Fencing is essential for keeping your horses in a desired area. It can also create many hazards if it isn’t done correctly. The question is, “Do it yourself or hire it out?” It comes down to budget, time and experience.
Hiring out a fencing contractor is really nice in the fact that they will get all the material, they should know what they are doing and make a nice stright, solid fence. They do it quickly, and it will save you loads of time. The downside is the cost is usually a lot more than doing it yourself.
Doing it yourself is fun and feels rewarding after you see the finished product. You will have all the meterial and experience needed if you need to do a quick repair on your fence. It takes practice getting a nice straight post and a straight fence line. It’s
much more cost effective, but takes quite a bit longer if you are doing a large area when you consider the time planning, getting material, renting equipment, and installing the fence.
Things to consider when doing it yourself:
-Determine the type of fence you are installing; wood, wire, paige wire, metal, panel, poly, electric fence? Be sure to understand the injury risks, benefits and limitations with the type of fence you are selecting. Nasty injuries are caused by fencing all the time. You can reduce the risk by selecting, installing and mitigating the hazards of fencing.
-Your local farm store should have all that you need gates, brace posts, fence posts, post ponder rental, and material for the type of fence you need/want. Determine if your local supplier will deliver if you don’t have access to a trailer. Do you know how to operate a post pounder, how to install a solid fence?
-Contact locators to determine what gas, telephone, oil, water, abandoned wells , and other lines that may be on your property and will need to be avoided when fencing. They will stake all the lines that have been located on the property.
-Wear eye protection, gloves and hearing protection. Posts can chip away causing shards of wood to go flying, pounding is very loud, and you will want to wear gloves to prevent shards of pressure treated wood going into your hands
-stay out of the line of fire, stand as far away as possible when pounding the post keeping your head, fingers and hands away from the post when pounding
-have at least 2 people;1 to operate the post pounder and 1 to operate the truck pulling the pounder
-Dont go cheap on the length of post and adequate thickness of the fence and brace posts. You will pay for it later when your fence starts to lean.
There are many things to consider if you are installing fence yourself and if you are getting a contractor to complete the work for you. Budget, time and experience will determine if you fence yourself or hire it out.