Pond Boss Forums GENERAL QUESTIONS Pond Boss If you think you can be a good neighbor, you cant.

Rant follows:

I have tried to be a good neighbor, but in the end - I have concluded that there is no such thing as a "good neighbor".

I have been building fences on "my place" and have managed to pi$$ off every single neighbor, save one (and I haven’t started on his section yet). The bottom line. Folks out in the country don’t want city folks changing anything. Building fences, cutting down trees, surveys and such is grounds for upset neighbors. One neighbor's fence was so bad that when I removed the brush on my side, the fence literally fell down; rotted posts, broke wire, no wire - you name it. They even own cows and still didn’t want a new fence.

You (DD and others) have said this is so and you were right, forget being neighbors. I am city folk - hear my chainsaw roar! I am now the un-neighbor…but I have a new fence. :p

I must really pi$$ing some people off recently. Between clearing land for pastures and bulldozers moving dirt all the place for the pond renovation I'm not sure what some of my neighbors must be thinking. It's not like you're putting up condos. The heck with them....

Gator:

I wish I had "city folk" like you living next to me.

:D

dittos to theo's statement.

actually gator you sound more "country" than yer neighbors who cant seem to keep a fence mended.

...is there available property???

Man, with you taking care of fences I'd be your neighbor in a New York minute.

Gator, you need to think of it this way. If the fences are bad, cows can get out and eat someone elses grass for awhile.

I'm the jerk that finally got tired of looking for his tractor.

BTW, I found a way to keep the neighbors cows off your land. Remove your front gate for awhile. They seem to stay home then.

Ever heard the statement " good fences make good neighbors" ?

Gator, I went through the same thing. When I bought my property, one neighbor asked me if it was true that I was going to make a mobile home park out of it.

One called me a "city guy", and that hurt my feelings a little bit. Not because I was born in a log cabin with no electricity or running water, but because it implied I was an outsider.

We're all fine now, even though I smothered them with dust and smoke for 5 years. I have about 8 different neighbors that stop by and chat when they see me at the land. I really, really want to sell my house and build in the country, because I like my country neighbors a lot more than my town neighbors. I think a little patience and you'll get on just fine.

I come from a "country" family as my Mom's folks had a nice farm/ranch that was in the family for 100 years. I don't consider myself either a country or city folk.

When there was a minor conflict between myself and one of my neighbors, the lady called me a "spoiled city boy" (among other things) and proceeded to bad mouth me to everybody who had an ear. Interestingly enough she had only lived in the country for eighteen months longer than I owned the property. Go figure. :rolleyes: Some people seem to live by the motto "Do things my way, or see my wrath".

Gator, I’m sure you know this, but others may not –and I’m speaking for the “new” Texans that have overwhelmed our state with massive corporate headquarter moves to our major cities.

I speak as a “city boy” with rural ancestral roots.

A personal experience on our family property with new neighbors with their high and mighty ways, brought in their bull dozers and dozed our fence and built a new on the survey offset stakes instead of property survey, 10 ft inside our property.
No contact or communication – just sent an un-supervised crew to build the fence.
We were just country yokels who they looked down on.

If city folks would take the time to get acquainted with rural folks, learn their culture and heritage, and “learn” to speak their language even if it sounds funny, you can have good neighbors who will help you in time of need.

The old fence my grandpa built was good enough for me.

Muleshoe Logic.

I guess I'm fortunate. I get along good with my neighbors and I think the folks that are causing trouble are the ones that drive by and see the water dumping into the ditch. So they think it's their duty to call various government agencies.

My one neighbor plows snow from my driveway before I get a chance to. He also was very understanding of a wet spot I created on his property which was caused by one of my ponds. Said it was no big deal even though his mower was driving through mud. I did take care of it and told him it was not right he had to drive his mower in mud. He still insisted it was no big deal! I also realized I needed to take care of it because if he sold out it's hard telling who would move in. I put a privacy fence up on his side of my property because they have little grandkids visting all the time. He said it was not necessary but I informed him I couldn't live with myself if one of them ran over and fell in and drowned. I told him no matter how much you watch kids all it takes is for you to be distracted for a few seconds and something can happen. My ponds are very steep sided. It would be even difficult for me to get out.

My other neighbor can be a little touchy but I took in his dog when he got divorced and couldn't take care of her due to being a long range truck driver.

Ironically no one fishes around me so my ponds are not in danger of being poached.

I thought I was on good terms with my neighbors too. And I was until I started building fences...these folks would have rather had my place stay vacant and overgrown.

BTW, I grew up a country boy too, citified by a job for the last 20 years.

