Selecting Fence Posts

Posts are a major component of a deer fence and a major component of its cost. Reasonable alternatives are trees, wooden posts, and various sorts of metal posts.

If you have them available, trees make ideal deer fence posts. Not only is a tree strongly anchored, by-passing the need for a cement footing, but it looks perfectly natural; and a deer fence zig-zagging slightly from tree to tree in dappled shade fades into near-invisibility.

Another good option is wooden posts. These should be set three feet deep or below the frost line, whichever is deeper, meaning each post should be at least 10 feet long. Regarding width, use pressure-treated 4 x 4 posts or round posts that are 6 inches in diameter at their narrowest point. Shipping these posts long distances in small quantities is prohibitive, so we do not offer them; but they can usually be obtained from local lumber yards.

Wooden posts are generally about the same price or less than comparable metal posts. However, they are more visible than the metal posts, and one should expect to spend a good deal more time and effort setting them into the ground than the metal posts, which are relatively easy to insert.

We offer three types of metal posts: angle-iron posts, round posts with caps, and round posts with drive sleeves and caps.

The angle-iron posts come in 9-foot and 10-foot lengths and are less expensive than the round posts. Use the 10-footers where your soil is loose and you want the post to grip the ground well, or where the soil is heavy clay and you need to get below the frost line. All the angle-iron posts come ungalvanized with a black powder-coat finish. Below ground they will last for 20 years, but above ground they need a little attention. That’s because the powder-coat finish can be broken, and if it breaks the post can rust out in as little as two or three years, depending on your climate. To prevent this possibility, take a few minutes once a year to spray any rusting spots with a puff of black rust-proofing paint.

The round posts are galvanized under their black pvc finish, so they are maintenance-free and will not rust. They are also stronger than the angle-iron posts and they look better in a residential or estate setting. Like the angle-iron posts, our round posts without drive sleeves come in 9 and 10-foot lengths (all come with caps). Use the 10-footers to get a better grip on loose soil and also to get below the frost line in areas with heavy clay soil, so as to avoid frost heaves.

The round posts with drive sleeves can be set into the ground without the inconvenience of getting up on a ladder. Simply drive the 30-inch sleeve into the ground using a sledgehammer and a heavy drive cap (item 15-03C) that prevents the hammer from damaging the top of the sleeve. Use a digging bar (item 15-03PB) to prepare the way in all areas where there are any rocks, in order to ensure that the drive sleeve goes in straight. Once the sleeve is in the ground, simply set the post in it. The post is 8 feet long and hits a crimp in the strong sleeve that is 1 foot down, so the installed post will stand 7 feet tall.

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