CHAPTER X.

MAKING AND SETTING POSTS.

MAKING FENCE POSTS.

There is quite an art in splitting logs into posts. Every post should have some heart wood, which lasts the longer, for two reasons: That there may be durable wood into which to drive the nails, and without it some of the posts, composed entirely of sap-wood, will rot off long before others, making the most annoying of all repairing necessary. If the log is of a size to make twelve posts, split along the lines of figure 146, which will give each post a share of heart wood. This will make a cross section of the posts triangular, the curved base being somewhat more than half of either side. This is a fairly well shaped post, and much better than a square one having little or no heart wood. Although the log may be large enough to make sixteen or eighteen posts, it is better to split it the same way. It should first be cut into halves, then quarters, then twelfths. If it is attempted to split one post off the side of a half, the wood will “draw out,” making the post larger at one end than the other—not a good shape, for there will be little heart wood at the small end. When the log is too large to admit of it being split in that way, each post may nevertheless be given enough heart wood by splitting along the lines, shown in figure 147. First cut the logs into halves, then quarters, then eighths. Then split off the edge of each eighth, enough for a post—about one-fourth only of the wood, as it is all heart wood, and then halve the balance. A good post can be taken off the edge, and yet enough heart wood for the remaining two posts remain.

A POST HOLDER.

A simple arrangement for holding a post while it is being bored or mortised, is shown in figure 148. It consists of two long pieces of round or square timber, lying parallel upon the ground, and two shorter sticks resting upon them at right angles. The upper pieces have saddles cut out for the posts to fit into. A staple with a large iron hook or “dog,” is fastened into one end of each cross-piece, as shown in the engraving. When the post is laid in position, the hooks are driven into it holding it firmly.

DRIVING FENCE POSTS BY HAND.

Where the soil is soft, loose, and free from stone, posts may be driven more easily and firmly than if set in holes dug for the purpose. An easy method of driving is shown in figure 149. A wagon is loaded with posts and furnished with a stage in the rear end of the box, upon which a person can stand to give the posts the first start. Another man holds the posts upright while they are driven. When one post is driven to its place, the wagon is moved to the next place, and this operation repeated.

To drive posts, a wooden maul should be used. This is made of a section of an elm trunk or branch, eight or nine inches in diameter, figure 150. An iron ring is driven on each end, and wedged all around, the wood at the edge being beaten down over the rings with a hammer or the poll of an axe. To prevent the posts from splitting or being battered too much, the ends of the maul should be hollowed a little, and never rounded out, and the ends of the posts should be beveled all around. The hole in the maul for the handle should be made larger on one side, and lengthwise of the maul, and the handle spread by two wedges driven in such a way as not to split the maul.

TO DRIVE POSTS WITHOUT SPLITTING.

Posts are very liable to split in driving, unless some precaution is used. This damage and loss can be avoided in a great measure by proper preparation of the posts before they are driven. The tops of sawed posts should have the sides cut off, as in figure 151, or simply cut off each corner, as in figure 153, while a round post should be shaped as in figure 152. The part of the post removed need not be more than half an inch in thickness, but when the corners only are cut away, the chip should be thicker. In driving, it is very important to strike the post squarely on the top, and not at one corner or side. In most soils at the North, the frosts heave posts more or less each season, and they need to be driven down to the usual depth. To do this with little injury to the post, the device shown in figure 154 may be used. It is a piece of tough hard wood scantling, _e_, eighteen inches in length, with tapering ends. It is provided with a handle, _h_, three feet in length, of quite small size, and if possible, of green timber. In using it, let one person (a boy will do) lay the bit of scantling on top of the post to be re-driven, when, with the beetle or sledge, the scantling, instead of the post is struck, thus preventing the splitting of the post. When the top of a fence is surmounted by a stringer, as in the engraving, the effect of the blow is distributed over a large space, and both stringer and post escape injury. The attendant should keep hold of the handle, _h_, while the posts are being driven, and move the scantling from post to post as required.

A POWERFUL POST DRIVER.

