Timber fence

[anto]

I currently have a 4ft high timber rail fence around the rear of my property. It has a row of Llellandii in front of it that have grown way out of control (30ft high and about 10ft thick) due to lack of pruning/ trimming by the previous owners. They need to be taken down completely and start again.
However removing them means I lose all privacy/security at the back of the house.

So, my plan.
Ideally id like a 6ft high fence and the quickest way I could think to do was to bolt some new 4x4 posts to the old (but in perfect solid condition) 4x4 posts that are holding the original rails on. The spacings are already in place. It saves on removing the entire old fence and I can start to fit the 6ft posts prior to tree removal, therefore retaining security/ privacy until the fence is more or less erected. Also saves on digging holes, concrete etc.

Additional info, we live on the coast but are in the lee of a hill so it remains quite calm even when the wind is up. It would be a vertical planked fence with 1" spacings.

It'll work, but will it last?

Thanks,
Anton

 

[TechnicAl]

I extended some posts using these with the bottoms cut off

Being honest, we were actually working with the manufacturer at the time so I got them as "trial pieces" without bottoms welded on

http://www.ebay.co.uk/itm/3-Bolt-Do...hash=item1c3e3e632a:m:mPGx30PeKcEa1uveAKSuODA

There are cheaper ones and different sizes

PS That was around 1995 and they are still standing.

 

[anto]

Thanks Al if your fence is still standing using those bases as you describe then I cant see why my idea wouldn't still be standing 20years later either. I think I'd prefer to just do as I've described. I cant see those bases lasting with our salty air, everything turns to rust here!

 

[addjunkie]

Itll work, but will only last as long as the origional posts, also a 4ft post and rail rence posts will most likley just be knocked in and not so deep either. You increase the leverage by a 6 foot planked fence will it stay up on a windy day.

Id suggest do it properly do it once. New concrete posts, rails fixed with bolts to the posts, the your fence.

 

[gaz1]

id use concrete posts or steel posts for fence the concrete ones was about 18.00 for the 8ft ones not forgetting the part into the ground

are you chopping half down yourself and then digging after the tree roots is the way id go using the rest of the trunk to tear at the roots

oh and the trunk can be used for a stake in the ground

 

[anto]

Ideally I would do that, new posts concreted into the ground but that would take me a lifetime as id be doing roughly 50posts. Bolting to the existing posts would rapidly speed up the process.

 

[CompoSimmonite]

Ideally I would do that, new posts concreted into the ground but that would take me a lifetime as id be doing roughly 50posts. Bolting to the existing posts would rapidly speed up the process.

You might save time bolting to existing fence now but it'll be a lot better in the end. Why tackle all 50 in one go - split up into groups and do them over the whole summer.

 

[Kent]

Sinking 50 fence posts is hardly a lifetime! It's about 2 days for one man using postcrete

First thing is I should give those trees a radical haircut as it's surprising what they can stand and recover from

 

[arther dailey]

I bought some fence post moulds,made my own concrete fence posts ,8foot 6" long ,2foot 6 in the ground, when I made them put 10mm re bar in , first cleaned it then wrapped it with pvc tape bought from pound store, this stops rust problem exploding post ten years down the road.
its a lot of work but they aint going anywhere full stop.as they are slotted you can just slide new panels in, but also secure each panel by putting strapping to each one.obviously concrete them in, buy a bag of ultra fast cement, mix with 50% 10 mm aggregate, pour in hole say 6 inches deep to set post correctly, then fill with proper concrete.
rapid set lets you make rapid progress. Arther

 

[anto]

Sinking 50 fence posts is hardly a lifetime! It's about 2 days for one man using postcrete

First thing is I should give those trees a radical haircut as it's surprising what they can stand and recover from

They really are past saving.
If I trimmed back to where they would need to be id just be left with a brown hedge. This type of tre doesn't seem to grow back at all.

 

[slim_boy_fat]

Prune them at ground level.......

 

[anto]

Prune them at ground level.......

That's the plan....using my (father in laws) Husqvarna pruning chainsaw lol

 

[colnerov]

Prune them at ground level.......

Ahh yes, ground zero gardening, as practised on my headless roses.

 

[pedrobedro]

Cut the trees off at 6ft and nail the fence to them, job done Leylandii are the work of the devil. If you cut them back hard they don't usually recover.

 

[arther dailey]

they rot out within four years if you cut them to head level, we had a few I left the stumps untill four years and plucked them out like a septic tooth. easy, so dont nail your fence to them !
I would advise if you are cutting them down do it in one hit, as when they are down that it, who so ever complains doesnt matter as they are history, where as take a few down some on complains ,next minute you find you are required to stop..bla bla..

 

[Kent]

They really are past saving.
If I trimmed back to where they would need to be id just be left with a brown hedge. This type of tre doesn't seem to grow back at all.

Worth a go if your going to take them out though. I have one here that the previous owner tried to support with a scaffold pole ( it now runs through the trunk centre) got a sitka that was totally missing any branches on one side despite being 25 ft high- was shielded by a big willow I took out
5 yrs on its grown out on that side

Got to be honest they aren't a tree I should plant

 

[gaz1]

Leylandii are also a pine wood great for wood burners for fast heat but burn quickly

 

[arther dailey]

yup they burn good, had a big bonnie with the branches I took off, about ten foot wide and taller than me, didnt last long....wooooooosh!

 

[Rudi McAnichal]

You increase the leverage by a 6 foot planked fence....

…..and when shelter from the 30ft high, 10ft thick row of trees has gone, the wind forces could be a lot higher.

Also worth considering whether neighbours (present or future) might have children who want to climb the fence or use it as a football goal backstop, dogs that will leap up against the fence, or anything else that may put extra pressure on the posts.

 

[Kent]

Leylandii are also a pine wood great for wood burners for fast heat but burn quickly

Put resin up your flue though