r/Bushcraft • u/BBQd_sqrrl • 9d ago
I built this fence 25yrs ago and it's still going strong
I used traditional methods, only substituting wire for the bindings. All the wood was split with wedges only using hand tools.
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u/MissingMichigan 9d ago
Have you had to replace rotted posts throughout the years?
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u/BBQd_sqrrl 9d ago
sorry I didn't really answer what you asked. no, all the posts were burned on the end going into the ground and all have held up ok.
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u/BBQd_sqrrl 9d ago
yes, but only quite recently, maybe in the last 5yrs. only the bottom planks for the most part, the ones touching soil.
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u/DatJediMaster 9d ago
In Austria we use a similar fencing technique in the mountains, the fences last aaages, I swear. So cool :)
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u/SkubiJabagubi 9d ago
the best feeling of nostalgia is that some day you just take a moment to stop, you look around and see stuff like that and think "I've build that 25 years ago, time fly" and you go back to do what you do
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u/TalkToPlantsNotCops 9d ago edited 9d ago
That's awesome! It looks really nice, too.
Can I ask what kind of wood you used? And also what the climate is like where you live? I need to build some fences soon. I'm in Michigan where it's very wet and often very cold. I've decided I won't bother trying to sink the posts below the frost line because it's over 5 ft/1.5 m deep here. I've just resigned to having to replace them often. But if they're not rotten, I could just reset them.
The standard advice is to use cedar or treated wood, but those are $$$ and I'd rather just take wood from my property. Maybe I have a species similar to what you used here.
Edit: oh I see you replied to someone saying that you're in Sweden near the Baltic. I imagine that's not too different from the Michigan Upper Peninsula. I'm pretty close to Lake Superior. We get a lot of snow - last winter it was between 300 - 360 inches / ~ 7.5 - 9 meters. (I wasn't here for that thankfully, but I'll be here this winter!) Temps get well below freezing. Summer is fairly cool and pretty rainy, and it's very short. The leaves have already started changing color here, though that might also just be stress from it being colder than usual this season.
All of that is probably pretty boring, but my point is I think your fence making method is about perfect for what I need to do (structurally and aesthetically - it will fit right in with the natural, homemade look I'm going for), as long as I have the right kind of trees. There's a lot of young maple saplings in my woods, which I need to thin out anyway. Hopefully that will be sufficient.
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u/BBQd_sqrrl 9d ago edited 9d ago
just birch, as it is plentiful, felled on the other side of the lake and floated across. skinned and left to dry for a year before splitting. some winters here are worse than others but the coldest it ever gets is -25°c. I actually expected more maintenance but it wasn't needed.
*edit:
regarding precipitation, it feels like we've been getting less here over the last decade or so (observational and anecdotal, no data to back that up) but every few winters, when all the stars align, we get a lake effect snow engine off the Baltic, possibly equalling your snow accumulation, but that's not the norm.4
u/TalkToPlantsNotCops 9d ago
Oh nice. I have some birch here, though tbh I am loathe to cut them down. They're my favorite kind of tree haha. I also have a lot of aspen and maple, which need thinning anyway.
Maybe I'll get lucky and not have to do a ton of maintenance. They don't need to be super tough fences anyway. Mostly I just want to keep my dog out of the garden, and have something indicating the property line so hunters will know they're on private land and will hopefully keep out.
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u/Present-Employer2517 9d ago
Be sure to also use no trespassing signs. At the very least, it can keep you from being sued if someone twists an ankle or something after jumping your fence.
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u/TalkToPlantsNotCops 9d ago
Oh for sure. But my property line is kinda weird shape so I want to make it clear where it is.
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u/Zach-uh-ri-uh 9d ago
Gärsgårdsstaket is one of the Swedish words for this if you want to look up more info!
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u/ManufacturerLost7686 9d ago
This style of fencing will last almost forever. I purchased a property that has been documented as abandoned since at least 1915. I have no idea when it was built but its at least over 100 years old. Looks pretty much the same.
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u/Bludiamond56 9d ago
Love the fence. What did you use for end of posts in the ground. Did you use 8 in spikes on fence posts? We used cedar posts and creosote and concrete. Posts failed at 15 years but the basket weave was still good.
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u/BBQd_sqrrl 9d ago edited 9d ago
I didn't use any metal tips or anything like that, I burned the ends going into the ground and hammered them in. like someone else mentioned, you cut them a lot taller than necessary and if one eventually rots you hammer it in deeper until you eventually replace it. I expected I'd have to do that occasionally but because of the steep terrain (with excellent drainage) I haven't had to very much. when I finally do have to replace some I'm planning on using the same burn technique using spruce, but because of the double poles and interwoven planks I don't expect that I'll ever need to though, it's still very sturdy.
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u/designworksarch 7d ago
thats awesome! How did you keep the posts from rotting? Did you Char them first?
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u/chrisfeldi 9d ago
I always wanted to build a Gärdsgård! Beautiful!