To help with welding on the upper bars, Myron built what Bama called a hunting stand.
The plan was to double stack the wire fence, therefore Myron also welded on short stubs of rebar to hold the weight while we stretched fence.
As mentioned before, the fencing is rated for bison and elk. Even though the fence was high tensile, it was almost 200 pounds per roll, a bit heavy for the two of us to muscle around. Myron made an apparatus for the tractor that, once we wired the fence at one end, he could drive the tractor and unwind the wire fence next to the T-posts. I apologize for a lack of a picture. It all went brilliantly, and we sorely missed that mechanical advantage on the south side where we could not drive the tractor. There we put the fence on the hill and, with great effort to keep it from going down into the creek, rolled it out the length required, involving rock, cactus, algerita bush (which I call "ow!" -gerita) and other things seemingly out to hurt us.
The good news is, the wire fence is up and stretched, both bottom and top, the gate is on as well as its vertical extensions, and the upper part of the gate is fenced. The fence ended up being over eight feet tall. There are solar lights stationed in the typical elk and deer traffic areas and we also tied up streamers that blow in the wind. These are to remind some big dumb animals that there is now a fence where they used to freely run. The night before we stretched out last bit of fence on the west side, a deer came in the gate, walked the inside perimeter and went up on its hind legs checking out the fence. Hopefully he was convinced it was not worth the effort to jump. In this picture you can see the fixed knot on the fence and how the height is over eight feet. Further you can see, to the left by the house, the temporary low (white) tunnel housing a small percentage of the plants ready to go into the ground.
Other than the poles and T-posts, the fence is almost invisible. But drive or step up to it and it appears formidable. I told Myron that it seems more like 'Fort Coelho' than a farm and I saluted as we drove Big Red through the gate. He laughed and said that if we had Marines guarding the gate like at Lemoore NAS, no one around here would have to worry about elk, deer, squirrels, rabbits and raccoons!
We are a bit behind and the plants are longing to be put into the ground. With all these plants positioned throughout the house, including the kitchen, I feel bad eating a salad in front of them. While I do love these babies, it is time for them to leave the nest.
