Rail Fence ?

I used 16 ft boards with the post on 8 ft centers. WE used half round post this gives us a nailing surface of 5 to 7 inches. A 4inch post will only have3 and one half inch nailing surface. Pre drill the boards for nails or screws. WE used 4 boards for a height of 60 inches. Happy Fencing.

Yep, same as "seams". Screwing the rails in will make the fence a lot easier to repair if an errant horse pops a board loose or through the natural hot/humid/cool cycle, the wood shrinks and expands. I used nails for my first board fence (big mistake), now I use screws and it is so much easier to take my cordless drill out and unscrew the loose screws or just tighten them back up. No more pulling nails or trying to keep from tearing up a post!

Good luck and use an electric strand, horses are terribly destructive sometimes when your back is turned

Sidepasser

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Thanks. I purchased a Ryobi cordless drill a few years ago and have never hammered another nail. Everything I've buikt here is screwed in and it makes for easy take down, repairs, and recycling of screws. I've decided to build the pasture fence first and am picking up the material in the morning. Since it is just me at work, I figure it will be a month before I finish and be able to start on the rail fence. Afterward it will be another few months before the sides of the front property are fenced and we can use the rail fence to actually fence anything in for short periods. Once I have the pasture fence up though, the horse and goats won't be using the front of the property. Makes more sense to build the pasture fence first. Guess I have my work cut out for me and for a while. Thanks to everyone for the advice.

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