How to Make an Amish Fence Puller

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A simple yet priceless tool for putting in a nice, tight fence. So easy, you might even call it a “hack.”

How to Make an Amish Fence Puller - a simple yet priceless tool for putting in a nice, tight fence. Find out how from Cosmopolitan Cornbread

With a fence puller, you’ll not have to wrestle rolls of fencing, pulling them tight only to find your fence sagging here and there. This tool takes just a few minutes to put together and will be worth its weight in gold the first time you put it to use.

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What You Need:

  • 2 pieces of 2×4 or 2×3 wood, cut to the height of your fencing (Shown are 4 foot sections for 48 inch fencing)
  • 2 clamps
  • Drill with 5/8 inch wood drill bit
  • 5 – 4 1/2 inch, 5/8 inch carriage bolts
  • 5 – 1 1/4 inch washers (fitted to 5/8 inch bolt)
  • 5 nuts, fitted to the bolts

How to Make It:

Stack your two boards together and using the clamps, hold them in place.

How to Make an Amish Fence Puller - a simple yet priceless tool for putting in a nice, tight fence. Find out how from Cosmopolitan Cornbread

Drill a hole in the center, then two more on each side, all 11 1/2 inches apart. This will evenly space the holes the length of the puller. (See the image down below.)

How to Make an Amish Fence Puller - a simple yet priceless tool for putting in a nice, tight fence. Find out how from Cosmopolitan Cornbread
How to Make an Amish Fence Puller - a simple yet priceless tool for putting in a nice, tight fence. Find out how from Cosmopolitan Cornbread

Insert the carriage bolts through both boards and attach the washers and nuts. That is all you need to make the puller.

How Do You Use It?

First, attach the end of the fencing to your first post to act as an anchor. Then to use the fence puller, simply undo the nuts and washers. Lift off one of the boards and insert the carriage bolts through the openings of the fence, at the other end of the section that you are needing pulled tight. Place the second board, washers and nuts back in place, sandwiching the fencing between the boards. Tighten the nuts so that they are snug.

How to Make an Amish Fence Puller - a simple yet priceless tool for putting in a nice, tight fence. Find out how from Cosmopolitan Cornbread

Wrap a ratchet strap around the center of the puller, and attach it to something strong, such as another fence post, the bumper of your truck, the hitch on your tractor. Whatever you have that is handy.

How to Make an Amish Fence Puller - a simple yet priceless tool for putting in a nice, tight fence. Find out how from Cosmopolitan Cornbread

Ratchet the strap until it has pulled the fencing nice and tight. Then simply go along the fence and attach it to the posts while the puller holds it in place.

When you are finished with that section, simply unscrew the nuts, open up the puller and move it to the next location. Easy as pie.

How to Make an Amish Fence Puller - a simple yet priceless tool for putting in a nice, tight fence. Find out how from Cosmopolitan Cornbread

Nice, tight fencing with no wrestling or language that will make you cringe. This makes getting the fence tight so easily that you can actually put in fencing as a “one (wo)man job.”

How to Make an Amish Fence Puller - a simple yet priceless tool for putting in a nice, tight fence. Find out how from Cosmopolitan Cornbread

You will see this fence puller in action in an upcoming episode.

Note: For taller or shorter fencing, adjust the length of the boards. The boards should be the same length as the height of your fencing. You will want a carriage bolt approximately every foot the length of the boards. Adjust the numbers to suit the length of yours.

5 thoughts on “How to Make an Amish Fence Puller”

  1. I hope this message finds you well. Thank you SO much for this post, I’m not sure how I would have put up the wire fence without it! I made my fence puller almost exactly like yours except that my fence was 6′ high and I used 5 bolts evenly spaced. Also, since much of my fence was on an incline, I used a second ratchet strap to help pull it tight on the bottom. Worked like a charm! Wow, what a lifesaver!

    Thanks again!
    Michael
    Bakersville, NC

    Reply
    • It really depends upon how large the fence is and where you get your materials. I placed wood posts every 8 feet, concreted in, and this particular fence is around an area 40×56 feet, approx. It took one bag of concrete for every 3 posts. Then we used a box of fencing nails to secure the fencing to the post. The easiest way to do a price estimate, is look at the area you need to fence, figure out how many posts you need and then look at fencing. This was the standard 3×4 welded field fence. I got the posts and rolls of fencing from Tractor Supply, and the concrete/nails from Lowes.
      Hope that helps!

      Reply

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