How long does it take to set up t-posts with no-climb?

[PonyRiderMom]

How long does it take to set up 100 feet of t-posts properly spaced with no-climb wire between them? I’m thinking about sectioning off one of my pastures. This would be in a straight line, using the existing heavy-duty wooden posts set in concrete as the end points on both ends of the line.

I have a t-post pounder. Our soil is I guess loam? It’s glacial till, meaning it’s soft and has a decent amount of small to medium sized rounded rocks in it. Probably some volcanic ash as well. I have never put in a fence before, so I guess it will take me extra long because I will have to learn how to do it, but how long would it take a normal person?

Also is there an easy way to take them out afterwards? We just took out some old t-posts and it was super hard. Granted they had been in the ground for decades, but still…

[endlessclimb]

The whole process would take a day for me, with the t posts on 10 foot spacing.

Note that just the wood posts aren’t enough. You need a brace, either diagonal or an H brace with a twitch wire, to tension no-climb properly

Removing T-posts is easy with a puller and a tractor with a bucket. Otherwise, they can be tricky like you said.

[PonyRiderMom]

Oh, right, yes I forgot to mention we don’t currently have a tractor. We just paid someone to install literally a mile’s worth of wood fencing, and now we have no money for a tractor.

[endlessclimb]

Well, then pulling them will be tricky but not impossible. You can rig a puller into a leverage bar, no tractor needed.

But really, you’re talking 8 t-posts for this line when you account for your H brace or diagonal brace. That’s no biggie, even if you had to pull them by hand.

[paintedpennypony]

For our 1/2 acre dry lot fenced with 8ft t-posts spaced ~8ft apart, it was physically demanding and we are young and in shape. Our soil is clay in some parts and rocky in others so that contributed, and we should have gone with 6ft t-posts instead of the 8ft ones as we pounded them to about 5ft to 5.5ft in height. 100ft of fencing won’t be terribly challenging but I would still block a chunk of time off to get it done.

Removing them is the easy part. Post pullers from TSC use leverage to get them out and it isn’t difficult or tricky at all

[usernameTaken]

I have one of these which makes pulling t-posts very easy:

Country Pro T-Post Puller - Easily Removes Studded T-Posts - Durable Lightweight Design - YTL-017-084 at Tractor Supply Co.

Probably not worth buying for only a couple posts, but maybe you could borrow one from someone? I did temp paddocks/played with layout using t-posts when I first moved to this property, so for me it was worth buying at the time.

[cayuse]

It took us 2 days to do this, but we have horribly rocky, ledgey soil to work with so it would take forever to set on post by hand, we’d get half way done with one post and hit ledge so would have to start over. If you have good soil I’d say a day but plan on two.

[Christa_P]

@usernameTaken

I have one of these which makes pulling t-posts very easy:

Country Pro T-Post Puller - Easily Removes Studded T-Posts - Durable Lightweight Design - YTL-017-084 at Tractor Supply Co.

Probably not worth buying for only a couple posts, but maybe you could borrow one from someone? I did temp paddocks/played with layout using t-posts when I first moved to this property, so for me it was worth buying at the time.

I bought one of these 10 years ago when I had to remove several posts, they work great and you can easily get in places you can’t get to with a tractor. The hook on the end lets you pull up other types of posts using a chain.

[OnAMission]

When we only have a few to pull we use a chain and a hi lift jack.

The biggest nightmare you face is getting the no-climb on the posts! We rig the roll of wire on a digging bar rigged to the 4 wheeler for even tension but it is a bit of a project.

[Bluey]

You can use a small bottle jack to pull T-posts:

Torin 2 Ton Big Red Bottle Jack at Tractor Supply Co.

Put the end of the jack on a nub at an angle, hold the post straight and pump jack.
Post will come right up and if it slips on you, use a chain around the post for the jack to get more bite on the post.

[Demerara_Stables]

Took me an afternoon to do 10 t-posts but with panels in between, so a day is probably about right for the no climb. We have very hard soil but luckily I avoided any big rocks. Put them all in by hand and took me maybe an hour to remove the panels and posts all by hand when I was done with the fence. I am young and fit.

