MENDING A SPLIT POST.
Fig. 163.—Mending A Split Post.
Fence posts split from a variety of causes, and when they are in this condition they make a very insecure fence. The usual way is to merely nail an old horseshoe or two across the split part, just below the holes in the posts. This answers fairly well, but does not draw the cleft together, and horseshoes are not always on hand. A better method of doing this is shown in [figure 163]. A short, stout chain is put around the top of the post, just tight enough to admit of a strong lever. The parts of the posts are then brought together by a heavy downward pressure of the lever and held there, while a strip of good tin, such as can be cut from the bodies of tin cans, is put around and securely nailed. If the post is a heavy one and the cleft large, it is well to take the entire body of a can and double it, to give it additional strength before nailing it on. The dotted lines show where the tin is nailed.