Perhaps this will blow over, I have bent over backwards for these folks.

When I bought land 25+ years ago, I got "friends". After getting a good look at some predator/prey relationships, I changed things so that I now get respect (I think). I now care no more than they do. I do know that I no longer lose sleep about it.

That made me remember, Gator, the neighbor of ours who got really ticked off when we finally fenced off the back third of our place. It made it harder for him to trespass and hunt on our property. Some of your neighbors might have similar motives.

Ah the subject of neighbors. I'm in the middle of a battle that once the outcome is more certain I'll create a post regarding it.

I'm a city boy and make no bones about it. To me it's not where you were born or grew up that makes you a good neighbor. You can be a relocated urban refugee and be a very good caretaker of the land and you can be a "country boy" and abuse land and of course visa-versa. Several property owners around me have lived there for decades and yet don't maintain fire breaks, won't pool funds to fix common roads, let animals run wild, actually cut fences to trespass (I've had two incidences of this). At a neighborhood party at my place I actually had a neighbor walk up to me and ask my what I was going to do to ruin the land.

My advice is be a pleasant as you can, introduce yourself to as many neighbors as you can and tell them what you have planned. Be respectful always and realize that you will never please everyone.

Gator,
Maybe just the East Texas "not from around here" syndrome coming out. My wife is from Nachadoches and her cousins all feel like even after 32 years of be married to her, that I am still an outsider.
One of her cousins does have a great 10 acre pond in Appleby, built in 1976 that he lets me fish. Huge bass

Mike; that's not just confined to East Texas. I think it's universal.

Hope this stays somewhat on topic with a Q about fences.

From a 'city boy' of 5000 in East Central Miss., to ya'll country folks.....need some ideas on the best combo of ease to erect and ease on the pocket book, types of fence, materials, methods. Not for keeping livestock in or out, just general, 'this is mine, dont trespass' type fence.

thanks

burger, the standard econo fence around here for that purpose (and partially to keep critters out) is a t-post, field fence, barbwire combo.

typical construction is t-post every so many feet (i think about 8') then after every 4 or 5 t-posts and at corners or gates, put in concreted chainlink posts for strength. stretch on a 4 or 6 foot field fence, and complete with 2 or 3 strands of barbwire on top. i'm sure costs vary around country....call a few fence companies and bid it out. you can hang signs all over them, they last for years, if you need privacy on some sections you can insert slats vertically through the field fence. if you get a true field fence, the openings are small at the bottom (to keep out rabbits etc..) and they get bigger at the top.

my 2c

thanks, Dave. I saw lots of good info on the brand's web site that TSC sells.

Burgermeister:

See The Definitive Thread on Electric Fence for info on types of E-Fence.

For line fence (keeping our critters on the property and other humans off it) we use treated wooden posts, with high-tensile woven wire (48" high) and two strands of simple high tension on top (the top one can be electrified if desired). High tension (woven) wire is very rust resistant (lots of galvanize on it) with a designed life span of 20+ years, posts are supposed to be good for 20+ years too. Posts are on 16' centers.

Cost is higher than the E-fence types discussed in the above thread, higher than barb, lower than board fence. IMHO it is best for turning large animals with 2 or 4 legs. The two simple high-tension wires on type help keep deer, horses, etc. from beating down the woven wire. Repair from trees falling on this fence is usually pretty easy and quick; unless they hit a post, you just remove the tree, pull the wire up and restaple. I do that once or twice a year. Repair from having a car driven through it (has happened about 2 dozen times over the years) is a little more complicated since they usually take out posts (if not, it's not too bad).

Our Line Fence:

Thanks, Theo. Glad you reposted that link. I somehow missed it.

I was down this weekend and nobody complained. All the clearing is complete for this section of property. I went over and mowed one of my neighbor’s ditches. My dozer operator hauled (no charge) a few big rocks for my other neighbor to help build a rock garden that she wanted - they have been well working with me but were upset at how many trees ere removed.

I think the clearing has been the toughest part to deal with, one mans cleared fence line is another mans deforestation. My guys put in a REALLY nice fence...perhaps that + time will help smooth things over...

The bad news is that have more fences further back and more neighbors to work with, not to mention property line issue. This is going to be a long haul. Thank goodness I am out of money for now.

Thanks for letting me rant – I feel better now.

Burger,

I’m paying .75 a foot + materials for a 5 wire, barbed wire t-post fence. That plus the cost for 2 3/8 pipe corners and h-braces. Some folks add pipes or posts every 100 feet or so...I did for strength + I intend to have cows.

Clearing doubled the price in my case...my place was way over grown.