Fences, Gates, and Bridges: And How to Make Them

Interesting book. It has some ideas and nothing I've seen so far has been contrary to "proper" construction methods. I have since got a copy of "Homemade Contrivances and How to Make Them" and it does indeed have the contents of this book in it. If you aren't interested in rural farming you're not missing anything. So I personally would recommend this book instead. I've searched for good sources on building fences and gates and honestly there seem to be few. Even in this book there is space devoted to cementing in a post. (UGH) But there are also several other ideas shown and gate posts get their own treatment which is good. You really don't need concrete to build a good fence, a post will always rot, replacing it without the back breaking work is what I'm after and this book will help with that.

This book was first published in 1887. I have read it twice so far and found that if I slow down rather than quickly browse and flip through pages I gained much more. It's one of my favorites, especially for fences and gates. The bridge section is small and not as informative but adequate. Lots of info on wire fencing, wooden fencing, gates without hinges, lots of history and good, sound advice. (Nothing on chain link!) There is also a good chapter on hedges. Good line drawings although some of the tiny letters denoting parts of the structures were hard to see. If you have a few acres or more and value the old ways you'll probably like this book and continue referring back to it as you build your own gates.

Good book. An old classic, but many of the ideas are still useful. Goes to show that 'simple' may have long legs - 'glitzy' follows fad and disappears. Highly recommend this for people serious about practical ideas on a farm / homestead.

I like the info it has to educate yourself with!

This book should have been printed in a bigger size, with larger print.

Agree with previous review that the best part of the book is the diagrams, none of which aren't available elsewhere. All instructions are provided as if you're building your fence with rudimentary tools or splitting/milling the wood yourself. I found some irony in that since it's available in Kindle version.It gives very extensive descriptions of various fencing needed depending on the type of animal(s) you're building them for. It does not get detailed in the best way to plan and design a fence based on your particular property, specific terrain and its obstacles, which is one element I'm very interested in.I think the following excerpt exemplifies the content best: "Two men and a steady yoke of oxen can extract fence posts very quickly and easily by this method. A good steady team of horses will do quite as well as oxen." Also included are instructions on how to build your wooden maul for driving the fence posts into the ground, using the trunk of an elm tree (assuming everyone has one of these in their yard).This book is great if you want ideas to build a rustic or rudimentary style fence, and if you want to make the best use of your axe, wooden mauls, and oxen. Not the best book for your average homeowner. I get the impression this was written by someone of elder age who has spent their lifetime building and learning all of these things by trial and error and by hand, to which I give this person the utmost respect. It's just not for more urban homeowners.

We always need some type of enclosure on our organic dairy farm but didn't always have the skills needed to build or fix the necessary items. This book has been invaluable, at least for ideas. Our carpentry skills are improving. Would be very helpful no matter where you live

This book has some good ideas in it but the book is an old book from the turn of the century. The fences were were alright but unless you are building a small bridge on your property we do not build wooden bridges any more. I would like to find a newer book like this that would be up to date on bridges. I would not recommend this book unless you are looking to have fences and bridges from the 1800 s.

Dont take any notice of the bad review left for this book , Hes taken the time to leave bad feedback on each edition of this book ?!? hmmmm ... Its a good book with good ideas , well set out , a good buy for any handy man/woman

Just like "Handy Farm Devices and how to make them" this is an excellent resource for small farmers. Covers many aspects of fencing and gate building. My one complaint is that it doesn't address pagewire fencing.

Good quality book, has lots of good information and allows for the reader to evaluate and plan within their comfort zone.

Interesting but very old book content.