Sunday

Building Fence in New Mexico


The previous post introduced the fencing project for the newly acquired land expanding the Painted Pony Resort to 316 acres (half a section).  While the owner was in residence we laid out the fence lines and pulled the bottom wire along the 1.5 miles of proposed fence line and placed 0.25 miles of t-posts.  Since then the project moved forward with myself placing t-posts, end posts, gates, and wire.  The procedure established to install the fence was:
1.  Locate boundary markers placed by the surveyor.  Required GPS (Google Earth was a great help in establishing possible locations of markers and the route of the fence line) and a telescope to locate markers.
3.  Remove trees and large brush along route.
4.  Layout bottom wire along the route.
5.  Tension lower strand using a come-along with a wire grab and temporary end posts.
6.  Straighten wire along the route by removing low brush and rocks.
7.  Drive T-posts every 20 ft.  Measure distance with 2 lengths of rigid plastic electrical conduit.
8.  Place permanent end posts where necessary, at gate locations, and corners.
9.  Place midspan posts where necessary.  One 0.5 mile and one 0.75 mile stretch required midspan posts since the wire is 1320’ in length.
10.  Fence arroyos.
11.  Install gates where necessary.
12.  Add 3 additional strands of 2 pt. barbwire along the 1.5 mile route.
13.  Secure wire strands at appropriate heights using fence clips, straightening any t-posts to create a uniform and pleasing look to the fence line.

The cost of materials was $ 0.55/ft and with the addition of the hydraulic driver the cost rose to $0.95/ft.  But the increased cost is countered by the time savings in driving T-posts and new equipment for the estate.

Looking south along newly installed T-posts

Looking north along newly installed T-posts

Kabota with hydraulic driver on a T-post.  The main buildings at PPR are visible in the background


8 comments:

  1. The fence project is "Greek to me" but the photos are grand, especially the Kabota. I like the orange/red Kabota and the blue BLUE sky composition.

    ReplyDelete
  2. Thank you. Fencing was also "Greek to me" when I started planning the project. I spent a good deal of time exploring fencing online and planning. The procedure for installation is a combination of experience, reading other source material, and consultation with the owner. The main concern was the DIY approach with a single person doing the majority of the work. But it seems to work, the fence line is straight and the gate/corner posts are going in.

    ReplyDelete
  3. Looks like the fence project is moving right along, and a good straight line! So glad you have the hydraulic fence post driver, makes the job go faster.

    ReplyDelete
  4. Quite right, the hydraulic driver makes it go much faster. I get about 10-15 posts/hr driven by myself. Finished another quarter mile today. Now comes the hard part, the arroyos.

    ReplyDelete
  5. Hope you will have time to join in the Christmas get together on Saturday!

    ReplyDelete
  6. I have plans to attend. Just hope I do not forget, I've missed a number of events this season because I did not write it down and post the note where I could see it.

    ReplyDelete
  7. well you're not exactly "retired" but we all have bouts with "what day is this?" syndrome since a lot of days are the same as the last.

    ReplyDelete
  8. Quite right, and mine have been filled with fencing. Did make this weeks hike though, a nice trip from the corral on 42B over the ridge to Paradise.

    ReplyDelete