The T-30/“star” style screw heads are so much better than Phillips it is unreal. We don’t even buy anything else now, regardless of what were working on.
Any of the TORX heads are an improvement. It’s about on the level of power windows in a vehicle to crank up windows. As is an impact driver to a drill. I haven’t bought anything else, if I can help it, since I ran the first one in.
Those Spax washer head lags are great. Our Lowes has even started selling them individually, in different sizes, and lengths.
Torx head screws for fencing…who knew! Maybe my bicycle tools will come in handy for farm applications one day.
For those with slip rail wood fences…will you share your typical $ per linear foot cost for 5’ high?
Type of and availability of material cost can vary depending on geographic location. Here in SE PA, PA in general Oak is plentiful. The mid-Atlantic area also has lots of horse farms. So there is plenty of demand for sawmills to set up and produce fencing materials in quantity.
I have used both pressure treated Pine post and Locust posts for Slip Board, pictures of both are in the link I provide in an earlier comment. The standard width of Slipboard around here is 9 feet when done by a fencing contractor. I have installed it using 10’ spacing and though there is a bit more “wobble” to the boards but has worked well. So, there’s a bit of savings over nailed board that is spaced at 8’.
I prefer Locust post over pressure treated pine because the holes in pine tend to weaken the post because pine is straight grained and splits easy by nature. Over the years some post have begun to “split” especially in areas where the horse gather and or lean on the fence line. Also were we feed off the fence line. I run a lag bolt in with my Impact driver and or drill and use carriage bolts. By and large it is not that much of a maintenance hassle. I mow with a 16’ "batwing mower and though I have gotten pretty good with mowing at a fairly high ground seep occasionally hit a post. They don’t stand up to well to this sort of impact. Of course this doesn’t happen if I have the time to “cut in” around the fence line with my Zero turn.
Locust Posts have a very tight and intertwined grain so they resist splinting and have very high shear strength. Because they are naturally resistant to rotting they last a life time. Availability can be problematic. AS I said in one of my other comments avoid using Hemlock. If only Hemlock or Pine is available I would go with pine as long they are a full 1" thick, also called “4 quarter”.
So to figure cost you will need to find out what the materials cost. And then figure which spacing to go with. I would not go wider than 9 feet if using pine boards with an overlap of 1 foot on each side or there about. I used 11 foot boards on 10’ spacing on a short section and it has not worked out too well.
A 5’ high fence should have 4 boards IMO and experience. Cost of 4 boards and post divided by the width will give you per foot cost. Installation costs can vary from 50% of material costs to double material costs.
The only fence I have set at 5’ is the paddock/field we wean our foals in.
All of my other exterior fencing is 5 foot tall, but it is a combination of 3 strands coated wire and 2 tape. My interior fencing is three strands of Horseguard on 4" round wood posts. I wonder if it would look weird to go 4 board. Lots of different fencing then. Mmmm. The only reason I was leaning towards 3 boards vs. four (besides cost) was I have talked to people with four and they have had issues when it snows with the “hidden” board. Has anyone else had a problem with that?
I also wonder about them sticking a head through on three or four.
I’ve never seen the slipboard style here, except on really rustic-type fence. That information is interesting. Your posts must be very fat?
The heads slip in and out easily on my 3-board. I like it that way, if they stick some appendage through, they can pull it out again with no trouble. My fear – irrational or no – is that an errant hind leg could get caught in a 4-board with untoward results.
Fencing. It’s almost as overwhelming as saddle fitting.
[QUOTE=airhorse;7910204]
Expensive, but absolutely the best fence screws around.
http://www.zoro.com/i/G5091256/?category=9339[/QUOTE]
I have not used these, but booked marked the page, thanks. Obviously the “wide” head adds significant holding power. But IME I have not found a reason to use a 3 ½" screw on a 1" (4 quarter) board that’s a long screw to be driving lots of. 2 1/2 inches works fine IME. Deck-Mate are what I use. Smaller head but that has never been a issue. Deck Mate screws are “coated” which heats and softens when being driving so they “slide” in easier. I am told this is “glue” like and hardens when cooled so they never back out. I have removed lots that have been in boards for years and still look “new”.
As I said in an earlier comment we nail everything using spiral nails made for pressure treated wood. The vast majority rarely back/pop out. Just in some areas where horses tend to gather and lean on the line and or environmental factors. I pull the nails and screw these areas. Once or twice a year walk the fence lines and hammer the odd nails that are “sitting proud”.
3 board slip fencing is pretty common here among the fancier places for taller than 4’ fencing. I’m guessing they are stained pine based on my location. The posts look to be 4x6(?) with the rails going into the wider side. There’s also a lot of white vinyl, but that is not cheap, especially for 4’ and 5’ high, and I don’t like the idea of having to do concrete on that many posts. I’m curious whether doing the slip rail would be any cheaper than vinyl. I do like the possibility of spacing out the posts to greater than 8’. I’m trying to buy or build a farmette, and no matter which way I go, it’s highly likely I’m going to have to put in all new fencing.
For shorter fences there is also a lot of 3 rail split rail and dowel style, but while they are pretty, I’m not super confident they’d be great containment for a young jumper. They just look too short.
There is also a lot of wire here in varying degrees of safeness, but when horses lean on those, the whole fence leans for a long stretch and while cheap and easily moved, they are high maintenance, even if combined with electric. As an east coast native, all the wire variants make my skin crawl for paddock use.
