Odd style of fencing the USA

[mrcharly]

I've seen pics of this before, but was reminded of this today.

I've done quite a bit of fencing, mostly wire, some post and rail. This style seems odd to me. Wasteful of wood but I can't see it being very stockproof, either. Does anyone know the purpose?
I guess if you had seemingly endless trees then the waste doesn't matter and it would go up pretty quick with unskilled labour.

 

[santaman2000]

The pic you posted is a very, very bare-bones version of "split rail fencing. As you guessed, it's not very stockproof and was best used with animals that were unlikely to test their boundaries.

Even the more complete split rail fences could (and often did) get large expanses knocked down. They did work though and were popular in areas (as you guessed) where wood wasn't a concern and before barbed wire. Abraham Lincoln was proud of his ability to split rails before going into politics.

Now-a-days such fences are mainly cosmetic, nostalgic reminders of the past (early colonial period through early 20th century/Great Depression era)

Here's a sample of a more complete split rail fence:

You can see the differences between the two pics is the amount of wood and the top one (your pic) is using small poles rather than "split" rails. Likely due to what was available farther West.

 

[mrcharly]

Are the staked rails fastened together somehow? I'm guessing not, based on the zigzags.

I'm used to building fencing that had to cope with horses - who are bloody stupid animals and will frequently run into it.

Cattle have the annoying habit of scratching themselves against the fencing, so need something really solid (or barbed/electrified).

 

[santaman2000]

You guess correctly, they're not fastened together (and many didn't even have the bracing posts seen at the corners of this pic) I'm not sure about the variation in your photo but I suspect any nails would have been used sparingly is at all.

Yeah, barbed wire pretty much replaced this style here as well for the very reasons you mention. The exceptions were during the Great Depression (when there was no money to buy wire or fencing staples but cutting trees was free) and currently as a cosmetic fence.

I've often wondered why they didn't simply put a fencepost on each side of the corners to hold the rails in place.

 

[mrcharly]

Maybe soil conditions. If the soil is sandy, you have to dig really deep. If it is hard (baked hard or frozen) then digging is very slow and laborious. The zig-zag plus 'A' poles make for a no-dig fence. Just needs a heck of a lot of wood.

 

[santaman2000]

Yeah, it's sandy here in Florida. It's more hard clay soil in most of the inland South. Not sure about up along the Northeast states but probably rockier.

It is indeed a lot of wood, but in the East, the very fields being fenced often had to be cleared of trees first anyway. At least back when the style came into existence.

 

[pysen78]

Also untreated fence posts tend to rot quickly. The method outlined in this thread makes for a fence that won't rot for fair number of years even if it will require the odd mending due to cattle breaking through. Also that mending can be done on the spot without doubling back to the homestead for tools.

In sweden the most common type of fence of old is the 'gärdsgård' a bit similar in appearance, but uses double fence posts made from juniper. That doesnt rot easily and is easy to just resharpen and hammer into the ground with an axe once the buried part is rotten.

 

[boatman]

Very effective at Gettysburg.

 

[santaman2000]

Also untreated fence posts tend to rot quickly. The method outlined in this thread makes for a fence that won't rot for fair number of years even if it will require the odd mending due to cattle breaking through. Also that mending can be done on the spot without doubling back to the homestead for tools.

In sweden the most common type of fence of old is the 'gärdsgård' a bit similar in appearance, but uses double fence posts made from juniper. That doesnt rot easily and is easy to just resharpen and hammer into the ground with an axe once the buried part is rotten.

I hadn't thought of that; but it makes perfect sense. Thanks.

 

[BlueTrain]

The colonists in early America were very wasteful with wood. Trees were seen as something they needed to be rid of. The forest was virtually an enemy, as they saw it. They wanted open fields instead. But some were aware of the waste, too. George Washington is said to have been astonished that some landowners made split rail fences out of walnut.

 

[santaman2000]

Pics of variations on the idea:

And here a morticed one around somebody's yard with the addition of dog wire (either to contain their own pet or keep out the neighbors' pets.