Tools and accessories for fencing

Addresses of manufacturers or distributors of tools, as noted in the following section, are given here.

Tools are listed under the various stages of fencing work, and requirements will vary for different types for fencing. A suggested list is given here of the numbers of tools required for groups of 12 doing post and wire or post and rail fencing.

It is possible to put up a fence with only a few of the tools listed, but a full range of tools allows fencing to be done more quickly, safely and effectively.

For all tasks

First aid kit. Keep this close at all times. The recommended contents of such kits for sites with up to 10 people are:

A first aid kit suitable for use in a workplace for up to 10 people

The following welfare kit is also useful:

Welfare kit suitable for use in additional to a first aid kit

A list of local hospitals with casualty departments should also be to hand.

Clearance

In some cases there is no need for any clearance of vegetation or other obstructions, but in dense woodland or scrub this will amount to a considerable part of the project, and the following tools will be needed.

• Slasher. A long-handled tool for use on brambles, nettles and light scrub.
• Billhook. Used for trimming branches, and for clearing scrub and small trees.
• Pickaxe. This has a very hard blade, and is used for breaking up rocky ground, stones, concrete and tarmac.
• Mattock. This has softer blades, with the wide one used for breaking up clay and hard soil. The pick ended mattock has a pick end for breaking up stony ground, but is not hard enough for breaking up rocks. The grubbing mattock has a short cutting blade for chopping through tree roots.
  
• Bowsaw. The 530mm (21″) bowsaw is useful in scrub and coppice, and can also be used for any carpentry required when putting up the fence. Larger saws will be needed if there are trees or logs to clear.
• Chainsaw. For major clearance of scrub and trees. Only operators holding a recognised certificate of competence should use chainsaws. If possible, any such clearance should be done before, and if not, well away from, other clearing and fencing operations.

Hole digging and post erection

• Crowbar. Various sizes and weights are available, including 1.2m (4′), 1.5m (5′) and 1.8m (6′). A crowbar should be about the height of the user, so choose lengths accordingly. A very useful tool for fencing is a crowbar tamper, which has a chisel at one end, and a 150 x 50mm (6 x 2″) tamper at the other, used for tamping soil down into post holes.
  
• Spade. The most suitable type will depend on the ground being encountered. A strong garden spade is sufficient in deep loamy or clay soils. Specialist spades for hole digging are available, including the rabbiting spade, which has a small blade and a 1.7m (66″) steel handle. The British Telecom grafting spade has a square-ended blade and wooden handle, and is 2.00m (78″) overall in length (Drivall). Other long-bladed spades for hole digging are available, and are variously known as draining or rabbiting tools. These narrow digging tools have the advantage of causing the minimum of ground disturbance, so ensuring the post is as firm as possible in the ground.
  
• Shuv-holer. This is a large implement, consisting of two pointed and long-handled spades hinged together. It is used to make holes in sand or very soft soil, or for lifting debris from holes that are being dug with spades and crowbars. It should not be used for driving holes in hard or stony ground, as the blades will become bent and damaged. Four sizes are available. The standard shuv-holer is available in 1.1m (42″) or 1.4m (54″) lengths, with wooden handles, and blades designed to dig a 260mm (10″) diameter hole. The heavy-duty shuv-holer digs a similar size hole, but is designed for heavy use, with either wooden, all steel or fibreglass handles. Smaller and lighter weight tools, for digging 200mm (8″) and 150mm (6″) holes are also available.
  
• Auger or post-hole borer. These can be useful for making holes for concrete posts and other types of fence posts which do not require a ‘foot’, as the hole made is usually too narrow to accommodate one. They are quick to use in suitable soils, such as deep garden soils, and make a neat hole 1m (3′) deep. Available in 100mm (4″), 150mm (6″) and 230mm (9″) diameters (Drivall).
  
