Purpose of chain-link tension bar


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Old 07-04-18, 04:10 PM
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Purpose of chain-link tension bar

The fence installer simply wrapped the fabric around three of the corner posts rather than attaching a tension bar on either side of the corner posts. This means that about 500' of the 550' fence is one connected fabric with tension bars only at either end. The fence is stretched properly and tied to the top rail and line posts. Are tension bars at the corners really necessary?
 
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Old 07-04-18, 06:31 PM
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I can't say yea or nay...but I have never, ever seen it done that way.
 
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Old 07-05-18, 05:59 AM
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How did the installer line up the top rail with the top of the fabric?
 
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Old 07-09-18, 11:09 PM
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I'm not sure how to answer. The posts were pounded 3 feet deep into the soil and cut to a fixed 5' height off the ground. The fabric was tied with wire to the top rails.
 

Last edited by milkchaser; 07-09-18 at 11:10 PM. Reason: fix typo
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Old 07-09-18, 11:12 PM
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I can't say yea or nay...but I have never, ever seen it done that way.
Me neither. He said that there's no reason to do it. If that is so, why is it typically cut at the corners and held in place with tension bars?
 
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Old 07-10-18, 03:13 AM
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Well, reasons? Off the top of my head and no clue whether they are valid ones. If a section is damaged, way easier to replace with bars used IMO. Possible direction of stress on the corner pole? Pulling on the adjacent angles vs the back? (I'm not going to try to do vector analysis on it) Stretching a 125ft section will give better results and a tighter fence without distortion or damage, than trying to pull all 500 ft at once. It's late for me...but those are just three. Better question to his answer is why does everyone else do it that way that you've ever seen. Why does every instructional video and guide tell you to do it that way? Why does every reputable fence supply say to do it that way? Not like they're making a killing off one extra tension bar per corner.

I know why HE does it that way...less work...period...end of story.
 
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Old 07-11-18, 04:49 PM
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I know why HE does it that way...less work...period...end of story.
Thanks. That's what I thought. I'm going to talk to him about cutting the corners and putting in tension bars. It's not too much to ask. I really had not thought about the advantage of replacing smaller sections, but that by itself is enough of a reason to ask him to redo it. Suppose one of the many surrounding pines comes down in the next hurricane. That would stress the entire fence instead of just that one section. And I have seen this happen to my neighbor's fence.
 
 

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