FENCING AGAINST DEER (Part 1) ... EN GARDE UNGULATES!

You will not see any actual deer fence in this first deer fence project post, but you will see lots of posts in this post.

I actually ordered the 7-foot tall deer fence at the start of the year, but it is rolled up in its shipping wrapper ... waiting.

My Gorilla Cart (aka Faithful Mule)

(Not a paid endorsement, just bragging on an awesome product. This 1200 lb capacity Gorilla Cart has been a wonderful time and back saver.  It has functioned as a cargo mule and a rolling workshop throughout this project. )

 The reason for the wait is it takes a lot of posts, ... really big 10 foot posts to make a deer fence... and time ... and money.

I tend to buy components of major projects bit by bit ahead of project initiation to spread out costs and take advantage of serendipitous sales, etc.
The mysterious UPS arrival of seemingly random items on the doorstep creates confusion when I haven't yet shared my plans... (because they are always in flux)... 

As in, "Tell me why there's a 4 foot long, 100 watt solar panel in your closet".

That's another post (also involving posts) to come.

This summer, while gainfully UNemployed by the school district, I got busy on "Fortress Deeropa".

I started on the deer fence as soon the annual Summer furlough began. 

The first step was simply deciding just how much of this "garden area" needed protection.

Currently, a 16 foot by 16 foot square of high cobbled together fencing is the only deer proof area in the entire garden zone.

The existing protected zone is to the immediate left in this photo. The north end (blueberry zone) is off in the distance behind the aqua colored trough. Fortress Deeropa will extend from the post to the aqua trough roughly.

Most of it is unoccupied, but at the north end there is an old but productive blueberry patch.

The deer never bother the blueberries, so I decided to leave them out of the fencing project.

This cut my garden area roughly in half and left me with a square that was roughly 50 feet on each side.

Post setting is pretty basic skill stuff, but I'll share how I did mine.

Step 1: Create a nice straight line along each side with mason line drawn tight. This is your guide for lining up posts correctly.

Step 2:  Decide on your spacing and dig your post holes.

 I use a shovel to start and then switch to post hole diggers to finish up. Remember to make the hole wide enough to accept the concrete.

Step Three: Use a post level like my ancient, battered Craftsman level in the photo. This allows you to line up to the string AND have a post that is straight.

Step Four: Brace the now "perfectly" aligned and level post.

You need some scrap 2x4s with self-tapping deck screws in them, a few clamps, and your drill driver.

The photo above shows a typical post braced and ready for the quickset cement. 

On my braces, I partially drive a 3-inch Deckmate screw in at one end and then after it's clamped and level, I screw the 2x4 to the post. 

After the cement sets, I unscrew the 2x4 just enough to remove it from the post.

Now it's ready for the next post.

The picture above and below was a special case. The cedar colored post on the left was an existing yard fence gate post that I was tying into with my deer fence. 

I clamped both posts together, then leveled and aligned them correctly.

After that, I used three 8 inch Timberlock self-tapping screws to join these two posts permanently. These Timberlock screws are awesome and I now use them anywhere I once used lag screws. 

My trusty Ryobi driver drove them in with ease.

I am seriously addicted to the Ryobi One Plus 18 volt system. Ryobi got it right with this system.

The Timberlock screws come with a matching driver in the package.

I drove the Timberlocks at an angle since they were long enough to stick out the other side if I went in horizontally.

This is the southwest corner post. I am spacing my "regular" posts at 16 feet, but the corners will all have a brace post about 4 feet on either side.

The chair is not for sitting. It was heading for the trash due to a butt pinching crack in the seat, but I repurposed it into a tool bench to keep my tools off the ground.

So there you have it.
Post number 1 on the deer fence project was ... mostly about posts.
After I have made progress with actual fencing, post number 2 will magically appear.

OKAY, I TAKE IT BACK ... PINTEREST IS NOT JUST FOR GIRLS ... AND YES, IT HAS BEEN A GREAT HELP ON THIS FENCING PROJECT

 A few years ago, when someone asked me, "Do you use Pinterest?"

I would snort, sneer, and say, "Um no ... I have testosterone."

