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Taking Out an Unneeded Barbed-Wire Cross Fence for Pronghorn and Mule Deer With a T-Post Puller: Wire Off First, Then Every Post and Stay

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Disclosure: This post contains affiliate links. If you purchase through these links, we may earn a small commission at no extra cost to you. A lot of high-desert places come with an old interior fence that nobody uses anymore. It splits a pasture you now run as one, and the deer and pronghorn still have to deal with it every day. If a fence no longer has a job, take all of it out: wire, clips, stays, and every post. Cut the wire loose at the braces, roll it up off the line, then pull each steel post straight up with a T-post puller. Leaving posts or stays standing keeps the barrier in place for wildlife. Why half a teardown does not work Texas Parks and Wildlife's pronghorn fence recommendations say to remove old fences that are no longer necessary. They add that removal of posts and stays is essential, because if they are left, pronghorn will think the fence still exists. The classic shortcut here is cutting the wire and calling it done. A row of bare steel posts still read...
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Plumbing Steel Posts for a 4-Foot Snow Fence Upwind of a Mountain Driveway With a Magnetic Post Level: 8-Foot Centers, a 6-Inch Bottom Gap, and 160 Feet of Setback

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Disclosure: This post contains affiliate links. If you purchase through these links, we may earn a small commission at no extra cost to you. A long driveway on an open mountain slope can drift shut overnight while the rest of the property blows bare. A short snow fence set in the right place stores that snow before it reaches the gravel. For a 4-foot snow fence, drive steel posts on 8-foot centers, plumb on two faces, and leave a 6-inch gap under the fencing. Set the fence at least 160 feet upwind of what you want clear, square to the prevailing wind, and run it well past both ends of the problem. Where the numbers come from The national Strategic Highway Research Program's Snow Fence Guide has a short section on 4-foot fences for places where a taller fence will not fit. It calls for a 6-inch bottom gap, steel posts on 8-foot centers, and a fence placed at least 160 feet from the road shoulder. The same guide puts the best porosity at 40 to 50 percent, so you want fencing th...
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Setting a Dug Wood Corner Post in Rocky High-Desert Ground With a Tamping Bar: Rocks Out of the Backfill, Thin Lifts, and an 8-Foot Brace

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Disclosure: This post contains affiliate links. If you purchase through these links, we may earn a small commission at no extra cost to you. Rocky high-desert ground fights a dug corner post twice. It fights you on the way down, and then it fights the post when frost and wire tension start working on loose backfill. The fix is to sort the rocks out of the backfill, return only fine soil or bought sand and gravel, and pack it in thin lifts with a heavy steel bar. Get the post close to 4 feet deep, then brace it with a rail about twice the fence height, set three quarters of the way up. Why a corner post in rocky ground fails A corner is not just another post. British Columbia's agriculture ministry, in its factsheet on brace assemblies for wire fences , puts normal pull from tensioned wires at 1,000 to 1,500 pounds, and up to 2,500 pounds when cold weather shrinks the wire. That load is trying to tip the post through the soil and lift it out of the hole. Out here the ground fr...
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Sharpening a Garden Hoe With a Diamond Field Sharpener: 30 to 35 Degrees for General Use, 45 for Chopping, 20 to 30 for Fine Weeding

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Disclosure: This post contains affiliate links. If you purchase through these links, we may earn a small commission at no extra cost to you. Most hoes are sold with a square, blunt edge that pushes weeds over instead of cutting them. A sharpened edge slices small weeds off at the soil line with far less effort. What angle should you sharpen a garden hoe? Use about 30 to 35 degrees for a general-purpose hoe, 45 degrees for heavy chopping, and 20 to 30 degrees for fine weeding. Sharpen the outside edge in strokes away from you until clean steel shows across the blade. Then remove the burr from the inside face. University of Florida's landscape tool sharpening publication gives hoe angles from 20 to 45 degrees depending on use. It recommends 45 degrees for heavy chopping, 30 to 35 for general use, and 20 to 30 for fine weeding. University of Wisconsin Extension's tool maintenance article says many inexpensive hoes are stamped with blunt, square edges, so a new edge must...
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Putting an Edge Back on a Round-Point Shovel With a Diamond Field Sharpener: Scoop-Side Bevel Near 45 Degrees and a Burr-Free Back

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Disclosure: This post contains affiliate links. If you purchase through these links, we may earn a small commission at no extra cost to you. A blunt shovel bounces off roots and sod and makes you work twice as hard. Shovels usually come from the store dull, so a working edge often has to be put on, not just restored. How do you sharpen a shovel? Clean off soil and rust, then sharpen the edge from the scoop side at roughly 45 degrees. Push the sharpener away from you in long, even strokes until a clean steel line runs across the whole edge. Remove the burr on the back and wipe the blade with light oil. University of Florida's tool sharpening page says most shovels need about a 45-degree angle, since a sharper edge dulls too quickly. It says to remove burrs from the back with 300-grit sandpaper and finish with a light coat of oil. Cornell Cooperative Extension's tool care fact sheet , hosted by UC ANR, says shovel edges are sharpened from the scoop side. It says blunt bev...
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Sharpening a Bypass Lopper Blade With a Diamond Field Sharpener: Match the 15 to 25 Degree Bevel, Then the Fingernail Test

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Disclosure: This post contains affiliate links. If you purchase through these links, we may earn a small commission at no extra cost to you. Loppers take the thickest cuts in a pruning season, so their edge dulls fastest. A lopper can be touched up on the tool without taking it apart, as long as the blade is braced. How do you sharpen lopper blades? Brace the lopper so the blade cannot move, then sharpen only the beveled side of the cutting blade at its factory angle. Push in light, full-length strokes in one direction. Remove the burr from the flat side, test the edge on a fingernail, and oil the blade. Oregon State University Extension's garden tool sharpening handout lists a lopper as needing one blade sharpened on one side . It says a 20 to 25 degree angle is desired and warns that a blade moving during sharpening can cause severe injury. UC Master Gardeners' single-bevel sharpening sheet says to sharpen at the original factory angle, usually 15 to 20 degrees , pus...
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Sharpening Bypass Hand Pruner Blades With a Diamond Field Sharpener: Bevel Side Only, Factory Angle, One-Direction Strokes

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Disclosure: This post contains affiliate links. If you purchase through these links, we may earn a small commission at no extra cost to you. A dull pruner crushes stems instead of slicing them, and the torn tissue heals slowly. A few strokes on the beveled edge every few hours of pruning keeps cuts clean. How do you sharpen bypass hand pruners? Clean off sap and rust, then sharpen only the beveled side of the cutting blade at its original angle. Push the sharpener along the bevel in one direction, never back and forth. Finish with one light flat pass on the back to remove the burr, then oil the blade and pivot. University of Minnesota Extension's pruning tool care article says bypass blades are single beveled, while anvil blades are double beveled. It says to follow the natural bevel, about 10 to 20 degrees , and not to create a bevel where none exists. UC Master Gardeners' pruning tool sharpening handout says to keep the factory-ground bevel and avoid a reverse bevel. ...
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