I used to set all my corner posts first, but a job in Bend last month showed me why that's a bad plan.

I was putting up a cedar fence on a slope, and I did my usual thing: set the two end posts, ran a string line, and started filling in. Halfway through, I realized the line was way off because the ground dropped more than I'd eyeballed. Had to pull three posts. My helper, this older guy named Ray, just shook his head and said, 'You fight the ground, you lose. Set your high point, then walk the line with a level every 8 feet before you dig anything else.' Took an extra hour to re-set, but the whole run went in straight. It seems so obvious now. How do you guys handle layout on uneven ground?

3 comments

3 Comments

oscarc5322d ago

My buddy Mike learned this the hard way on a ranch fence. He did the two-post string line thing and ended up with a post sticking a foot out of the ground on a dip. Totally backs up what @john650 said about false confidence. He had to pull five posts before he started using a transit to shoot grade points every ten feet.

john65027d ago

Yeah, that's a perfect example of a system failing because it doesn't check itself. You see it everywhere, like when someone follows a GPS right into a lake. The string line gave you false confidence because it only connected two fixed points, ignoring all the messy reality in between. The fix is always building in those reality checks, like stepping off with a level, before you commit.

carter.gavin27d ago

Oh man, that's the classic "string line lie"... it gets you every time. I've been there staring at a line that looks perfect until you step back and see the whole thing is following a hill like a drunk snake. Ray's advice is solid gold... fighting the ground is a losing battle. I just use a bunch of those cheap stakes and mason line to mark the whole run before I touch a post hole digger now. Saves so much cussing later.