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Exsisting fencing HAS to be pulled?

 
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Hi everyone!
We just bought 5ac on the side of a clay/shale mountain in Southern Oregon. Although known for our rain, we are in the middle of a drought. I was delighted to see a deer resistant fenced area as a front yard. Finally, a garden safe from my chickens, goats, mini pig, and of course deer. Upon closer inspection it appears as though the previous owners really funked up. So the 8’ wood posts are only sunk 1’ deep and OF COURSE encased in concrete. Suffice to say, they are breaking at ground level. Between the clay and steep grade, there is a “washed out” spot at the lowest point of the yard.
They also did NOTHING on the corners so the posts all lean in. Since the ground is solid during summer and the poles are encased in concrete, using t posts or rebar to straighten and bring rigidity back aren’t an option. I tried 🥵. I’m currently getting by with using tie wire and bracing to near by trees.  
Please tell me there is another option. I was thinking gabion columns built around the existing posts??
IF we did have to start over, I guess it would be a matter of setting the new posts alternately from existing as digging out the concrete is more work than I want to deal with?
My goal- a fence that stands up straight.  
Thanks for any thoughts!
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Along driveway
Along driveway
 
steward
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What about trying a rock jack?

 
steward
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In the short term, guy wires to rebar hammered in for the corner posts might help. The get the rebar in, put a jug of water with the lid just cracked so it will drip where you want the post for several days refilling as needed so you get the ground a little softer in the right spot. (assuming you can't reach a hose that far, and let it drip)
Yes, you'd need a bunch of them, but the rock jacks that Ann mentions could also help.

This problem may genuinely be solved by several approaches, some temporary, and others you will need to wait until well into the rainy season when the ground is wet. On the wet coast, a post "vibrated" in during the wet season is supposedly a *really* good way to go (that's from more than one source) because we tend to have a lot of rocks as well as drought.
 
Erin Conte
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This is what brought me to the gabion thought. I have endless rock and like the look. Also, there are are about 30 wood posts. I don’t know if I could erect that many jacks.

I have started lilacs for a living fence along that driveway, but it will be a couple years before they’re set. Maybe use rock jacks along that side so they can be removed after lilacs mature.
 
Erin Conte
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It appears the prior owner has attempted rebar up against the base of a few of the posts, and even a couple T posts. Too bad they didn’t hold. The cLay just gives way unless driven super deep. I’ve been building stairs and terraces and found 18” minimal, but that’s not expected to hold the tension and load.
 
master steward
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From what little I can besure of, I see some work, but not a class A disaster.  Given that the ground can be worked at some point in the next few months, and moving a post at a time, put a new post beside any existing post.  Attach the fence.  Remove the old post.  Save the corners for last.
 
Jay Angler
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Erin Conte wrote:This is what brought me to the gabion thought. I have endless rock and like the look.

You may need quite a large gabion to replace a relatively small post unless there are ways of having it reinforced. I read somewhere here on permies where someone was considering a similar idea to replace the wooden posts in an earth-bermed structure, that a post has a fair bit of resistance to "bend" and that a gabion will have much less. I too, really like the look of them, so fairly large gabions with fencing in between could work if you want it there permanently.

I have started lilacs for a living fence along that driveway, but it will be a couple years before they’re set.

Are you planning to weave or encourage the lilac stems to form cross-connections like a lattice? If you've got deer pressure, they will sneak through small spaces if motivated to do so! It will need to be dense and wide to discourage them, I suspect.
 
master pollinator
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If the fence runs in straight lines, I would put in very strong corner posts first. Usually, these hold the tension of the wire as it is stretched into place. The posts along the way simply hold the wire up and provide a visual barrier.
 
pollinator
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It sounds like the biggest issue is the corner posts...

To that end, could you not, at least temporarily, skip the corner posts altogether, and reroute the wire fencing to the "second posts" and cut off each corner? You shouldn't lose too much area, and this would resolve the corner post issue until the rainy season when new posts could be installed.

Reinforce the second posts with guy wires to convenient trees, or with t-posts and circumvent the corner posts altogether, for now.
 
Erin Conte
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Yes the lilacs will be thick and woven. I LOVE lilacs and these starts came from the old house, they were 10-12’ tall and bushy to the ground( except where the goats broke out and snacked a couple) but again, it will be years and in the mean time I’m concerned if enough of the wooden posts break the whole dang thing will implode! 🤯
 
pollinator
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Perhaps combine the t-posts & gabion concept?

Yank an existing post, backfill/tamp the hole, drive in a t-post, and hook fencing back up. To hide the t-post, if desired:

- face with wood plank, one or both sides; if industrious, cut existing post in half, and use as facing.
- build two semi-circles of gabion-wire around the t-post, fill with rock; t-post is "reinforcing".

We use t-posts on interior fencing, and if your soil is anything like ours, a t-post isn't coming out unless I really get after it with a puller. The pounder/puller tools for t-posts, combined with welded-wire "cattle panels", makes for quick fencing projects.

Add in a LGD (one exists already?), and no deer is hopping that fence ...
 
Erin Conte
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Wow! Those are great ideas. Def going on the list thank you!!
~I just proposed a LGD to hubby last night. He spotted a cougar the other morning. We just have 2 Nubian weathers and a mini pig- but they are priceless. I’m thinking their guardians may not be fit for the job!
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