For a farmer who has a large number of posts to set, a special apparatus for driving them will be found useful. The accompanying illustrations show a machine of this kind. An axle, _a_, figure 155, of hard wood, eight and one-half feet long; a hickory sapling will do. It has spindles shaved to fit the hind wheels of a wagon, which are fastened by linch-pins, leaving about six feet space between the hubs. A coupling-pole, _b_, thirteen feet long, is framed in and strongly braced at right angles with the axle, and connects in front with the forward axle of a common wagon. The main sill, _d_, figure 156, is one stick of timber, six by eight inches, by fourteen feet long and has a cross-piece, _e_, framed in the end. Two side-pieces, _f_, two by four inches by five feet long, are pinned or bolted to the main sill at _g_, and cross-pieces framed into them, as shown in figure 156, so framed that the lower edges of the side-pieces will be two inches from the axle, when the main sill rests on the axle. The side-pieces, _f_, should be twenty-two inches apart at the ends. The front end of the main sill rests on the front axle, in place of a bolster, and the “king-bolt” passes through it at _h_; the upright guides, _i_, are two by four inches by fourteen feet long, bolted to the side-pieces, _f_, with a space of fourteen inches between; a cap, _j_, two by three by twenty-six inches long, is framed on top. Two braces, _k_, two by four inches by sixteen feet long, are bolted to the upright guides, two feet below the cap, and connect at the bottom with a cross-piece, _l_, two by eight by twenty-two inches long, between the braces. It has rounded ends passing through two-inch holes in the braces, and fastened by a pin outside, to form a loose joint. This cross-piece, _l_, is held down on the main sill by a strip, _m_, and steadied by cleats; it is free to slide back or forward, and is held in place by a short pin. By moving this cross-piece, the upright guides, _i_, are kept perpendicular when going up or down hill. A small windlass, _o_, figure 155, is placed under the axle, _a_, between hangers framed into the axle, close to the hubs. Two brace-ropes, or wires, _p_, are fastened to this windlass at the extreme ends, and wound around it a turn or two in opposite directions, drawn tight and fastened to the main braces near the top. By turning the windlass, _o_, slightly, by means of a short bar, the machine may lean to either side, to conform to sliding ground, thus being adjustable in all directions. The maul, _r_, figure 157, of tough oak, fourteen by eighteen inches, by two feet long, weighs about two hundred pounds, is grooved to fit smoothly between the guides; the follower, _s_, is more plainly shown in the engraving, also the simple latch, by which the follower and maul are connected and disconnected. The square clevis, _t_, is of three-quarter inch iron, suspended from the same iron pin, _u_, on which the pulley, _v_, is placed. It is partly imbedded in the wooden casing, _w_, which is eight by eighteen inches; this casing serves to inclose the pulley, _v_, and also to trip the latch when brought together; the clevis, _t_, is caught under the hook fastened in the maul, is pressed into place by a small hickory spring, _y_, acting on a small iron pin, _z_; when it reaches the top, the crotch, 1, suspended from the top, comes in contact with the pin, 2, and the clevis, _t_, is pressed back, and releases the hook, _x_, when the maul drops. The windlass, 3, figure 155, has two cranks, and a ratchet for convenience. The rope passes from the windlass over the pulley at the top, down and under the pulley, _v_, then up, and is fastened at 7, on the cap, _j_, wire braces at 8. By releasing the cranks and ratchet, the follower will run down the guides, and, striking the maul, will “click” the latch into place, ready for another hoist. For two men it is easy work, and can be handled quite rapidly. Drive astride the proposed line of fence; lay a measuring-pole on the ground to mark the spot for the next post; drive forward with the post driver, having the maul partly raised, set up a post, and proceed to drive it.

SETTING A GATE POST.

No matter how strong or how well braced a gate may be, it will soon begin to sag and catch on the ground, if the gate post is not firmly planted. Sometimes, owing to the soft nature of the ground, it is almost impossible to plant the post firmly, but in such cases the work can generally be done satisfactorily by packing medium-sized stones around the post, in the hole, as shown in figure 158. If it is thought that this will not insure sufficient firmness, add good cement. Place in a layer of stones, then cement enough to imbed the next layer of stones, and so on, until the hole is full and the post planted. Do not cover up the stones with earth or disturb the post for a few days, until the cement has “set.” Remember that the post must be set plumb while the work is going on, as it can never be straightened after the cement has “set.” Only durable posts should be used, and this method of setting should only be followed with gate posts which are supposed to be permanent, and not with posts liable to be changed.

A still better method is shown in figure 159. Before the post is set into the hole, a flat stone is laid edgewise in the bottom, on the side which is to receive the greatest pressure from the foot of the post. When the post is set, and the hole half filled with earth, a second stone is placed against the post on the side to which it will be drawn by the weight of the gate. The stones receive the pressure and hold the post firmly in position.

FENCE POSTS FOR WET LANDS.

