Anyone contract out their fence repairs?

[greenbean]

I'm trying to get a ballpark on having my fence repaired by a contractor. Place has been vacant for several years & the fencing is in rough shape. Its a fair sized spread.. 250 acres.
Some posts are metal, some wood. Some wire mesh, some barbed wire. I would need a few posts replaced, but mostly patching, tighting & squaring it up to keep the cattle in.

I've never had this done. How do they charge for this? By the foot or what? anyone had dealings with this?

[uncle Will in In.]

I know of people who build new fence by the foot or whatever they want to estimate the total job to cost. I haven't heard of anyone who would do what you want any way other than by the hour, plus needed materials to do the job. You must have at least 3 miles of perimeter fence, plus any cross fences there may be. To take on the job for a set fee would be nearly impossible to estimate fairly to the contractor without him padding the total to cover unknown holdups in time and materials.
I try to avoid blown up estimates where they agree to do the work for the estimated amount.

[Wolf mom]

Sit down before you get the estimate.
I was recently quoted $4000.00 to string about 1500 linear feet of 4' field fencing -and the T- posts & corner posts were already in!!Now that's about $600.00 worth of materials and the rest labor! Maybe that's cause of where I'm living, but still $4000.00??
Am doin' it myself! Tightened up the barbed wire first to attach the field fencing to along with attaching it to the t-posts. Only hard thing is wrestlin' the 330' rolls of wire.

[Sand Flat Bob]

Originally Posted by greenbean

I'm trying to get a ballpark on having my fence repaired by a contractor. Place has been vacant for several years & the fencing is in rough shape. Its a fair sized spread.. 250 acres.
Some posts are metal, some wood. Some wire mesh, some barbed wire. I would need a few posts replaced, but mostly patching, tighting & squaring it up to keep the cattle in.

I've never had this done. How do they charge for this? By the foot or what? anyone had dealings with this?

For a fixed fee estimate, my only suggestion is get as many bids as you can from know good fence firms. That should show you what the ball park cost will be. Select your contractor from this group. If any of your neighbors has used someone and are satisfied, that is the best recommendation.

Bob

[Wolf mom]

Contrary to what Sand Flat Bob said, and sounds like you live "waaay out there", I'd talk to neighbours and find a good handyman or "cowboy" type. No overhead, would probably work a lot cheaper & know what he was doing. Or go to the job core where they have day laborers, if you have the inclination to oversee the work. Lot's of hard working High school boys would take it on as a summer job too if you don't have a time constraint. Just make sure they understand upfront that if the job's not being done correctly, they're out a' there.
There is no mistique to fixing fences - no matter how long. I also don't think fencing cntractors want to "repair" stuff. They want to string their own for warranty purposes.

[fordy]

Originally Posted by greenbean

I'm trying to get a ballpark on having my fence repaired by a contractor. Place has been vacant for several years & the fencing is in rough shape. Its a fair sized spread.. 250 acres.
Some posts are metal, some wood. Some wire mesh, some barbed wire. I would need a few posts replaced, but mostly patching, tighting & squaring it up to keep the cattle in.

I've never had this done. How do they charge for this? By the foot or what? anyone had dealings with this?

..................The key too a long , strong fence , is to build your corners and Hbraces out of pipe with Kicker(diagional) braces on each corner post . If , you don't have strong corners then you can't stretch your wire like it should be . Hiring cheap labor , that doesn't know diddley squat about the fundamentals of building a strong fence is pouring money down a rat hole . JMO but I did this kind of work for 20 years . fordy...

[js2743]

just do it your self

[Mike in Ohio]

It sounds like you have some ideas on what work you want/need done. I think the first thing I would do is get a section map from your county map office as well as an arial shot. Walk the fencing and make notes. Doesn't have to be exact but should give a good idea of what your expectations are and the condition of the fence. Consider how difficult it will be for them to get in to where they have to place posts. Are they going to be humping in equipment or can they just drive along stopping as needed? I know my open fencing is a breeze but back in the woods it would be tough going.

Having a better idea of what you want done and the ability to communicate it, I'd next be speaking with folks in the area whose fencing is in good shape. Maybe they did it themselves or maybe they hired someone (individual or contractor). One advantage of hiring a local person is that you could have them do repair as needed, assuming you are satisfied with the quality of their work and what they charge.

We are putting in some new and replacing some old this year. Some of it I'll do myself. Some my neighbor will be doing with me and some (part of the post pounding) I am contracting out. Total is about 3,500 feet of fenceline. 3 maybe 4 gates. Fortunately the pasture will be square and mostly open.

Mike