• Punner, tamper or rammer. This is used for firming the soil back around the post, and must be narrow enough to fit down between the post and the side of the hole. The nearer the diameter of the hole is to that of the post, the firmer the post will be. The type of soil also affects the choice of tool. Narrow-headed tampers are most useful in stony soil, as they are useful for wedging rocks into place. In soft soils or clay they tend to make holes, and a larger headed tamper is more effective. The crowbar tamper described above is a useful dual-purpose tool for most soils. The 2m (6’6″) post rammer is a sturdy all-steel tool with a neat head. Larger headed square and round all-steel punners are also available. Avoid punners with wooden handles, as these tend to break just above the head.
  
• Mell. This is a long handled tool with a cast iron head, used for driving wooden posts into the ground. Heads of various weights are available, including 7, 12,14 and 16lb. Fibreglass shafts are recommended for safety and durability. Some strength and experience is needed to use a mell effectively, and it should be swung so the head hits the post squarely on the top. If it hits the edge, the post will not go in straight, and the post top will be damaged. The post should be held steady by another person, preferably using a post holder (see below), in order to keep a safe distance from the mell. Do not use a mell on stone or metal, as the cast iron head will shatter.
  
• Rubber mell or maul. This has a large rubber head, 13 x 5″, and a wooden shaft. In the right hands this is an extremely effective tool for driving posts, but some people find the ‘rebound’ awkward. Because of the larger head, it has to be held higher than a cast iron mell, in order to hit the post squarely.
  

Post driver

This tool was originally developed by Drivall, and the tool is often referred to as a ‘drivall’. It’s the preferred driving tool for most fencers, as it gives more power than a mell. If used properly, it is also a safer and less tiring method, but if used wrongly, it can be dangerous. The post driver should only be lifted by a small amount, and dropped down with a regular, easy movement. If heaved up very high it can come off the post and hit the user on the head as it topples over. A safety helmet must be worn by anyone using a post driver. Various sizes are available, the smaller sizes having two handles for use by one or two people, and the large sizes having four handles for use by up to four people. See table 3a below.

Post drivers are heavy tools, and you need to be fairly strong even to lift one up and onto a 1.6m stake. However, two less strong people can manage to lift and use a small post driver, and are likely to more effective than if using a mell. Take care on slopes or slippery ground when lifting a post driver on or off a post. When using it, stand erect with legs apart to give balance, and use the arms and bend the legs if necessary, not the back.

The post driver avoids damage to the post top. A disadvantage is that a post driver can only be used effectively on the correct sized post, and not at all on a post that is too big, or bent. It is also not easy to exactly line up fence posts when using a post driver, particularly if it is over-sized, as you cannot see the upper part of the post. Even a few millimetres can make the fence line wobbly, which apart from looking less neat, is less strong than a perfectly straight fence.

A post driver can be used in confined spaces where you cannot swing a mell, but it cannot be used, for example, if a post needs to be driven flush with a wall. Post drivers can be used on tall posts for deer fencing, by putting the post driver over the post before it is lifted upright.

Table 3a Post Drivers

Securing the fence

• Hammer. Ball pein hammers have the advantage of not suffering the abuse that claw hammers receive, in being used for extracting large nails. This is the usual cause of broken hafts, steel hafts included. A ball pein hammer with a wooden haft will probably have the longest life, and can be rehafted as necessary. A 16oz head is suitable for most volunteer use. For experienced workers, a 20oz claw hammer with a tubular steel shaft is probably the preferred tool.
• Fencing pliers. This is a multi-purpose tool for bending, cutting and straining wire, and removing staples. It is useful on mild steel wire, but is not strong enough to cut high tensile wire, and for all the tasks listed, there are specialist tools which do each job better. The hammer head is not heavy enough to knock in large staples, but can be used as shown by knocking the tool with a hammer, in behind a stubborn staple.
  
• Wire strainers. These are used for straining mild steel and high tensile plain wire, barbed wire and stock netting. Monkey strainers, manufactured by Trewella, are the best known make, but other similar types are available. All makes are designed to result in sufficient wire tension when used by a person of average strength, and extra levers should never be added. Strainers can be used with a wire strop as shown, to keep the strainers out of the way of the wire fixings.
  
