#u-posts

Curbside find - two T-posts & two U-posts: 

Leafcutter bee snipping a little watermelon leaf: 

Today’s backyard garden harvest: 

What’s on the menu for the birds this week - black oil sunflowers & dried mealworms. I buy the seeds & mealworms separately & blend them myself: 

My queen ordered some Scotch Bonnet peppers from Humble Servants Homestead’s Etsy store:

We are going to cover the following electric fence posts: step-in posts, fiberglass posts, T-posts, and U-posts. Other posts which can be used are round metal posts like the type in chain link fence and wood posts. Step-in posts are far and away the easiest post to install. You simply put the post in the desired place and step it into the ground. Step-in posts are not very strong and generally should not be used for corners or gates. The only time they may be used as corners is for an extremely portable applications such as bringing horses to horse shows or hikers keeping bears away from their tents.

Step-in posts require no insulators because they are already built in. To support the corners of the temporary enclosure tie some twine to the top of the post and run it down to a peg at a forty five degree angle. Ideally you should use two pegs per corner as depicted in the diagram below.

Fiberglass posts come in a variety of different sizes. The thin 3/8 inch posts are the most convenient and easiest to drive in. Use a wood block to prevent the fiberglass from splintering at the end. These posts should not be used as corners or ends unless the animals you are dealing with are very small.

These thicker half-inch posts are used for spanning longer distances and for dealing with pressure from larger animals. Insert them at least a foot into the ground or deep enough that they do not budge when knocked into.

The thick diameter fiberglass posts are for high tensile fences, permanent large animal enclosures or those expecting heavy impact upon their fence. They are also used as line bosses to give extra bracing to smaller posts. When using these large posts be sure that your insulators will fit the post’s diameter.

U-posts and T-posts serve similar functions and are both usually made from galvanized steel. They get their name from the shape they make when they are seen from a bird's eye view. These are primarily used as corner and end posts to providing good support for a run of fiberglass posts.

Before driving them in you may want to put a piece of thin tape at your desired insertion depth. This way you know when your post is fully driven in without continually having to measure it. They can be hammered into the ground directly or using a piece of wood to protect the top from warping out. T-posts and U-posts can come in a variety of different sizes so make sure your chosen insulator will be able to fit the size post you have. All of our T-post insulators fit onto posts weighing 1.25 to 1.33 lbs per foot. Our U-post insulators fit onto posts measuring from 1.75 to 2.125 inches wide.