Setting Fence Posts for Dummies

Ponder this, will you: if you built a house following the directions of eHow.com's "contributors," how long do you think would it stay upright? Over here at the Antisocial Network, we figure it would only be a few days, if not just a matter of hours. On the other hand, follow the instructions Jack Gerard (also known as J. Edward Casteele or John Casteele) passes on for setting fence posts, and your fence will never come down; even when you want it to! Check out "How to Pour Concrete for Fence Posts in Cold Weather" (now found at Hunker.com) to get an idea of how well Jack knows this subject. The dead giveaway that Jack's only exposure to fencing is with sabers or epees (he claims to be a nationally-ranked fencing trainer: touché!) is instructions like this:

"Dig the hole for your fence post. If you're digging the hole for a corner post, dig it 20 inches square and 3 1/2 feet deep. If you're digging the hole for a bracing post, dig it 20 inches square and 2 feet deep. Dig holes for other posts at least 12 inches across and 2 feet deep."

Ten yards of concrete

Dude! do you have any idea how much cement that would take? Obviously not, so here's how much: each corner takes almost 10 cubic feet of concrete, a "bracing post" takes 5.5 cubic feet, and the other posts take 2 cubic feet. So a square fence on a typical 1/4-acre lot (200 feet on a side) with four corners, four "bracing posts" for a couple of gates and another 100 posts – one every eight feet – would require... wait for it... 

...almost ten yards of cement! an entire cement truck or about 500 40-pound sacks of Sakrete!! at a cost of more than five hundred dollars for a truck or $1000 for the sacks!!!

By the way, Jack repeats these dimensions when sharing more of his vast experience, this time in stringing barbed wire for yet another eHow article: 

"Create a corner brace assembly if you don't have one, driving the corner fence post in a hole 20 inches across and 3-1/2 feet into the ground. Dig the holes for the two bracing posts 8 feet away, making them 20 inches across and 2 feet deep. Use concrete to reinforce the posts..."

...making it pretty damned obvious that this particular Dumbass of the Day has no earthly idea what he's talking about... but that didn't stop him from "sharing."

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