Things You'll Need

Instructions

1

Measure the length of your fence rails or fence panels. Then tie a length of string covering the same distance between two stakes. Keeping tying lengths of string to stakes in this way until you have a bundle of strung-together stakes sufficient to mark out a day's worth of fence work.
2

Walk along the fence line and drive stakes into the ground with a hammer, using the string to guide your spacing. Also use the string as a visual reference, ensuring your fence line is straight.
3

Check your stake placement on hill slopes by laying out a rail or fence panel between the stakes. The panels/rails are nailed or fitted to the middle of the fence posts, and if you find the slope has distorted your stake placement, move the stakes accordingly.
4

Remove the first stake and dig a post hole in its place, using a shovel and a post hole digger. Dig the hole to a width roughly twice that of your typical fence post, and to a depth roughly 1/3 the height of your typical fence post.
5

Put the fence post into the hole, set a level alongside it and adjust it for straightness.
6

Shovel several inches of dirt into the post hole and all around the fence post, then tamp that dirt into a solid, compacted mass with the tamping rod. Continue filling and compacting the post hole until the hole is full.
7

Continue installing fence posts until the entire line of posts is installed or until you reach a convenient stopping point.
8

Fasten the posts to the same relative spots on all of the fence posts, using two or three nails per rail. If you have a three-rail fence, you could fasten the rails at two feet, three and a half feet and five feet from the ground. Place the rails on diagonal lines when working up and down hill slopes.
9

Measure the distance between the top rail and the top of the fence post. Lop off as much of the post as necessary with a chainsaw to create a uniform appearance on the more level sections of the fence.