Snowmobilers cutting through yard ruining landscaping!?

We fenced this place about 7 years ago, for $65 a 330' roll. I'd hate to have to do it now at the new prices.

Our local dump has a pile of wire and fencing. If we are building a new little chicken pen or something, we go there and try and find the end of a roll or a piece of old rolled up fence in good shape. A few times there were rolls of chain link fence in great shape. The hard part is untangling yours from the rest of it.

I'm sure you are staking your new seedlings with 2' and 3' sections of rebar (available inexpensively at places like Home Depot and Lowes)?

So obviously they're doing it to harrass you and what you need is a temporary obstacle up in front of the yard just until the snow is gone.

How deep is the snow? Is it feasible for someone with a plow blade to come push up a wall of snow in a row to block off the front of the yard where these rebels are going through?

We once had a similar problem one year with snowmobilers going through a clear section where there was a thinly frozen pond that wasn't visible under the snow and we feared someone would go through the ice and drown. An immediate, temporary solution was we pounded in several 10 foot tall sections of rebar, I guess they were about 20 feet apart, across the clear section. We strung yellow nylon rope along them and above that yellow police tape, as well as some no trespassing signs. Nobody wanted to risk trespassing on property that looked like it was presently under police investigation so they took a different route, and that tided us through until the snow was gone.

You could get the step-in posts and that cheap orange plastic fence. Something you would put up and take down with relative ease.

I would be careful about setting up traps of any kind. They are probably just ignorant kids. I would hate for someone to get hurt, thrown from their vehicle, or you getting sued for whatever reason. It's strange to think that you have to protect 'the public' on your own private property, but it's true. It's why people have to fence in their pools so neighboring children don't drowned.

That's a bass ackwards excuse. They shouldn't be snowmobiling where they do not have explicit permission to do so. Same goes for hunting, dirt biking or any other activity. People should do it on their own land, never on someone else's land unless they explicitly get permission.

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Then it is time those kids learned about personal property rights.

Yes, it's inconsiderate and a nuisance, and they should be stopped -- however, setting "traps" that cause damage to machines, or worse, to the humans riding them, is, IMHO, worse than the damage to the OP's lot.

Seriously, how would the OP feel if they put up some "fishing line" and ended up killing an 18yo kid over a few snapped saplings? You hit "fishing line" going fast enough, it's not going to just snap.

OP -- call your local club and ask them what you can do -- legally and safely -- to discourage these riders. My personal opinion is that step-in posts and bright orange mesh ought to be enough, but I don't know the conditions in your area, weather-wise, so it may not work for you. Talk to the local club -- they've probably dealt with this before and will be able to advise you how to best resolve this without someone -- even an ignorant and disrespect someone -- getting hurt.

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I wasn't talking about setting traps to kill them, if that was the object, I could certainly do that, too. Lay the twine all over the snow, small loops sticking up enough to catch skis, loose twine to wrap around the belt, they will see it and go somewhere else. There is a big difference between that and trying to kill someone.

How much fence do you need to go across where they are comeing thru?

I understood that you meant no harm to the riders. I think most of us did.

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i think its horrible you even have to deal with it, but its often the case. and that you have to keep the public safe on private property, i know that's true, but that burns me!!

how deep is the snow, how long of a spot they go thru, etc.? that would help decide what/how to deal with this. if the snow is only a few inches, you can get elec. fence posts, like skinny rebar, those pound in pretty easy even in frozen ground. then string up some baling twine. the orange fence would be good too, but i do not see why you should have to pay to keep your yard from being a racetrack. a couple signs would be good too, some legal issue there. this would be low cost.

it is awful. I lived on a private lake. One neighbor came ond opened my gate and put her paddle boat inside up against my fence, i meed so it would be nice and handy for her.and I had Rotties. Another person (on lake) told me he came home one day-a family was on his deck using his grill to cook themselves their food.

I wasn't talking about clothes lining a person. I guess I take it for granted that everyone at sometime or other has ran over bailing string, garden hose, plastic bags blown into field etc.

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and The Thundering Herd

I have no idea how much fence I need, probably at least a couple hundred feet or so just for where they are currently cutting through, but in the past they have cut through different areas of the yard so I know if I block one part they will just go around it. I have a feeling that will just tick them off even more and they will go around/through it anyway just in spite of my efforts. The ground is frozen solid so we cant get any posts in anyway right now. We did plant free yew hedges we dug up out of someones yard all along the front of the property this summer, and every single one died!!! so we ripped them all out in the fall, but now I wish I would have left the dead ones there for a barrier.

We have about 6 inches of snow on the ground right now, but it changes constantly out here from major snow drifts and constant snow. we have not had any 'huge' storms yet this year knock on wood! I like the idea of plowing the snow into a big pile along the property line(have no plow but sounded good) but they are using my hilly uneven worn gravel driveway for a jump ramp or something so it would probably attract them even more but that would for sure help with the snow drifts. Thanks for all the ideas! I'll figure something for now and fence in the spring for sure!

Next Time I Will Build The Fence!
Was just one post.There have been others,I guess im a regular fence preacher! I dont have any pictuires because I WISH I had done it right...but I didnt.
There are some folks here that have and from time to time some great fence pictures show up .:banana02:

Hot wire is cheap. Put up signs that you have hotwire. It breaks easily so people should get a shock but not be hurt.

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-----DD

i don't know what size of electric hot wire, you have, but by golly the electric fence wire I have is pretty dern strong. If you have it high enough and it gets to the neck area, and a snowmobiler is riding along, I sure as heck would not want that law suit looking me in the face, when some guys head is nearly off, because of some wire that may or may not break.
One can not put up any barrier that may cause injury. Nice law suit will happen.

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I wonder, if you had the snow pushed up into boundaries say a couple feet or so high......more or less straight sided though, not a sloped sides.......then spray them with some water, so you have a nice icy barrier blocking the way?

Or.....do you use firewood? maybe some strategically stored lengths of tree along the border areas? But good sized trees, big enough that they do not see them as being a speed bump to try and jump over with.

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what about building a form and making large blocks of ice maybe hay bale size