I'm planning to install a 250-foot fence this spring or early summer. The design is pretty straightforward, with wood posts and 14G welded wire, mainly to keep my dogs from wandering into the neighbor's yard while minimizing the fence's visual impact. My yard has a lot of trees, and the soil is rocky and clay-like. I'm wondering if it's necessary to dig holes and set the posts in concrete, or if I can just go with 30-inch steel post anchor spikes for stability. I do want to use concrete for the posts by the gate since they'll experience more wear and tear.
3 Answers
I tried using a metal spike for my mailbox, and it rusted out and broke after a couple of years. Depending on your local weather and soil, that could happen to fence posts too; so keep that in mind!
Honestly, it’s best to dig down to the frost line and use concrete for your posts. It might be more work upfront, but it’ll save you headaches later. Your fence will be much sturdier that way. Plus, renting a post digger can make the digging part faster—probably only a few hours for the whole job!
If you're going for a straight fence, I really wouldn't recommend the spikes—those posts could easily tip over in wind. However, if your design includes some zig-zags, spikes could work. Just remember that a welded wire fence generally won’t have much trouble with wind, so if it’s robustly built, you might have some leeway with that setup.