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Galvanised pipe fence posts, set into rock filled holes.

 
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I am wondering if anybody has built a perimeter fence that does not have stock by;
- drilling 3 ft deep holes
- inserting a steel galvanised 65mm pipe as a post in,
- and packing 1 1/2" aggregate in around the post.

Ordinarily concrete would be used, but its difficult to handle for a few posts at a time.
Whereas a trailer of rock can be pulled along the fence line and tipped and packed as it suits.
 
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We use three feet holes and pack around them.  With concrete or rapid set, wood rots quicker and because of the concrete pH, the metal posts corrode.  Especially if the ground does not drain well, oversize the hole and place rocks in the bottom first so water does not lay around the bottom of the post.  Pack rocks in only about 1/2 way then return and pack soil.  Heap up soil so water is shed away from the post.
Cheers
 
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I have with wood posts. I have also done dry-pack concrete for metal posts—just pour in dry concrete mix and tamp it tight. Then I might add water if the ground is dry but usually there is enough moisture here to cure it. I haven’t been around long enough to know which fails.
 
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You specify non-stock use, but I will describe this anyway - chicken are pretty small in the stock department, but they scratch and dig.

I needed a temporary enclosed run beside an old chicken coop, for day-time use. I dug only about 1 ft deep and put a medium sized black plant pots in the hole, put rocks in the bottom, stuck the metal pipe in, and added rocks all round until they heaped up a bit at the top. I used the miscellaneous sized rocks that would be called "glacial till" - the Heinz 57 of the rock world.

The pipes I used were from an old car shelter, so I reused any functional fittings to make a typical Gable roofed rectangular shelter about 9 ft by 16 ft  covered by chicken wire. "Temporary" can last a long time on our farm, and I'm sure it's been over 10 years now. It only gets used intermittently, and if there are older chickens in there for brooding etc, I will find they will move rocks out of the top of the plant pots and as I clean up the bedding for composting, I toss the rocks back in.

This thing has been through windstorms and snowstorms (wet, heavy snow) and it's still standing. That makes me think that pipes in 3 ft holes if you don't have things inclined to dig in the area, would last quite a long time.
 
John C Daley
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Thanks for the suggestions, the use of dry cement mix reminded me of the time I built suburban fences and used a spade of cement with the soil from the 10 " x 2 ft deep hole and rammed it in to hold the fence posts stable.
It was industry standard and rarely failed. No water either, just ground moisture as Jay suggested.
 
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