Low meadow and other marsh land is subject to heaving by the frost, and much difficulty is experienced in securing firm fences upon such ground, as the posts are drawn up by the freezing of the surface. To avoid this, much may be done in the way of selecting posts that are larger at one end than the other. It will help very much to put a strong, durable pin through the bottom end of the post, or to notch it at each side, as in figure 160, and to brace the bottom with a flat stone, driven well into the side of the hole with the rammer. When the soil is very soft and mucky, it is best to drive the posts and to make them hold well in the ground, to spike wedge-shaped pieces to them on either side, by which they are held firmly in their places.

LIVE POSTS.

A living tree which stands in the right place, makes a very durable and substantial fence-post. In the great treeless regions of the Mississippi Valley, where it is difficult to obtain timber for posts, it is not an unusual practice to plant trees for the purpose on street boundaries, and other places where the fence is to be permanent. White willow is well adapted for the purpose on suitable soils, as it grows rapidly and bears close pruning. In situations where the soil is even moderately damp, white willow posts, four inches in diameter, cut green and set in spring, will take root and grow. The new branches soon form a bushy head, which may be cut back from time to time. It is not advisable to nail boards or drive staples directly into the tree. With a board fence, the swaying of the tree loosens the nails, and if barbed wire is stapled to the tree, the bark and wood will in time grow over them as in figure 161. To obviate this, a stick is nailed to the tree as in figure 162, and to this the fence is attached. A still better method is to secure the strip of wood to the tree by two or three pairs of interlocking staples.

MENDING A SPLIT POST.

Fence posts split from a variety of causes, and when they are in this condition they make a very insecure fence. The usual way is to merely nail an old horseshoe or two across the split part, just below the holes in the posts. This answers fairly well, but does not draw the cleft together, and horseshoes are not always on hand. A better method of doing this is shown in figure 163. A short, stout chain is put around the top of the post, just tight enough to admit of a strong lever. The parts of the posts are then brought together by a heavy downward pressure of the lever and held there, while a strip of good tin, such as can be cut from the bodies of tin cans, is put around and securely nailed. If the post is a heavy one and the cleft large, it is well to take the entire body of a can and double it, to give it additional strength before nailing it on. The dotted lines show where the tin is nailed.

HOOK FOR WIRING POSTS.

Figure 164 shows a modified cant-hook for drawing together the upper extremities of fence stakes that are to be wired, as in the engraving. The half-moon shaped iron, _a_, is riveted fast to the top end of the lever, and is to prevent the end of the lever from slipping off the stake when in use. The second iron from the top, _b_, is twenty-five inches long, with two hooks at the end, though one will do; this is to catch the stake on the opposite side of the fence. This iron is fastened in the lever by a bolt in a long mortise, in the same way, as the hook in an ordinary cant-hook. The iron rod, _c_, has a hole in one end, and is drawn out to a point at the other—this is fastened to the lever by a bolt in a long mortise, and serves to catch in the stake or rail, and hold the stakes together, while the man adjusts the iron around the stakes. When the stakes are drawn tightly to the fence, this rod is drawn up until it strikes the stake or one of the rails, when the man can let go of the “drawer,” and it holds itself. The lever is four feet and three inches long, and two inches square, with the corners taken off part of the way down, the lower end being rounded for a handle, as shown in the engraving.

DRAWING FENCE POSTS.

Figure 165 shows a practicable method of drawing out fence posts by the aid of an ox team. A stout piece of timber with a large flat “foot” is placed under the chain to change the direction of the draft. Two men and a steady yoke of oxen can extract fence posts very quickly and easily by this method. A good steady team of horses will do quite as well as oxen.

LIFTING POSTS BY HAND.

A convenient and sensible implement, for taking up fence posts without the aid of a team, is shown at figure 166. It consists of a stout pole of the size and shape of a wagon tongue. The thicker part of this pole, for about fifteen inches from the end, is shaped into a wedge. This is sheathed with a frame made of iron, half an inch thick and two and a half inches wide, and securely fastened with screws or bolts. The end should be pointed and slightly bent upwards. The manner of using this convenient implement is shown in the illustration.

Frequently a farmer has occasion to lift posts, and has not time to wait for the construction of an iron-shod lever. Figure 167 shows a very simple, inexpensive contrivance for such cases. A spadeful of earth is taken from each side of the post, and a short, strong chain loosely fastened around the lower end of the post, as far down as it can be placed. A strong lever—a stout rail will answer the purpose—is passed through the chain, as shown in the engraving, until the end of the rail catches firm soil. By lifting at the other end of the lever the post is raised several inches, when both chain and lever are pushed down again for a second hold, which generally brings the post out. The chain is furnished with a stout hook at one end, made to fit the links, so that it can be quickly adjusted to any ordinary post.

