice grips, construction pencils, and the spare screw heads in the convenient large quantity box. I have the screws in their container, and a spare container for any dead nails or screws that I take out.

I cannot stress how you really need to have the correct tools, and they need to be high quality. This is heavy duty work.

[Mosey_2003]

My dad handed me a nifty little “bit” to use for a project I was doing last winter - it’s a quick-change bit that goes between a drill bit and a screw bit. Granted, you still have to flip it each time you want to change, but it’s kinda cool. For when you don’t actually have two drills available.