Curious? Was 'Snake Rail' fence peculiar to the USA...or was it used in Europe / Russia? I have never heard of it in the UK .. but, Eastern Europe / Russia...with abundant timber?

Think it was just an American thing. Used because the trees had to be felled to allow for agriculture. Same reason there are lots of dry stone walls in Yorkshire - rocks had to be moved out of feilds.

 .... plus fences usually require the acquisition of lots of iron nails (not ideal if you are in the middle of nowhere or there is a shortage of iron) - but no nails are required for snake rail fences which can be quickly built or dismantled and moved about (useful when you are chopping down more trees and expanding your cultivated areas). Also good in rocky areas where it's difficult to dig post holes.

Davy ......Equines (the frigging sods ) and bovines (who have brains barely bigger than an a single celled organism),  take NO notice of anything if they can stick their heads/necks 'over the top rail'.....and push......They don't even need to push.

How snake rail fencing was considered of any use to keep big beasties in, is beyond me.

Cheers - Phil 

I imagine they were more for setting out the field boundaries rather than containing livestock Phil, but stand to be corrected.

Eventually the joinjts were secured by posts which would help with livestock.

Has anyone considered that the thrifty and resourceful westerners might have reinforced the rails with real snakes? Those would scare off most livestock.

Snake Rail fences originated with the settlers in the US and Canada, who cleared the trees from their land producing a ready source of timber at no cost.  They could be maintained easily if necessary, moved, extended and opened to provide access/egress.  They were self supporting under their own weight, needed no nails or hinges associated with conventional fences and gates. and very sturdy such that they were used for retaining livestock as well as demarcation.  

Quote from: FierceKitty on 12 November 2020, 03:53:26 PM
Has anyone considered that the thrifty and resourceful westerners might have reinforced the rails with real snakes? Those would scare off most livestock.

Indeed, FK, we should probably be calling them split rail fences.  
Mind you, snakes could be useful for tying up the ends of the rails together (but very difficult to split).    

Quote from: Techno II on 12 November 2020, 01:50:39 PM
Davy ......Equines (the frigging sods ) and bovines (who have brains barely bigger than an a single celled organism),  take NO notice of anything if they can stick their heads/necks 'over the top rail'.....and push......They don't even need to push.

How snake rail fencing was considered of any use to keep big beasties in, is beyond me. ;

I'm rubbish at posting pics so I've asked Leon to include a photo of a reconstructed one I took at Gaines Mill. The top rail was about 5' 6" high and seemed quite sturdy to me. Perhaps your beasts don't know they're pushing against a well constructed fence, Phil? If so, a bit like my golf balls - never seem to know when they've been hit by a good shot!    

Paul R made some very nice snake rail fences in 10mm from scratch as part of his AWI project a few years ago.....seeing him tomorrow so I will ask him to explain how he made his fences....there are probably some pics in the batreps section as the fences always feature in our AWI games but work beckons so no time to look for them now.

Cheers
P  

Blotz and some bloke called Leon make nice mdf ones.

Quote from: mad lemmey on 12 November 2020, 06:15:11 PM
Blotz and some bloke called Leon make nice mdf ones.

That Leon deals in addictive substances, although the smell of burnt MDF is quite addictive, so perhaps Blotz does as well 

No worries, I've added the pic to Westmarcher's post!

Quote from: Techno II on 12 November 2020, 01:50:39 PM
Davy ......Equines (the frigging sods ) and bovines (who have brains barely bigger than an a single celled organism),  take NO notice of anything if they can stick their heads/necks 'over the top rail'.....and push......They don't even need to push.

How snake rail fencing was considered of any use to keep big beasties in, is beyond me.

Cheers - Phil 

I was about to mention how split rail fences are commonly reenforced in my neck of the woods, but Westie has provided an excellent example in his photo. When I was little (70+ years ago) they were called locally  "horse and rider" fences. There were several variations in how the "rider" was configured. They are amazingly sturdy yet fairly simple to disassemble and move.

Note to Kitty: snakes actually seem to like to live under them based on some personal encounters.

Quote from: pierre the shy on 12 November 2020, 06:06:21 PM
Paul R made some very nice snake rail fences in 10mm from scratch as part of his AWI project a few years ago.....seeing him tomorrow so I will ask him to explain how he made his fences....there are probably some pics in the batreps section as the fences always feature in our AWI games but work beckons so no time to look for them now.

Cheers
P  

An example of my 'snake' rail fences from a refight of Guilford Courthose, please ignore the photobucket overlay


Basically I cut craft matches in half and lay them on ice block sticks in a diagonal pattern

They are representational rather than accurate replicas but are quick to make and seem to work on the table

There is a certain irony to painting the matchsticks to make them 'look like wood'