SPLICING FENCE POSTS.

There are places, as crossing over gullies, etc., where unusually long posts are desirable, though not always easy to obtain. In such cases properly spliced posts are almost as durable as entire ones. The engraving of the front and side views, figure 168, shows how the splice may be made to secure strength and durability. The splices should be made with a shoulder at the lower end, and well nailed together, after which one or two bands of hoop-iron may be passed around the splice and securely fastened. The hoop-iron band is one of the most important points in a splice of this kind.

APPLICATION OF WOOD PRESERVATIVES.

To prevent decay at the center, as well as of all that part of the post placed below ground, by use of wood preserving solutions, the following system is both novel and valuable: It is to have a hole in the center of the post, from the bottom upward, to a point that shall be above the ground when the post is in position. Then bore another hole in the side of the post with a slight inclination downward, making an opening in the center hole, as shown in figure 169. A wooden plug, two or three inches long, should be driven snugly into the hole at the bottom of the post, in order to prevent the escape of any liquid that may be used in the operation. When the posts are set in an upright position, a preservative solution may be introduced into the hole in the side and the centre one filled with it, after which a cork plug of some kind should be inserted in the side hole, to prevent evaporation, as well as to keep out dust and insects. The solutions thus introduced will gradually be absorbed by the surrounding wood, until all parts along the entire length of the central cavity must become completely saturated. When the solutions used have been taken up by the surrounding wood, it will only be necessary to withdraw the cork or plug, and apply more, if it is thought desirable. A common watering pot with a slender spout will be a handy vessel to use in distributing the solutions.

Petroleum, creosote, corrosive sublimate, or any other of the well known wood preservatives may be used in this way. Telegraph posts might be prepared in the same way, and if the central reservoirs were kept filled with petroleum, they would last a hundred years or more. Where a large number of posts or poles are to be prepared, it would be cheaper to have the holes bored by steam or horse power than by hand. With very open and porous wood it is quite probable that a hole bored in the side of the post and above the ground, and deep enough to hold a half pint or more of creosote or some other similar solution, would answer, but a central cavity reaching to the bottom, would perhaps, be best.

IRON FENCE POSTS.

The advent of wire fences was followed by a call for posts in the prairie regions, where timber is scarce. Several forms of iron posts have been devised, of which the leading ones are illustrated herewith. Figure 170 is of iron, one-quarter of an inch thick and two and a half inches wide, rolled to a curve and pierced at the proper intervals for the staples, which are to be clinched on the concave side. The disc, figure 171, is swedged out of one fourth inch iron. It is sunken a little below the ground, and the post driven through the curved opening, into which it fits closely. Figure 172 is a flat iron bar, with slots cut diagonally into one side to receive the wire. The post is supported by two tiles with holes to fit the post, which is thrust through them.

Figure 173 is made of angle iron braced at the surface of the ground, with an angular iron plate rolled for the purpose, and driven to its place. Figure 174 shows an iron post, with the ground-piece and driving tube to the left of it. The post is a round iron bar or tube, with notches for the wires, which are held in place with short pieces of binding-wire, wound around the post. The ground-piece, which is shown in the middle of the engraving, is of cast iron, eleven inches long, and five inches across the top, with two loops for inserting the iron post. This is driven into the ground, and the iron post driven through it. At the left of the engraving is shown the device for driving the post. It is a piece of common gas-pipe, just large enough to slip easily over the top of the post, and provided on the top with an iron cap to receive the blow of the large hammer or maul used in driving. Figure 175 shows a cast iron ground piece, and at the right is the lower end of a post resting in one of them. The three flanges are cast in one solid piece, with a hole through the centre of any desired form and size. The wings or flanges are three inch plates, running to sharp edges on the bottom, so that they can easily be driven into the ground. They may be of any desired size, larger sizes being required for a light yielding soil than for a stiff one. Figure 176 is an iron post on a wooden base, for situations where the ground is soft and wet. The base is preferably of cedar, three to four feet long, four inches thick, and four to six inches wide. It is to be sunken in the ground crosswise with the line of fence. The post is of iron, set and stapled into the end-piece, as shown in the engraving. Before being put in place, the whole is saturated with hot coal tar, as a preservative. There is less call for iron posts than was anticipated when wire fences first came into general use. It is found that wooden posts can be delivered in any location reached by railway at less cost than iron posts.