[PonyRiderMom]

What size panels, how heavy were they, and how hard were they to work with? I remember I had thought about panels before, but they seem like they’d be heavy and awkward to set up.

[endlessclimb]

If this is going to be a temporary fence, I’d NOT do woven wire and would do panels in a new york minute.

Re using the woven wire will be a PITA. The panels would be handy for lots of things.

[Mango20]

Are you pounding the posts yourself or do you have someone younger and stronger to help?

I recently put 19 t-posts in my rocky/shaley (and very dry at the time) soil. I have a really heavy post pounder, probably 40 pounds at least. I did the first 7 posts myself. I’d pound 4 or 5 times, take a rest, repeat, needing 15-20 whacks to get it in all the way. Then I’d sit on the ground for a few minutes to get my heart rate back down before starting the next post. I think it took 1.5 hours to put in 7 posts. Once my 23 year old son was home, I had him do the remaining 12 posts, which he got done in about 45 minutes with far fewer breaks.

Mine is also for subdividing the pasture, primarily to take out the hill for my horse with a check ligament injury. I used two strands of electric rope, along with some step-in electric fence posts in between the t-posts.

[SusanO]

For me - about 50 years. It will be a lot easier in the winter or spring when the ground is wet. Right now I don’t think you could drive very many here as dry and hard as the soil is and I don’t have many rocks. Mostly clay and sandy loam, but it gets really hard in the summer time.

If you are just dividing a pasture and don’t need this as exterior fence, electric tape would be so much easier than trying to get no-climb wire even and tight. Unless you have an experienced crew. You do have to keep the grass short and check to see if something is shorting out the fence because if they discover it is not hot, many will just crawl through it. And break all the plastic insulators. Been there.

[Demerara_Stables]

12 foot, 5 foot high. I agree with @endlessclimb, I would 110% do panels. I carried each of them into the field myself, maybe 75 pounds each? Honestly I thought the project would be so hard and it was incredibly easy with panels. I also have used the panels half a dozen times afterwards for other projects. I don’t remember the brand I have, but I also bought these: https://www.tractorsupply.com/tsc/product/countyline-panel-corral-12-ft-utility. They are lighter duty so got beat up pretty easily but the price was good. I’d buy heavier duty if I was doing it again.

1. Attached the first panel to the existing fence via wire (panel is now standing in position).

2. Put in t post at end of first panel

3. Stand up second panel and attach it to the first (the have nifty loops and pins so they all hook together, photo below)

4. Wire first and second panel to t post that is between them.

Carry on until you’re done!

Also be sure to cap your t-posts, which are not shown in this photo.

[SusanO]

Those look really good and secure. Too bad she does not have a tractor because she could carry them in the bucket and set them down where she needed each one. Or a gator. Or a neighbor with a tractor or gator. A lot of the work would be carrying the panels to the spot that you needed them in. Solving that would cut the labor in half.

I don’t know how that would work on uneven ground though but probably about as well as no climb fence.

[Demerara_Stables]

Two people makes the panels light work. DH and I carry two at a time when we do it together. You could also take them into the field with the truck that you presumably picked them up with, so you only need to pull them out of the truck and put them straight.

I agree, they would not work well on uneven ground. I think the best temporary option for uneven ground would be electric tape.

[luvmyhackney]

Before I purchased a tractor, I moved panels using a plywood dolly. Worked great and I could move 5-6 at a time.

[B_and_B]

You can, although it is definitely NOT OSHA approved, set T posts with a small backhoe attachment on a sub compact tractor. And two people. Did I mention it isn’t safe? Anyway, one person holds the t post, the other drops the backhoe down onto the post and basically pushes it into the ground. They will lean a bit, because the backhoe will almost always pull backwards and compensating for the pull requires being in the way. Rocks can be a problem. But, you can set a lot of t posts super fast that way. We’ve set a lot of 6.5 foot or 7 foot t posts that way. The taller they are, the harder, because of the angles of the backhoe.
It does work. I wouldn’t do it with most people, only someone I trusted (DH) as the backhoe operator.
But a temporary, internal fence? Step in fiberglass all day!