new article about my invention: fence post doughnuts

[Paul Wheaton]

I've been using these forums since they were part of countryside magazine. Every once in a long while I write a little article and stick it on my web site. And I remember somebody saying something like "if you write another one, please let us know."

Well, I wrote another one. It's pretty short. About a simple invention for helping with temporary fences: http://www.richsoil.com/doughnuts/

I'm in the middle of overhauling the cast iron article. In the last month I've learned a mountain of excellent information. My current cast iron article is riddled with mis-information! Ack!

I'm itching to write an article about my adventures with chicken housing and raising chickens in general. I have done a lot of pastured poultry experiments and took pictures of my wacky attempts.

[fantasymaker]

Ive used a similar thing only they were shaped more like actual donuts made them more stable.
I ran into a contractor installing a high voltage line in nevada once that used them o hold power poles nearly 100 feet tall in place temporally

I've see this done using five-gallon buckets as the forms for the concrete. Works pretty well. My sandy soil is nutrient poor and drains excessively, but at least I can put in fence posts easily.

.....Alan.

[holleegee]

wow thats a great idea! I would love to read about your experience with chickens.

this has been done around here using tires. Tho it takes a big farm boy to handle a tire full of concrete! Wood posts were used with bridge spikes drove in the bottom to anchor them in the concrete. When they moved the post, one fella would tip it 90 deg and another would roll it on to a trailer. This might work good with small tires from a boat trailer.

[minnikin1]

This is really a great idea Paul...

I have some questions.
About how thick is each donut? Or if it's easier, how much
of the post has to be encased in order to keep the post stable?

What makes this temporary? About how much time goes by before you notice this fence needs tending to?

What are you fencing in (or out) with it?

Thanks for sharing this. I'm thinking it may be a great way to deal with
the annual snow fence ritual.

[Paul Wheaton]

each doughnut is about 3 to 4 inches thick.

I suppose a doughnut could be used for a longer term fence. I've just been using the doughnuts for short term fences - the idea is to move the cattle once a week or so. So, once a week you build a new paddock for them, move them in there and take down the old paddock. We do a similar thing for the goats - just a different kind of fence. Although the posts for both fences are exactly the same size. Oh - and for pigs too.

[holleegee]

Would this work for stock panels? (you know the 16ft 52in tall panels.) I'm thinking of making 4 of your fence post doughnuts to make a 16x16 moveable pen for my goats. Do you think one "doughnut" on each corner would be good enough or would I need to put one every 8 feet?

[suburbanite]

I'd think that you'd have to have a hot-line on such a fence at least temporarily, because large stock could easily topple the pole if they leaned on it. They'd have to not be 'leaners'.

[Paul Wheaton]

These 3/8 inch posts are for electric fences. I don't think they would be any good for a physical barrier. You should use the steel t-posts for that. Or a rock jack.

I suppose you could do something like thiswith it - but it would leave a gap underneath due to the thickness of the cement.

Maybe you could emulate a rockjack - heat a t-post and bend it to an L shape. Then stick the lower part of the "L" into a much larger cement blob. That could work. Although it would work better if you stacked some rocks, or another blob of cement on it for extra strength and weight.

[minnikin1]

I was thinking that you could just leave the doughnuts in place and move the posts/fencing only. If you poured your donuts so they were ok to mow over,
do you think it would work?
What do you do that holds the goats in?

[Paul Wheaton]

What do you do that holds the goats in?

Electric fence: http://www.premier1supplies.com/fenc...il&fence_id=85

[minnikin1]

bump

[Paul Wheaton]

Originally Posted by minnikin1

I was thinking that you could just leave the doughnuts in place and move the posts/fencing only. If you poured your donuts so they were ok to mow over,
do you think it would work?
What do you do that holds the goats in?

I'm guessing that the bump is for me?

Well, if the cement is left embedded in the ground, won't the little hole fill with stuff?

And if the cement is above ground, if the mower doesn't hit it, then the mower will have to sort of drive over it - and sometimes the tire will hit the cement.

I think if you want something fixed, use a permanent fence.

For me - these temporary fences are great. I can choose where to put the goats - and I don't have to put them in the same place I did last time. And if I want the fence to go down the middle of a packed road, I can use doughnuts.