In my defense, early Pinterest did seem pretty girly, and I didn't find much to interest me ... at first.

So that has all changed now and I ate those earlier "testy" comments with a dose of datil pepper hot sauce.

This is not a post about Pinterest ... (sorta seems like it so far), but rather a post about my dog fence.

One of the things I learned from having kids in FFA ... (besides being sure to drink strong heavily caffeinated coffee before an end of the year FFA banquet) ... is that something called "hog panel" and "cattle panel" exists.

I love this stuff ... as does Pinterest and YouTube. At both of these sites you can find all kinds of projects using these panels in ways never intended at the "panel factory".

The cattle panel fences on Pinterest were very creative and some were downright beautiful.

My wood budget doesn't allow as much extra wood trim on this fence as the prettiest Pinterest pics showed, but Pinterest was definitely a source of inspiration and instruction.

My goal is an attractive, Labrador Retriever proof fence surrounding the back and side "yards" here at Pure Florida HQ.

 Right away, these 16 foot long panels present a challenge.

How the heck do you get them home?

This challenge gets more challengy when you drive one of the shortest vehicles on the road ... A JEEP Wrangler.

Hey, no problem, I have a trailer ... which is barely 7 feet long.

Did I mention I also needed to buy two 16 foot 4X4's for my Ninja Warrior Salmon Ladder project?

No?

Well, I did and that both helped and complicated things.

In the trailery-cattle panelly photo above, this may not be obvious, but I took an old 14 foot extension ladder and strapped it into the trailer fully extended.

Allowing for a little overhang at the JEEP end and beaucoup overhang at the stern, my system worked like a charm.

 Of course, once I got home (multiple trips by the way), there were a bunch of post holes to dig.

 With the exception of some VERY rooty areas in one section, digging post holes here is pretty easy. 

"Easy" in the sense that the soil is sand with no rocks or hard clay.

The photo above is just a sample and it also shows one of the minor challenges ... the humps.

Scattered around PFHQ are occasional humps of richly dark, charcoally soil. They rise above the surrounding ground by only a couple feet at most.

My hypothesis is that a long time ago, when they cleared parts of this land for cattle, they pushed piles of trees and brush together and burned them in situ.

You can still see that practice in any rural area today.

Above is a comparison of the hump soil and the native sand beneath it ... all from the same post hole.  I'm trenching and then swaling the ground wherever a hump arises. 

On this project, that's only 2 places, but the second one is big, forested, and SO DAMN ROOTY!

 IF you are going to do this kind of work during the humid 100 degree heat of a Florida Summer, it's important to fuel up for the task at hand.

I call this "The Fencer's Breakfast" ... bacon, Key Lime Cake, coffee, and milk.

 The devastated brown area to the right of the line of fence was a shrubby, briaralicious, grapevine encased jungle that extended out past the where the fence now lies. 

A bit of machete mayhem at the end of the day pushed it back so the fence could both proceed and ... turn a corner.

 (Important note from the fencer: None of the fence in these photos is finished. It's all just hanging and the future trim has yet to be added.)

The photo above shows the fence passing through a large hump of that dark, charcoal-rich soil I mentioned earlier.

It's pretty good dirt for Florida, so I'll be harvesting some of that as I swale the fence line.

The trenchy look is temporary.

 This is a fencer's rootiest nightmare.

Sigh...

On the bright side, I've made much progress since I first stared down this line, and that makes me feel good.

 Don't forget to take breaks if you are trying this at home... and remember, it's not a fashion show.

Wear what works.

Easy for me to say ... I don't have neighbors :)

Turning the corner ...

 I'm going old school on this big log that lies across my fence path in the jungle zone.

I only need to move the part across the fence line, and I COULD chainsaw it, but it's punky on the outside and in the dirt, ... I try to never let my saw chain touch the ground.

So while I work nearby, I let a slow and low fire saw through the log. When it gets done, I'll just move the section under the fence line.

That's about it for this PFHQ fence update. This one is more for me than you dear reader. This blog is many things and one of the most important jobs it does is keep a running record of projects in and around Pure Florida HQ.

I can't tell you how many times that history has come in handy.

And remember ... when your head starts to smoke, well, it's time to take a break.