How much to hire just the labor for fencing??

[jill.costello]

My dad stumbles upon an fantastic opportunity: the horse farm down the road was changing over their rough-sawn 3-rail horse fence over to vinyl fence.....so he asked them to stack it and save it for us!!!!

I am now the proud owner of over 1800 linear feet of 3-rail oak board fence set on treated 4x4's!! (of course....there is some assembley required....)

What would be the going rate fer foot if I asked a fencing company to put it up?? If I'm supplying the materials......

[Welshmom]

I have no idea what the going rate would be in your part of the world, but you might could ask a local farmer/neighbor to do it for you.

Sometimes, at these times of year before planting, etc. some guys have some down time and they have the equipment and know-how to do this kind of stuff. They might welcome an opportunity to make some money on the side. Besides, I'd bet a farmer would do a pretty good job. If you hire pro fence builders, you'd have to pay lots extra just for the managerial and store-front overhead, etc. Just a thought.

[fantasymaker]

Well around here it would be a waste of time to put it up as a fence but it sounds good for a building project.

[hotzcatz]

I've got a general purpose worker guy who shows up for a day's work once a week for $10 per hour. He does pretty much any project around the place. Fencing is one of the projects coming up, but a much smaller line of fence than you have.

[Beeman]

That's a lot of post holes unless they saved them too. It will require more then just manpower, probably a tractor with an auger. What are you fencing in/out? Board fences look nice if installed well but do require maintenance.

[reviere1]

north mississippi is about $80-$100 per man per day

[jill.costello]

I am using the fence to fence the perimeter of the property, as well as along the driveway and some cross-fenceing for horses. (refer to diagram)

Total posts = 230 set at 7' centers......

[fantasymaker]

I dont know much about your neighbor hood but most places thats all that type of fence is good for. Horses. It wont keep anything else in and more importantly it wont keep anything else OUT!

[pheasantplucker]

By far, the most difficult part of this project would be digging the holes. Take it from me, the last thing you want to be doing is digging 100+ holes with a post hole digger. Depending on your soil type, and how much rock there is...you have a couple of options...A: rent a one or two person auger and bore holes yourself. B: find a farmer with an auger on his PTO and have him (or her) cut your holes for you. You might still get a few bids from fencing companies, and get a ball park figure for what they would charge...break the project down and have them give free estimates for (just the holes) and (entire project...using your materials). I'd then calculate how much they would be charging per hole. I don't know the length of your rails but say they were 12 feet. You'd need about 150 holes then for 1800 linear feet of fence. If the company bid to do just the holes for say, $3,000, that amounts to $20/hole. I bet you could find a farmer with a tractor/PTO/auger who had some downtime who might be willing to cut your holes for less than half that. I know even $1500 probably sounds expensive, but that's a lot of fence and that's a lot of holes. The rest you could probably have fun doing. (Also if the farmer has a front end loader, they can push your posts into the hole they just augered. Doubt if you'll set them in cement (unless gates or corners, and then his front end loader can be hauling cement to the holes as well. My wife and I fenced in an area of around half an acre. We used wire fence, but erecting fence is more work than some people understand, until they find themselves with a post hole digger and a fence stretcher in their hands. Good luck and congrats on the sweet find!

[Jennifer L.]

Good job for an older teenaged farm boy, who has access to Dad's equipment and wants to make some money. I'd expect to pay pretty good, though. That's hard work and a lot of equipment to be used if you wanted the whole thing put up.

Jennifer

[Va. goatman]

I Fence for a living and I get about $2 to $3 per ft labor for a fence like that

[jill.costello]

Originally Posted by Va. goatman

I Fence for a living and I get about $2 to $3 per ft labor for a fence like that

Hey Va. Goatman, where in VA are you? I only need the posts set in the ground; I can put up the rails myself! Would you travel? I actually have a bobcat and auger I can borrow from my dad; just noone around here (me, dad) is strong enough to handle 230 posts in & tamped....

[Cotton Picker]

Hi Jill,

If you have access to a Bobcat and auger, you can use the Bobcat to set the posts, by using a chain for a choker. It shouldn't cause any damage to the auger to have it's frame used for hoisting the posts into place. If you lash the posts top and bottom to the auger you should be able to lift and set them with no sweat.

If your local high school has an FFA program, I would put out the word there for some help. Part of the program is hands on agricultural projects. I would say that your project fits the bill.

Just wondering.... what type of posts are you going to use? If they are wooden, treated or otherwise I would recommend that you back-fill the holes with 1/2 inch minus, or scrap, base rock, rather than soil. It will help to anchor the posts and it will help water to drain away from them, thereby increasing life expectancy.

Concrete is not recommended due to the fact that once it is set, water cannot drain away from the post and over time they will rot off at ground level, that and it's a bugger to get the concrete out of the ground, should you make any changes in your fence row.

Check your homeowners insurance for liability if you hire help. It might be that you could hire someone as an "Independent contractor" to limit liability in case of an accident. If you pay the freight for a fence company to come in, they will probably have their own insurance.

One other thing..... Before you start punching holes in the ground call Miss Utility:

To contact Miss Utility and MissUtility of Virginia:

By phone: Dial 811 or 1-800-257-7777 (homeowners and excavators, MD Western Shore), 1-800-441-8355 (MD Eastern Shore) or 1-800-282-8555

http://www.safegasmaryland.org/callb...callbefore.cfm

Hope this helps.

[Va. goatman]

I live way down in the southwest corner so I'm a little to far but it sounds like with the Bobcat you could handle it if you need any tips on it feel free to PM me

[kruizeag]

In the late 90's I built fences for additional income. I used my tractor and post hole digger. On rail fences it was $35 an hour. In stone free soil I could put in about 30 ft per hour for post and rail.

[Nathan]

I used to build fence for a living and 3 rail was considered easy work.you can rent a beaver one man auger [8h.p.]for65.00 a day lay your job out and drill your holes in a dayeasy.you can always use your hand diggers to trim the hole

[titansrunfarm]

When we moved in here we spent $210 on a Homelite post hole auger, best investment we ever made