DIY Fence Installation

[Bob Winkler]

Looking for opinions. I got some quotes from 2 fence installers for fencing in my back yard. It's about 300 linear feet and was quoted about $9K for 4' high chainlink. :eek:

Chain link wan't my first choice, so I started looking at buying what I REALLY wanted: aluminum ornamental fence. You know, the stuff that looks like black wrought iron. Anyway, I can buy high quality fence and gates for about $4K.

I'm reasonably handy and would like to install the fence myself. My only concern is the post hole digging. I need about 40 holes, and DO NOT want to dig them by hand. I was looking at rental of a machine that uses an auger, but has a separate drive engine. The auger and engine are connected via a torque tube that takes the brunt of the force. My soil can be rocky in places.

So, what do you guys think? Should I go for the DIY approach? Any other equipment or techniques I should know about?

Thanks, Bob

[Cecil Arnold]

I would say go for it. You already know you will save $$ on the labor, however always remember that no matter how carefully you plan the project there will be the "inevetable miracle" of some unplanned problem (ie. TV cable, phone, etc.).

[Ken Fitzgerald]

Bob....Go for it! I know you can do it for less! I have installed chainlink in my backyard. The only gotchas in the couple of fences I've built are making them look good if there are any steep hillsides involved. If no hill sides are involved, it's not too bad.

[Jeff Sudmeier]

Bob,

This is a VERY doable DIY project. Be sure that you get the utilities marked, because with an auger you won't know it till you hit them.

About the rental auger, I have used an auger like you describe, they work and are TONS better than by hand. However, Look into renting a bobcat with an Auger attachment. These things will bore through anything easily. If your soil is rocky you will need the extra power of the bobcat. Plus they are soo fun :)

[Bob Winkler]

I always "dreamed" of renting a bobcat. Now that's a power tool. I was always stopped by getting it to my house. I don't have a good tow vehicle. Unfortunately, my "truck" is a minivan, which just doesn't serve as tow vehicle very well.

[Ted Shrader]

Bob -

Definitely within the realm of capability of a competent do-it-yourself'er. Go for it. Just make sure to string a line or use a laser to make sure the fence row is straight. You don't want people "eyeballing" it for defects.

Just replaced the remainder of the fence around my property this week. It is not too difficult and playing with the "big" power tools is fun. Rent a mixer for the concrete to set the poles, too.

Good luck,
Ted

[Scott Loven]

Most likely they will deliver it to you, they do around here anyway. Or just hire a guy with the Bob cat to do the holes for you. I live in the country and had a neighbor come and dig 7 holes with the auger on his tractor. Cost about $50.
Scott

[Jim Becker]

The rental makes absolute sense...you will be glad you did it. Do be sure, however, to have a bunch of extra shear pins (essentially grade 2 bolts and nuts) on hand as the chance of snapping one or more over 40 holes is quite likely, especially if you have rocky soil. And NOBODY stands near the auger while the machine is running!!

I happen to have a PHD (post hole digger...auger) for my tractor and it has come in handy a number of times. No way would I want to dig more than one hole manually...especially with rocky soil!

[Jeff Sudmeier]

As Scott said, they will deliver it for you. Also, how far away is the rental place? You can drive a bobcat on the road. If it's not too far that could be a viable option.

[David Fried]

I hate to disagree with absolutely everyone but this is New England. I HATE digging post holes by hand but I did all of mine that way. This was after watching my neighbor rent an auger and waste a day having it bounce off rocks. It was just a powered hand held thing.

The power company did put in the phone pole in front of the house with an auger on a cherry picker. They were able to dig about half the whole with it. The other half of the time two men removed rocks by hand.

Certainly try it. Maybe you'll have better luck than we did. At least it may save you half the hand work. Maybe hire a couple of high school kids to dig and toss rocks while you sit in the bobcat!

Good digging.

Dave Fried

[Bruce Page]

Bob, the DIY route is the way to go. If you rent a Bobcat (40 holes! :eek: ), drill a few practice holes first, it can be a little tricky pulling the auger straight out of the hole, until you get the hang of it, DAMHIKT! :confused:
Other than that, the Bobcat is a gas to drive. :D

[Ken Fitzgerald]

I also once helped a friend string barbed wire fences on his acreage in Central Oregon. The soil was so shallow there that often we couldn't drive a metal fence post before hitting bedrock so we would end up building a rock weir (sp?) out of four wooden posts and 2x4 crossmembers. Then fill it with rocks which were plentiful. We then attached the barbed wire to the weir. Running his tractor dragging a disk and a harrow to tear out the sagebrush was a scream too! He eventually was able to fence off 5 acre plots and irrigate it for pasture for his horses. By the way, I rented a Bobcat and they delivered it to my place as my 1-ton Ford 4x4 sits too high to pull the trailer it comes on. It cost me an extra $10 to have them deliver it. Good luck with you fence Bob!

[Zahid Naqvi]

Well I did it the hard way about 2 yrs ago. Put in a wooden fence around my backyard (two sides were already fenced by neighbors) and dug the holes by hand with no helper, I probably dug about 12 holes. The rocks I dug out were enough to start a new rock garden. The biggest was probably around 30-40 lb range. But I saved about 80% on the amount quoted by a couple contractors.

