diytype – Life built not bought

If you have a garden and live where animals roam, then a fence makes sense. The biggest "threat" we have to our garden are our own chickens. And the rabbits, and the wood chucks, and... whatever else of a similar size happens to wonder into the area. Deer are not so much of a problem, so our fence doesn't need to stop animals of that size. A welded wire fence and t-posts are a good choice, and the Wedge-Loc T-post brackets have been a sturdy solution at the corners. Wedge-Loc T-Post brackets are aluminum brackets that attach T-Posts at angles and provide a stable corner for wire fencing. Our garden fence has been installed for since 2016 and all four corners are still solid. There have been no issues and the brackets themselves are fairly easy to install with the included instructions. They're made of aluminum, so they don't rust and still look good as new. They come in a few different varieties and have some pretty good installation information and videos on their website. https://wedgeloc.com/installation.html These are the two styles we've used. Wedge-loc has others well. No Cutting Corners Prior to the Wedge-Loc and T-Post build I had fenced in our backyard with a mix of T-Post and wooden three rail fence. Digging or drilling more post holes in clay soil was not something I wanted to repeat for the fence around our garden. Using just T-Posts and brackets is a breeze by comparison to the wooden fence. For a full corner there is no cutting or digging. Just measure the distance and place the anchor post from the corner post and install the brackets and bracing posts. Our corners may look a little different than others you come across in your research. We turned the corner t-post so that the nubs are facing outside toward the fence, just like all the other t-posts for the garden. Also, we removed the flat plate from the angle bracing t-posts. The plate can be removed with a hammer. Buy Once Cry Once It does take 5 T-Post to make one corner so the total cost for one corner is the posts plus the bracket, which in summer of 2021 is roughly $45 per corner, depending on the length of T-Post used and where you buy the brackets. That seems a bit pricey when I think about it, but since mine are done and have been for at least 5 years now, the cost is long forgotten. We picked up the Wedge-loc at our local Tractor Supply store. Both the corner brace (model 205) and angle brace (model 208) are also available on Amazon. Wedge-loc makes a horizontal brace (model 209) as well which I have not used yet in the horizontal orientation. I did use one as an angle brace at the gate post shown below since that's all I had left. Instead of buying another angle brace I bent the tabs on the horizontal brace and used it as an angle brace. It's still working fine this way. The buying and crying are long gone and now we just enjoy our fence doing its job year after year. Not Just For Corners The Wedge-Loc brackets also come in a single angle version which I used for the gate opening. I did compromise a little here and instead of using a full post for the anchor point, I just cut a post short, used the short end for the anchor and the remaining length for the brace. It's still plenty strong in the direction of the fence. It will wiggle a bit perpendicular to the fence, but I suspect a full-size post would as well since it's only braced in one direction. The fence itself is certainly stronger than the gate, which is simply a two-pack section of metal fence from Lowes. Amazon also has a four-pack of fence which looks identical and should work as well. Homemade 3D printed hinges work great for the light-weight gate, and a fiberglass driveway marker fits perfectly through the attachment points on the gate and serves as a gate stop. The gate setup has lasted for about as long as the fence has been in place. Any Downside? If there is any downside to the brackets (other than price maybe), it could be that weeds will grow up and through the brackets for the anchor. These will get pretty solidly packed and take some effort to remove. They can grow where the string trimmer can't get to them, so it takes a special effort to keep the post tidy. We just let them grow and occasionally clean the post area by hand. Placing the lower bracket higher off the ground would possibly be a better solution. Ours are done and will remain where they are, but if starting a new installation, placing the bracket higher on the T-Post would be something to consider. Final Thoughts If we were to put in another T-Post fence I would certainly consider these. They seem like a good solution even for a larger area, and possibly larger animal control up to the size of large dogs or smaller livestock. If larger livestock, or wild animals are the animal to control, these may work but I just haven't personally tested that. They seem like they are very strong when pressing against the corner from the outside, however, if pressing from the inside of the corner they look like the T-Post could slide out of the bracket. Fence tension will help hold the corner together from inside pressure. Perhaps an electric fence along with the T-Post & bracket fence would keep large animals in, and the smaller animals out. Bottom line is the Wedge-loc products have held up well and I'd use them again in future fencing projects. In fact I did when we recently expanded our garden and the fencing around it. That article can be found here.

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