Make your own split log fence

The saying that good fences make for good neighbors is especially true if you have farm animals. Having a good fence in place before bringing an animal home is important. The type of fence needed will depend on what you are raising and what it is that you would also like to keep out. Many animals, especially when young, are vulnerable to predators. Fencing is one of the bigger investments one makes for containing livestock. High tensile electric fencing with one foot spacing in between wires starting at one foot above the ground and the last at about 8 feet will keep most things in and most things of concern out, as long as the fence charger is of ample voltage. During the winter months in areas that get a lot of snow such as where I live, those lower wires will draw voltage to ground making the fence unreliable. However, if the animals are brought in for the winter, then it is not such a big deal. For me, I am looking at getting some Scottish Highland Cattle. The snow doesn’t bother them and they’d prefer to be out in the snow than in a barn. Since, I have an abundance of pine trees around the perimeter of my back field; I have decided to make my own split rail fence to contain them. Time wise, it will go up much slower than a high tensile fence, and I may regret my choice before it is finished. If I did not live near a busy road, I would likely just go with electric wire and posts. The finished product will be rugged and should keep them in, even if the electric portion of it were to go down. Posts are 8’, with 2’ in the ground. Rails are put in at 1.5’ and 3’high. For the fence in the picture, I used 6’ posts. For the cattle, I will go with longer 8’ posts so I can run a strand of electric along the top. Since I am not worried about predators with Highlands, the split rail fence should work well. If I was concerned about predators I could run more electric strands at lower heights. Grass is one thing that grows well in cold climates. Having grazers that can convert that growth into food, should be a part of any cold climate subsistence farm. More on this topic later.

Making the fence:

For making the fence I cut down pine trees and then sectioned them into 8’ sections with my Husqvarna chainsaw. I then make a cut on the section ends. I then place a metal splitting wedge into the cut and drive it into the log section with the back end of my splitting maul. This causes the log section to start to split lengthwise. With a second wedge placed further up the split, I repeat driving the wedge into the log. The advancing wedge frees the previous wedge, thus allowing it to be removed to continue with the process. With just two wedges, an eight foot log can be split in half in about 5 minutes. Each half can then be split in half again by repeating the process for each half. Each 8’ section should yield 4 rails. Larger diameter sections may yield 6 or more rails. Splits should always try and go thru the center cord wood. For posts I just use halves; no need to split further. Carefully, I use the chainsaw tip to punch holes at 3.5 and 5’. Since the first 2’ are buried, this gives rail heights of 1.5 and 3’. Rail ends are tapered with the saw and cut in such a way that the outside part of the log is face up and the V cut is face down. This makes for a stronger rail. Rails are inserted into the holes after the first post is set and backfilled. The second post is not back filled until after it is lifted upright and the other ends of the rails are slipped into their respective holes. The chainsaw can be used to make final trimmings on rail ends thru the post holes to get additional sections to fit right. If the fence follows a contour as like for my driveway, then each additional post can be sited by eye. If it is a straight section, then a piece of twine should be strung between the two corners of the stretch to serve as a guide for keeping the fence row strait. More on making strait fences can be found on DIY post fences on the web. Using this kind of fence to provide stout support for a welded wire fence would probable work well for goats too. Regardless of function, the finished product will be sharp looking! I am not sure how long the posts will last. I am guessing 5 to 10 years. Rails should be good for 10 years. Any ideas out there on making posts in the ground last longer? Use of roofing tar? Copper based paints? Anything more environmentally benign?