06-14-2014, 03:23 AM
Livestock fencing is a lot cheaper than chain link. I recommend the 330' rolls of 48 inch. You can run a strand of barbed wire above that if you need it to be a little taller. And you can get the galvanized T-posts in the lava with a pick axe, o'o bar, and a post driver. I recommend getting fencing at Dells or Mirandas. Get the level 3 or whatever its called, it costs a few dollars more but will last the longest. All the fencing at Home Depot is garbage. The only thing I would buy there is the post driver, the pick axe, and the livestock gates and hardware.
We got quotes to fence one side of our 3 acre lot and I don't remember what it was but I remember thinking that if we were completely fencing the lot (the other sides were already fenced) it would cost more than the lot did, so we did it ourselves. It was a lot of hard work but it was the only way we could afford it. All told I put in just over a quarter mile of fencing and at least half of it was unripped lava.
Forgot to add, if you need to sink a t-post into solid lava rock, another way it can be done is to buy a masonry bit for a hammer drill. HD sells one large enough and it fits a regular cordless drill (it works with a hammer drill or regular drill). You'll have to break the spade thing or whatever it called off the t-post, which can be done with a heavy hand mallet. Alternatively you can leave it on and it will break off on its own when it meets the rock during pounding with the post driver. Drill the hole as deep as you can, then pound the post in using a post driver. It will be stuck in there forever.
We got quotes to fence one side of our 3 acre lot and I don't remember what it was but I remember thinking that if we were completely fencing the lot (the other sides were already fenced) it would cost more than the lot did, so we did it ourselves. It was a lot of hard work but it was the only way we could afford it. All told I put in just over a quarter mile of fencing and at least half of it was unripped lava.
Forgot to add, if you need to sink a t-post into solid lava rock, another way it can be done is to buy a masonry bit for a hammer drill. HD sells one large enough and it fits a regular cordless drill (it works with a hammer drill or regular drill). You'll have to break the spade thing or whatever it called off the t-post, which can be done with a heavy hand mallet. Alternatively you can leave it on and it will break off on its own when it meets the rock during pounding with the post driver. Drill the hole as deep as you can, then pound the post in using a post driver. It will be stuck in there forever.