Well the fence building part isn’t that hard, although I still have questions. This fence will be constructed out of Cedar approximately six feet six inches high and I was wondering how deep you sink the posts in locations like ND, MN, the Yukon…Currently I planning to go 42″ with river rock 6″ under and about a foot up the post, followed by tamped dirt. The posts will most likely be PT clad with 1x6x6 cedar cut at a 45 as 6×6 cedar is breathtakingly expensive up here. I’ll gladly listen to lessons learned, especially in northern climes.
The real reason for this post is that I want lighting on the posts. I have no experience with lv but I have read Clifford’s articles (much better than staying in a Holiday Inn Express). The fence has a total length of 300′ which would create two 150′ runs (10-2?). Should I run a 75′ lead from the transformer and t-off from there to avoid voltage drop or is it unnecessary? Estimating that there will be a 5-6 watt bulb every 8′ and two 15-20 watt fixtures at each end of the run. (gate posts)
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I'm in michigan and I assumed to frost line (42" here) but when I talked to the inspector he told me 2' was fine.
He said thats how his fence is and its been fine.
Ask the local BI, his is really the only opinion that matters.
Family.....They're always there when they need you.
I sink them 42-48" and backfill same way. See a lot of them heave out when set to less, and would be concerned about wind loads with less than about 32" or so.
Can't help on the lighting except to note that LEDs are making progress in that field
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warrant
Around here we need to go to 50 inches to stay below the frost line.. (Southern Minnesota)
As for low voltage with that load and long of a run bigger is better. if you can find 8-2 and your transformer is big enough the bulbs will burn brite..
"Around here we need to go to 50 inches to stay below the frost line.. (Southern Minnesota)"Really!?I did mine at 2 ' (well, maybe 2.5 feet). a) Because I'm lazy
b) because my yard was apparently created with backfill containing fist sized boulders everywhere making it a real main to dig post holes.So far so good...no heaving. Maybe I have global warming to thank for that.
Darrel.
I went to 50 inches and still had frost heaves in one spot. It's breaking up a small portion of my retaining wall. This is a wall made with plenty of rebar, 5000psi concrete and careful attention to details.
I think what's allowing it to happen is thru that area I have the drain from my gutters. That allows the cold air thru an area so the cold can penetrate even deeper than the 50 inches.
The rest of my retaining wall is crack free, all 250 feet of it!
I built 4 retaining walls around our house. I used the stacked-block ones, though, so, worse case, I just restack them some day ;o)Granted, we also live in the heart of the city so I imagine we don't get quite as cold.
The only possible problem I could see is the PT 4x4 twisting and breaking the 1x6x6 box. After seeing too many fences where the PT 4x4 went crazy and looked like #### I vowed to only use 6x6 on fences higher than 4 feet. However maybey as it is protected from the elements it will stay true. In toronto a 12' 6x6 cedar from HD is only $100. This probably puts you 4000 in the hole for 300' feet of fencing.
I did a porch and made up an 8' length of 1x6x6 box with 45ed corners and glued and clamped it all, turned out beautifully however attached to a cedar 4x4 inside. (only 42" high, 6x6 cedar I looked at had rounded corners and wasn't very good quality and the good stuff took two weeks to order)
However having a 1x6x6 box made up allows a wire to be hidden quite effectively. So I don't know where this leaves you.
LEDS are great tho.
Check out Solar lights.
Peachfest 08' Dead Hookers Happen.
Warrant,
May I second Gunners idea? I should have thought of that as well myself, all my lights are deep under trees and other foliage and thus need power. However If I had a fence line exposed to a few hours of sunlite every day that's what I would do!
Thanks folks, keep it coming.
Solar is out due to aesthetic reasons/ read as wife doesn't like them. Anyone up on transformers? I've been reading but it seems like marketing pap to me.
What do you want to know about Transformers? My kids were always big fans of Optimus Prime.
Too much sanity may be madness. And maddest of all, to see life as it is and not as it should be! --Miguel de Cervantes
Actually, transformers aren't that complicated to understand. I believe all of the units are 12V, so the only real variations from unit to unit are the degree of automation (photocell and/or timer) and the amperage. You need to add up the amps of all the lights you'll use (1 amp for every 12 watts) and get a transformer with more amps than your total (or divide the load between two transformers).You need to understand that, with 12V lighting, wire length is a killer. You essentially need the same size wire for 12V as for 120V of the same amperage, just to avoid overheating, but you need to "upsize" much more (and much sooner) for longer runs because voltage drop is more of a killer. (Think about it : A 2 or 3 volt voltage drop isn't that big a deal at 120V but will eat you alive at 12V, and voltage drop is purely a function of wire size, wire length, and amperage.)
Too much sanity may be madness. And maddest of all, to see life as it is and not as it should be! --Miguel de Cervantes
Solar lights don't work well in latitudes around 40 degrees and up.
They're a joke here in NJ.
Jeff
Hmm. I didn't know that. I have them in my flower beds and like them. The big advantage is not having to worry about the wiring when I'm diggin around. On a fence you wouldn't have to worry about that though. I was just considering the ease of installation. I do electric all day. I don't care to work with it when I get home.
I mean. Who's dumb enough to bugle an Elk in a zoo?
I looked at your profile to see where you're located (you do get a bit more sun than us here in NJ) and I noticed your litlle picture there.
Subtle, yet hilarious!
I'm not sure if we get more sun or not. It doesn't take much to run the ones I have.
I mean. Who's dumb enough to bugle an Elk in a zoo?
I noticed your litlle picture there.
Thanks. I like to dress it up once in awhile. You know give the passerbys somethign to enjoy.:)
I mean. Who's dumb enough to bugle an Elk in a zoo?
Frost line in Columbus, Ohio is 36". Due to the dense soil in my yard i kept my digging to around 2'. It's done well, through some pretty intense winter moments.
If you've got permits required for fences, you might want to check them out. Here, anything over 6' requires a permit.