FENCE & GATE REPAIR

Sometimes the farm fence or gate needs repair. Here are six cost- effective (and easy) fixes for fences and gates on the farm.

- HEATHER SMITH THOMAS

Keeping fences and gates in good repair is an important part of maintaining a farm, whether large or small. Good fences help keep livestock safely housed: A sagging fence or gate, broken wires, and downed or loose poles may tempt animals to make a break for it — out on a busy road or into hostile territory — possibly injuring or killing themselves in the process. Here are a few simple and inexpensive tips to help make fence and gate repair easier.

1. TIGHTENING WIRE WITH A HAMMER

When mending a wire fence — such as tightening sagging wires or splicing broken wires back together — a fence stretcher is nice, but a simple carpenter’s hammer will also do the job. To repair a fence with broken wire, you may need to add extra wire — a short piece (1 to 2 feet long) of smooth wire — to make your splicing task easier. The additional material gives you enough wire to loop the ends of the broken section and make a “hammer roll” to pull it tight.

To start the splice, make a loop in one end of the broken wire and run an additional piece of material through the loop. Place the hammer against the wire and anchor the loose end between the hammer claw. Then roll the wire around the hammer, making as many twists as necessary to get the wire very tight.

Once the wire is taut, untwist the hammer, leaving the wire tight where it bends. Then you can go ahead and twist the remainder of the loose ends, finishing your splice. Using the hammer this way, you can pull the wire much tighter than you can by hand, making the bend in the wire tight enough to hold until you can finish it off by wrapping it around itself.

2. CHICKEN WIRE TO PROTECT WOOD