Latest 'Luft 46' model build. One of the krazy Nazi scientists kraziest ideas. The Focke Wulf Triebflugel ("thrust wing") is real popular among Luft 46 fans for its radical concept and cool look. The rotary wings were to have ramjets at the tips to spin them. I think there was something like a flywheel inside to prevent the whole fucking thing from spinning. The idea being a point-defense interceptor, to go straight up and kill some B-17s. I don''t think anybody ever figured out how it was going to land, though - with the pilot trying to look over his shoulder? It was a good thing for both the Allies and for Nazi test pilots that none ever got built. http://www.inpayne.com/models/luft46/triebflugel35.html
that is one weird design mixing the steel posts with pickets... are they still relatively stable and in concrete pilings or just sunk deeply (and likely wobbly)? if they are still good, then why not just chain link? composites may have longevity going for them, but the material costs alone may run up to triple. Might as well go wtih the PT and a few extra touches like repainting sealant on cut edges, using screws rather than nails, and again resealing those faces. Post caps are better weather proofing than crowns, for obvious reasons.
The steel posts are buried in cement, so they ain't going nowhere without a LOT of force. And yet many of them have shifted from tree root growth. I like having a solid opaque fence (when we built it we had a sheepdog and the neighbor had a pekingese, so solid kept the noise down) (and we're planning on another dog soon). Ideal choice would be a solid vinyl woodgrain-look, but it might be too expensive. Logical would be a straight replacement of what's there (but it would rot again in 15 years). Economical would be chain, but it's not solid. It'll be a year or two before we get around to it. We'll figger it out.
yeah... it'd probably be fastest/more economical to just grind them off at the base and sod over those areas. Beats the fLIck out of digging them out. That they're warping with the ground/roots implies you're putting paint on a Pinto. Check out the prefabbed sectionals from Home Depot. Although, you're correct that composite would likely prove cost prohibitive... $450/6'!!! that's almost 4x the cost of pressure treated!
Gasp! Well maybe chain is the answer. There is a 25-foot section they removed back when my neighbor fenced in his own back yard. Our fence guys said having two parallel fences a foot apart was dumb and suggested butting my longer fence to his shorter one. They sawed the steel upright off at ground level and left the cement.
I've put up chain link fencing before - it's pretty easy. That said to be "deer proof" it needs to be ten feet tall. Some say eight feet but I have seen deer clear that with a running start. I think the home owners association or other governing body would not approve of that. But a solid wooden fence deer can't see through or over is fine at six feet. Normally deer won't jump over any fence if they can't see the ground on the other side of it. So a six feet chain link with slats in it might do the trick!
It was rotated 90 degrees to the left when I saw it. Looked like you were sitting in the cockpit of the space shuttle, waiting for launch.
cost wise, yeah. if you want the old pilings removed, I'd recommend renting a chipping gun rather than beating the hell out of them with a sledge.