Straight Line

Anonymous-0 · Mar 17, 2014

If I want to put a straight fence up between two boundary poles about 600 apart, what is the best method to ensure it is straight? I need the fence because my evil sister-in-law just got the land that my dad gave my brother. Very sad day!

Thanks

IH2444 · Mar 17, 2014

surveyors transit.

paul · Mar 17, 2014

If it is line of sight, a post on each corner and look through, have a helper put the poles in with one person looking across the 2 corner poles.

A surveyor and $500 is another way.

Anything else can be contested I suppose, a handheld hiking type GPS can drift from day to day 20 feet, but should be accurate on any given hour.

Paul

Dick L · Mar 17, 2014

For longer runs I use a transit and set stakes/steel posts on the line 30 to 50 feet apart. I use baler twine stretched tight between the stakes/steel posts.

rrlund · Mar 17, 2014

If there's no wind a string will work. Do you have a length of smooth electric fence wire? That'll work if you stretch it up fairly tight. That was what I used when I built all this new barbed wire fence. I had some poly electric fence on a reel.

NCWayne · Mar 17, 2014

If you want straight, and it's line of site and relatively level, you can go low tech. Get yourself a thing of mason's line and stretch it as tight as you can possibly stretch it between the two posts. You might have some slight deviation from PERFECTLY straight, but it will be just about as straight as you can get without spending the money to get someone to put up survey stakes to guide by. I did it this way when I put up a fence in front of my place years ago and it turned out pretty well. Shame of the matter was about two years later the state decided to pave the road. When they recut the ditch, etc to meet the new road they took it all down and put it back up....talk about one heck of a crooked mess.....

Icuby · Mar 17, 2014

Had the same problem with nieghbor. He was in the process of putting in his share of 1/2 mile{doing this himself} ,I stopped him,he was pi--ed ,had it surveyed,he was wrong,made him pay 1/2 survey bill but he didnt want to. I asked if he set posts according to survey and he said yes,I said you pay your share. He finally did.

Plus he dug accross gas pipe line twice and as far as I know he did not call 811.

When I had my share done gas co. got on my fencers butt for not calling about digging that had alredy been done,fencer says not him it was neighbor.

Mark - IN. · Mar 17, 2014

That would be my suggestion as well, but if he knows Point A and Point B, can also pickup a basic laser pretty cheap from a Menards or so too.

Mark

Stan - Florida · Mar 17, 2014

Just remember - two fence posts are easy to get set in a straight line. From then on it gets a little tougher.

Stan

ericlb · Mar 17, 2014

if its a straight line just get a line , or wire and streatch it tight between the 2 ends, get a long tape and a can of paint an mark your posts, every 10 feet, remove the line,and place your posts, have a helper stand on the end of the fence and line them up exactly then hang the wire ect it will be as straight as it gets
it gets a little more involved depending on just what kind of fence you putting up

Wheat Farmer · Mar 17, 2014

When sighting look at the base of the post that the person is holding, NOT the top. If it is your fence the post are on your land the wire is the boundary line. tie a wire at the top of the post and you should be able to get it hanging off the ground. And able to pull it out of the way for setting the rest.

David G · Mar 17, 2014

Set your end posts first, stretch a wire, than go back and measure for the middle posts.

mtf · Mar 17, 2014

Set up string low to the ground. Drive metal post half way and that would be where you need to pull fence if putting up woven wire. If driving posts, which I hope so, Hold the post and drive them about 3/8 or 1/2 inch off the string. This way you don't gradually move the string.

PJH · Mar 17, 2014

I've helped set several fence lines between friendly neighbors. Surveyor's transit can't be beat for the job. All the instrument man needs to know is if the nub side of the post is on line, or the back side. The fence crew ALWAYS looks at you in disbelief when you ask them which side of the post do they want on the line, like maybe the middle is as close as it can get, ha. Lacking a transit, you can set the end posts, then stretch a wire between them, as others have said.

Dale in Nw wa · Mar 17, 2014

Set your end posts go get a new role of barb wire they come in 1/4 mile roles. Stretch it tight you have your line. PLUS you have 1 wire already there. My dad and I built about 80 miles of fence in Alzada Mt that is how we ran it put bar across back of pickup with 4 or 5 roles of wire when they got close we put it brace and went back and used one wire for straight line drilled post holes Dale

Bob Huntress · Mar 17, 2014

A lazor is the very best. A transit is the second best method and a string is the third best. Using a bare eye is the second worst. The only method even slightly less reliable than the bare eye method is the alcohol assisted eye method.where the line is envisioned thru the bottom of a bottle. The house I bought here in Tenn was layed out using the alcohol assisted eye method.

Dr. Walt · Mar 18, 2014

When I laid out my property lines I used a large roll of Mason's Line, a 100 Meter Tape Measure, & a Compass. Then I called a professional Surveyor to check my lines & corners; I was only off on one corner by three tenths of an inch.

Doc

W_B · Mar 18, 2014

(quoted from post at 00:31:19 03/18/14) Set your end posts first, stretch a wire, than go back and measure for the middle posts.

Yep, that's what my fence guys did. Set the end braced posts, stung the first hi-tensile wire down low and marked for posts then pounded them in, set the rest of the wire.

for some reason when the old folks that owned the land around us passed on, their daughter and son, who inherited the land had it all surveyed and put up boundry fences between my place and the neighbors. Nothing on the back side and kept the old woven wire on the east side. My place has fence between us on the east side of mine and the back (north) side. Their land wraps in a U shape around mine, my place was their old home place that the old man sold off to a nephew. Under Ohio law she could have made me pay half the cost of the fence adjoining my land, but took it all on themselves, they also had to tear out a number of trees on the corner of my property that were over the line. So I got free fence on the west side of my property and more to mow, turns out the farmer renting the ground was using part of mine toward the road, unknown to me.

Straight Line

Anonymous-0

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IH2444

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paul

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Dick L

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rrlund

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NCWayne

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Icuby

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Mark - IN.

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Stan - Florida

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ericlb

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Wheat Farmer

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David G

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mtf

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PJH

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Dale in Nw wa

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Bob Huntress

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Dr. Walt

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W_B

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