Glen Able wrote:
"Nick Maclaren" wrote in message
...

In article ,
"keith ;-\)" writes:
concrete gravel boards are used for the fence panels,but I have
never seen them 6 foot high before!

I have, but I have no idea how thick they were.

I assumed the gravelboards were just intended for going along the
bottom of timber fences. The ones from Wickes are 6' long and 6"
high and, at 10 quid each, it'd be 120 quid per 6' square section.
I've since found these guys on the web
(http://www.rocfencing.co.uk/concrete.htm) and they look like
really
good value. Could do a 6' square section for under 20 quid,
although
the weight is a bit scary at 250-400 kilos.

The weight could be a problem on a long run,you can put loads of
concrete around the posts but if the ground around that is soft,
the weight/wind will gradually work the ground loose.I have seen
this happen with concrete posts & close board fence which runs
along the boundary of a allotment .The fence is very ,very long
&
it has only been in for about 1 year.You can see that long
sections have started to lean over already.

Putting loads of concrete around shallowly embedded posts is a
cowboy's trick - it is cheap but doesn't work. The solution is
to embed them deeper.

2 feet underground for an 8 foot post, right? Or, considering
we're
talking about heavy concrete, would it be better to go to 2 and a
half?

Depending on the subsoil, I'd intuitively go for three foot. A fence
is pretty well a straight line, so unlike a house there wouldn't be
any part of the structure supporting at right angles. A block wall
with buttresses might turn out to be cheaper in the long run. If the
*******s don't kick it down before the mortar's gone off.

Why don't we consider a strained wire netting fence on concrete posts
for the outside, with anything you fancy which costs little and looks
nice on the safe side? I'm a supporter of public footpaths on
principle, but this is the real world, so it would hardly be your
fault if half a dozen Himalayan Giant brambles unkindly chose to
establish themselves and grow into a homicidal tip-rooting thicket on
the public side. After all, you only planted them to cover up the
ugliness of the netting fence, and give passers-by a few tasty
charitable berries in due season. If the Council wanted to come along
with a bit of weedkiller, well, you'd still have a kick-proof fence;
and there'd be seeds in the ground by then anyhow.

Mike.