• Boundary strainers. These are similar in principle to the wire strainers above, but are designed specifically for use on stock netting. Instead of grips to attach to the wire, the strainer has hooks to attach to special clamps (see below) which grip the netting. Boundary strainers also have a longer length of chain, to allow longer lengths of netting to be strained.
• Fence clamps or boards. These are used for straining stock netting, particularly high tensile netting. They allow much quicker and more effective straining, and give an even tension from the top to the bottom of the netting. Steel clamps are available in standard size (110cm) and for deer netting (220cm). Clamps can be used singly, at the straining post, or in pairs to join lengths of netting. Clamps can be home made. A suitable design is shown below, for use on 8/90/30 or 8/80/30 netting. Use hardwood rather than softwood, as it gives a better grip on the wires.
  
• Gripple Tensioning Tool (Gripple Ltd). This is used in combination with Gripple wire joiners/tensioners, and can be used for initial tensioning of plain wire, as well as for re-tensioning and repairs of plain and barbed wire, and stock netting. The tool can generate 300kg (600lb) of load, and can tension a 200m length of wire. The Gripple system can be used instead of Monkey strainers and conventional methods of fastening for straining plain wire fences.
  

Other tools

• Wire dispenser, wire reel or spinning jenny. This is essential for unrolling high tensile or spring steel wire, which otherwise becomes quickly entangled.
  
• Wire cutters. Although fencing pliers include a wire cutter, a specialist cutting tool is necessary for high tensile, spring steel and thicker grades of mild steel wire. The 12″ (30cm) wire cutter is recommended, with an 8″ (20cm) size also available (Drivall). Felco C7 wire cutters are also recommended. The ‘Ezecrimp’ tool combines a powerful wire cutter in a tool that is used to join wires using crimp sleeves.
  
• Ring fastener pliers. These are used for fastening wire rings to attach netting to line wires, for joining netting to make tree guards or other uses. Available from Drivall, Tornado and other suppliers.
• Wire twister or bender. This is a very simple small tool, available to purchase (Tornado or Drivall) or easily made from a suitable piece of metal. The dimensions are not critical, but the bar should not be longer than 100mm (4″), in order to use with stock netting. The loose end of the wire is put through the hole, and the twister is wound around to make a neat finish.
  
• Wrecking bar or swan neck. For removing large nails and staples.
• Lump hammer. For breaking up large stones or knocking them to shape for use in wedging strainer posts firmly into the ground.
• Post or stob holder. Used to hold posts securely and safely while another person mells them into the ground. Post holders are available from Tornado, or can be made from square section steel bar (see diagram in this section).
• Spirit level. For checking horizontal and vertical components, particularly in post and rail fencing.
• Builder’s line. For laying out fence lines, siting holes and posts, particularly in post and rail fencing.
• Tape. 50 or 100m tapes are useful for measuring the fence line to estimate materials, to lay out post and rail fences, and to measure distances between straining posts. A 5m tape is handy for post and rail.
• Measuring stick or measuring blocks. Make sure there are sufficient for each working group. A measuring stick for post and wire fencing is best made with slots cut at the wire heights, so it can be ‘hung’ on the fence while other wires are measured and attached. Measuring blocks can be used between the rails of post and rail fencing.
  
• Fencing or tool belts. These hold fencing pliers, hammers and other small tools conveniently at the waist (Drivall, Stanton Hope). They are useful for anyone doing a lot of fencing or other construction work out of doors.

The following tools are suggested for groups of twelve people doing fencing work.

Post and wire fencing

2 crowbars
2 wrecking bars
4 spades
2 shuv-holers
2 punners
2 post drivers
2 mells or mauls
1 post holder
1 lump hammer
2 bowsaws (21″)
2 mallets
2 chisels (1″)
3 fencing pliers
4 hammers
2 wire twisters
1 wire cutter
3 wire strainers
1 wire dispenser
2 measuring sticks
1 spirit level
1 50m tape
creosote
clearing tools, as needed
2 safety helmets
goggles
first aid kit

Post and rail fencing – posts set in dug holes

2 crowbars
5 spades
2 shuv-holers
1 auger (use instead of spades and shuv-holers in suitable ground)
3 punners
2 bowsaws (21″)
2 mallets
2 chisels
2 surforms
4 hammers
builder’s line
1 spirit level
1 50m tape
1 5m tape
creosote
first aid kit