Hardware Cloth Guides

Disclosure: This post contains affiliate links. If you purchase through these links, we may earn a small commission at no extra cost to you. When an electric fence reads strong up to a gate and weak beyond it, the buried cable under the gateway is a prime suspect. A fault finder that reads both voltage and current can tell you whether power is leaking into the soil under the gate before you dig anything up. How do you tell if an undergate cable is shorting out? Take voltage and current readings on both sides of the gate, close to each cable end. Then switch off the far fence so the cable is the only load. A big drop in voltage with a jump in current at the near end, while the far side stays weak, points to damaged insulation underground. Virginia Cooperative Extension's Troubleshooting Electric Fences (SPES-692) says to test on both sides of critical points such as gates and lane crossings. It notes that fault finders only read about 100 feet in either direction, and that a...

Disclosure: This post contains affiliate links. If you purchase through these links, we may earn a small commission at no extra cost to you. Steel T-posts make sturdy tree stakes, but the anchor plate that holds them in the ground also makes them hard to pull by hand. Take the straps off first, test whether the tree stands on its own, and then lift each post straight up with a T-post puller so the root zone and the post both come through undamaged. When should steel T-post tree stakes come out? After one growing season. Remove the ties in fall for a tree planted that spring or the previous fall, then push the trunk. If the roots shift in the soil or the stem bends excessively, loosely reattach it and leave the stakes one more season before pulling them. University of Minnesota Extension's page on staking and guying trees gives that timing and the stability check. It also notes that metal fence stakes may be needed for larger trees or windy sites, and that metal stakes in par...

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 board fence shows every crooked post, because the boards run straight and the eye follows them. For a small goat or sheep paddock, set 4x4 line posts on 8-foot centers along a tight string, strap a post level on each one, and pack the soil a few inches at a time so the post stays plumb both ways. How do you keep 4x4 line posts plumb and in line for a board fence? Stretch a string between the end posts, set each line post against it, and strap a two-vial post level on a corner. Add a few inches of moist soil, tamp it, and check both vials before the next lift. Keep posts no more than 8 feet apart and at least 36 inches deep. The University of Georgia bulletin Fences for Horses describes the hand method. Place the post, line it up with the others using a guide wire or string, then fill and tamp a few inches at a time in soil that is moist...

Disclosure: This post contains affiliate links. If you purchase through these links, we may earn a small commission at no extra cost to you. Once the leaves drop, the straight, whip-like shoots on an apple tree are easy to see, some standing up from the scaffold branches and others coming up around the trunk base. A 32-inch bypass lopper reaches into the canopy and down to the soil line to take them off cleanly. Then a summer habit of rubbing off new shoots keeps them from coming back as thick. What is the difference between water sprouts and suckers on an apple tree? Water sprouts are fast, upright shoots growing from the trunk or scaffold branches, usually without side branches. Suckers grow from the roots or from the trunk at or below the ground line, often from the rootstock. Remove both at their point of origin, leaving the collar but no stub. University of Illinois Extension's Making Pruning Cuts defines both and lists removing them among its general pruning rules. It s...

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 wood line post that was set in soil and leans after a wet winter usually isn't broken. The backfill was never packed hard enough. Open the soil on the side away from the lean, pull the post plumb with a temporary brace, and re-pack the hole in 4-inch lifts with a tamping bar , and the post holds where you put it. How do you straighten a leaning wood fence post without pulling it out? Dig out the soil on the side opposite the lean, about 18 inches down, then pull the post plumb and hold it with a temporary brace. Refill the open side in 4-inch layers, packing each one hard with a tamping bar before adding the next. The USDA NRCS Georgia high-tensile smooth wire fence specification sets wood posts at least 24 inches into the ground. For dug holes, it calls for backfilling by tamping the soil around the post at every 4 inches of depth. ...

Disclosure: This post contains affiliate links. If you purchase through these links, we may earn a small commission at no extra cost to you. In late summer, the bottom wire of an electric fence often runs through a strip of grass and weeds that bleeds current into the ground. A fault finder that reads current shows exactly how much of the energizer's output that one wire is losing. A cut-out switch on the bottom wire lets you prove it in seconds and shut it off until the strip is mowed. How do you tell if weeds on the bottom wire are draining an electric fence? Read the current on each hot wire with a fault finder, then open the bottom wire's cut-out switch and read again. If the total current falls sharply and the fence voltage climbs back toward normal, the vegetation on that bottom wire was the load. Mow or trim, then reconnect. Virginia Cooperative Extension's Troubleshooting Electric Fences (SPES-692) notes that soil moisture or a vegetation load can make fence ...