Here's the lessons I learned.
1. Get help for digging holes, you can usually hire a handy man type for $20-25 per hour. You can probably dig a hole in 5-10 mins in rocky soil.
2. Get a post hole digger, the one operated by two people by hand. The tractor based will be easier to use but will be more expensive to rent. Use that money to hire a helping hand, much more useful.
3. Check your city, mine required getting a permit for building a fence.
4. Confirming sub surface cables and pipes etc is an absolute must, specially since you plan to do it by machines.
5. If you plan to use quickcrete (which I highly recommend) no need to prep it in a wheel barrow, just pour it in dry and sprinkle it with water from the top, it will shrink when wet so you will have to add some more. Also wear a dust mask when pouring it in.
6. At the end of the project do a comparative analysis of what the contractor quoted VS how much you spent, and use that as leverage with the LOYL to buy a new WW'ing tool ;)

Have fun. It's a lot of hard work but no rocket science technically.

[Norman Hitt]

I totally agree with Zahid about using Sakrete and NOT Premixing. I quit doing that about 40 yrs ago. I just set the fence post in place, fill the hole about half full with water, and then start pouring the dry Sakrete in the hole, punching down into it occassionally with an old broken shovel handle, and fill till it's level with the top of the hole. I've never had a failure yet, and it sure saves a lot of time and "EFFORT".

[John Hart]

I built my cedar fence around the yard 2 years ago. I also did my post holes by hand. I found that as long as I didn't feel like I was in a hurry, I would dig a series of holes when I felt like it and install sections over time. The price to have someone else do it was 4K, but I did it for under $500. I bought spanish cedar 4X4 posts and 1X6 planks. I used the TS and Miter Saw to cut the smaller pieces and screwed the whole thing together. The pic below is one of the sections.
I agree with and did everything that Zahid said. I am very pleased with the results, I did it myself, and had lots of wood and money left over for other things.

[Joe Mioux]

I have used that same type of auger. It works fine, however, it is still alot of work. If you can get the Bobcat rental to your house do that!

Also, laser levels are great for establishing your elevations for the posts.

Used both the auger and the laser level for the last greenhouse I built.

[Mark Stutz]

I,ve used the two man auger. Works well, but is ALOT OF WORK. With 40 holes to dig I'd go for the Bobcat mounted one.

[Mark Singer]

I got a fence crew to fence about 2/3 of the 3 acres for about $10,000 with black vinyl chain link....it blends well with the surroundings...I love split rail...but with the pool I needed a fence fence

[Rich Konopka]

Bob,

Check with the manufacturer of the aluminum fence you wish to purchase. The post for them do not look as big as the post for a typical wooden fence. There may be an easier method to the madness.

Good Luck.

[Bob Winkler]

Thanks for all the great replies, information, and moral support.

I did price the black chain link and my quotes were about $10,000 installed. This is just for my back yard. I priced out a high quality aluminum fence and it came to $4400 delivered to my door. I even included a 10' double gate to get a truck in the yard.

The posts are smaller and therefore only need a 6" post hole. I'm looking into the bobcat idea to compare that vs the auger rental. Either way, I think I'm gonna do it myself.

I'm willing to try anything once;)

Thanks again, Bob

[Randy Meijer]

Until very recently, I worked as a tech in a land surveyor's office. We probably averaged 25 surveys per day and you would be amazed at how many folks have built fences on their neighbor's property!!! Most of the time, they are encroachments of just a few inches and, in town, nobody really cares. But there have been a few instances where problems have been serious. In one recent situation that I remember, the fence was off by a couple of feet and about a foot of our clients in-ground swimming pool was on his neighbors property!! If you are not "ABSOLUTELY" sure where your property line is....you know where your corners are and can actually find the markers.....invest a few dollars and have a surveyor stake your corners. Building a fence is a big job and you certainly don't want to have to do it twice!!!

[Bill Lewis]

I have used almost every kind of post hole digging equipment there is. It's one of those jobs that I have come to love to hate. In the list of preference from least disirable to most here it is.

Manual Post hole digging tool. Be careful of inexpensive models. The best ones begin at $40 and go up. A good digging bar goes along with this as well. Also regardless of what is used to dig the hole, you still need this tool for clean out and tweaking.

One and Two man powered post hole augers. Faster, but still quite a workout.

"Teeter-totter" type powered augers. With a gas motor on one end, and the auger on the other, hydraulic driven.
It's than the one-man powered unit, but not much better than the two-man unit above. It can be tough to position, and the hydraulic drives can be gutless. I rented one of these once, it kept getting stuck.

Tractor mounted 3 pt. hitch. It's what I own. It could use a power down, but otherwise it does a good job.

Bobcat (skid-steer) mounted, probably the best there is. Hydraulics with guts, power up AND down. Down side, skid-steer loaders are not nice to lawns. Many rental places also rent a mini, walk-behind skid-steer called a "mule" or something. Though I haven't personally used one, it should be kinder to the yard. The last time I checked it was fairly pricey to rent. About on par with that of a regular skid-steer.