How to Install a Cross Lock Knot Fence

Measure out the boundaries of your fence. Mark the corners, or "terminal posts," of the fence with a splotch of spray paint. Divide the distance between each side of the fence into equal sections of no more than 15 feet apart. Measure and mark the spots for your support posts.

Install the fence posts at the marked areas. Use a sledgehammer to drive each post at least 3 feet into the ground. Depending on the soil density, you may need to dig pilot holes, a foot deep, for each post, using a shovel.

Unravel roughly 30 feet of cross lock knot fence wire. Use a wire stripper to remove the horizontal supports from the first 2 feet of the wire.

Stand the wire up to the first terminal post, so that the horizontal strands of the wire intersect the post at a perpendicular angle. Use a hammer and wire staples to secure the first section of cross lock fencing to the post. Attach the fencing where the cross lock resumes, behind the stripped area of the fencing.

Wrap the strip strands of the fence around the post, and then twist each strand onto the cross lock knot portion of the fence. Roll out the rest of your fence's wire. Secure each twisted strand with a crimp tool.

Install a stretcher bar to the wire, at about 7 or 8 feet from the nearest end post. Lay the stretcher bar on the ground, and then hook the wire's cross sections onto the arms of the stretcher bar. Use a sledgehammer to drive the stretcher bar's stake wedges into the sockets at each of the bar's arm, securing the fence to the bar.

Hook the stretcher bar to the end post, using the stretcher's chains and hook. Connect the two chains to the top and bottom of the end post. Wrap the ends of the chains around the post, and secure them by hooking their ends into the links on the chains.

Tension your fence, using the stretcher bar's ratchet tensioners. Open the jaws of the tensioner, and then hook it onto the closest link on the stretcher bar's chain. Close the jaws to add tension to the chain and wire. Tension both the top and bottom chains.

Erect and align the fencing between to the two end posts and use the stretcher bar to reach the desired tension. Use wire cutters to trim the excess wire from the end post, leaving about 2 feet of excess for tying the wire. Strip out the vertical cross links past the second terminal post.

Wrap the stripped strands to the wire around the end post, and tie them back onto themselves. Use a crimp tool to compress your fence's ties, and remove the stretcher bar and its chains.

Secure the midsection of your fences to the support post, using a hammer and wire staples. Hammer the staples over the horizontal strands of the fence, where they intersect with the support post. Secure the bottom two strands of each post first, and work your way down from the top as you secure the rest of the fence to each post.