Setting braces and posts are the heart of any good fence. First, choose good materials, by this use round posts not mill cut (ex, 4” x4”) lumber, this is since mill cut comes from a larger log and the heart wood will not receive treatment well, Southern Yellow pine (most common in the eastern US) will receive a treatment 2”-3” into the wood providing a longer life of the post. Second set them deep, when setting post for a 4’ tall fence you should be 36”- 42” should be in the ground for brace posts. Proper brace building will prevent the end posts from leaning, the cross member of the H Brace should be 2-2.5 times in length as the height of the fence, so a 4’ fence should have a 8’-10’ top rail, this gets the twitch wire to less than thirty degrees preventing the pull post from lifting or leaning over. If you are having issues with the lines posts leaning due to animal pressure, if they are wood they are not deep enough. If you are using T-Posts, I would recommend using a 4:1 ration of T-Post: Wood posts, the wood posts will give you added support that the T-Post will not. As far as installing in a straight line, set your end posts then string a line to set, if you are still having issues, you can use a string at close to the ground and approximately half way up the fence, when you set your posts setting them about ½” from the line, this will prevent you from pushing the line out an getting a bend in the fence. .
Bekaert Brace Building Guide
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