16 17 www.SmallFarmCanada.ca October 2025 RAIL FENCE REVIVAL ARTICLE BY CARY RIDEOUT PHOTOS BY LORAIN EBBETT-RIDEOUT Fencing has many roles in country life from enclosing livestock and keeping crops safe, to reminding the folks across the horse paddock where yours is and theirs ‘ain’t.’ Traditional options from barbed to page wire and stone walls have faithfully served pioneers and modern agriculturists alike. But for pure simplicity of purpose a split rail fence is second to none and like the smokehouse and root cellar this heirloom fixture is roaring back in popularity. It’s also self-supporting, adaptable to all land features and requires no post holes; homesteaders with more ledge than soil put up miles of split rail fence. This old-time system is very eco-friendly, does away with expensive metal fastenings and materials are likely right there on the farm. It soon becomes clear a split rail fence is worth considering. Tools are the same used for winter wood cutting (felling and splitting axes) with the addition of a stout sledgehammer, steel splitting wedges and a long pry bar. Once the fence direction is decided, look over the land features. Determine if there are rock piles, old manure spreaders or other field beauties to work around. As to the zigzag fence angle, some builders use 90 degrees but a gentler angle is generally easier to work. Walk your proposed fence line and try to envision the zigzag pattern. Walking it also helps determine the angle. A split rail fence moves in tune with geography not fighting it and can even tackle a hill if it goes straight up. PLANS TO MAKE A SPLIT? In the U.S. hickory was the favourite but our Canadian cedar (evergreen conifer) is long lasting, found everywhere and easy to work with. Perfection is not required, unlike when going to market, the logs can be crooked, partially rotten or hollow and still yield good rails. Just rough out the bad areas. All the imperfections add rural character! Once the cedar is cut and limbed up, peel the bark off in long strips with an axe or bark spud. Saw the trees into the proper lengths for rails. I run 8-10 feet as it handles nicely and does not sag as bad as a traditional 16 ½-foot rail. A mature cedar is good for three 10-foot logs sometimes with a skinny fourth. Rail length is your choice so don’t worry. Next, prepare your work yard for the splitting job to come. CHOCKS AND CHAINSAWS After all the logs are hauled out to the work yard there are still a few set-up tasks before the splitting begins. The first is to build a pair of cutting chocks. Cut two (or more) cedar logs into four-foot lengths. For longer lengths like 16 ½ foot rails, the traditional length, you will need more wedges and another chock in the middle to help stabilize the log for splitting. Cut deep notches in the four-foot lengths to firmly hold the logs as you work. A loose rolling log is an aggravation, not to mention dangerous. Roll a log into the notches and mark using a chalk line down the middle. Set wedges in and commence to pounding. It is a muscle job requiring steady hammering. But, there is an alternative, the wonderous chainsaw. This will tremendously reduce the hours of hammering and besides, what rural person does not like to run a chainsaw? Remember any chainsaw operator must wear steel toe boots, cutting pants or chaps, full head gear with ear and face protection and tough gloves. PEOPLE, START YOUR CHAINSAWS Fire up the chainsaw and cut downward into the logend at the chalk line until the bar is through. Cut slowly along the chalk line by working the chainsaw downward then backwards. At times you may not cut the whole way through, but not to worry, those portions will split later using wedges. Once you reach the opposite end, carefully cut out of the log. Next, shut the chainsaw off, pick up your sledge and tap in the wedges. Set your feet and power down hard with the sledge on the wedge. Most times the log will break leaving two lengths but if stubbornness appears, grab a long prybar and work the halves apart. Then roll one-half back in place into the wedges, chalk a line down the half and repeat the process. Like most chores all this will be clear once you turn out a few dozen! A 10” diameter log can split into four to six rails depending on the size you want. This is not a speedy job so go slow and take breaks. Watch for any hazards like the sawdust build-up underfoot and pile the finished rails out of the way. RUNNING RAILS CRISS-CROSS Before starting to build, you will need a measuring pole the length of the rails. You will also need a long length of string to guide you because a rail fence will wander if you are not careful. Also lift props to rest the ends of the first tier of cedar rail. Many use flat stones or varying widths of cedar log off-cuts. I utilize the stub ends or larger butt sections of rail logs for lift props. A stone is more of a field expedient measure or if going traditional. It can be dug in or revolved to suit conditions. Plus, they move with the frost and keep their place well. The props also help to keep the rails off the ground and to deal with ground level variation. The guide string should be staked out along the edge of the apex or boundary of the fence line. It will be useful for keeping each V apex at the proper distance. The fence’s angle can be adjusted as desired by altering the degree over two or three sections. Angle does affect the fences over all integrity but so does terrain. It is more of the part not the whole. As to hills avoiding anything but a straight accent helps. Also hills with more than say 40 degrees will need some staking at each junction in several spots. But some mighty Matterhorns have been scaled by a split rail fence! Begin at one end on the inside of the guide string, by setting three lift props. Take the first lift prop and set it firmly on the ground and set a rail on top, move to the angle of your choice to determine the location of the next lift prop. Set your measuring pole against the first rail and follow it to the extreme end, away from the guide string at your determined angle. Set another lift prop at this location and return to the last lift prop. Now comes the crucial moment when all the subsequent work can be ruined, but don’t sweat it. Slide the next pole under the first to make the first half of the V. Do the same from the second prop and add at the junction. Now move the V apex until the measuring pole fits the distance down from the upper junctions. The result ought to be a zig out, a zag back and a zig ready for the next rail. Allow a bit of each rail to run out past the junction so they will sit better. You will know things are on track if the rail-junctions line up. Follow the string line closely and keep FENCING As an extra bonus gather up all the discarded pieces from log cutting for next winter’s kindling. Remember any chainsaw operator must wear steel toe boots, cutting pants or chaps, full head gear with ear and face protection and tough gloves. You might ask, why not use a table saw to split rails? The main reason is longevity…by splitting the rails, the fibres split apart; by using a table saw, the cedar fibres are cut and will deteriorate more quickly.
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