People have been using my back yard as a walk way for sometime. I recently bought the house and my dog goes berserk every time they come through. The fence is smashed beyond anything I have seen on the internet. What can I use to re-stretch the fence back to normal?
Smashed chain link fence
fence
Related Solutions
First thing first, do NOT use a reciprocating saw for this as this is dangerous and you could end up seriously injured.
If looking for something to make this easy, what you need is a trencher - you can probably rent one from your local home improvement store. It will look something like this (there are smaller models but I couldn't find a good picture). If you can't rent one, maybe try contacting a sprinkler installer to see if they could come do it for you.
EDIT: Found a smaller one, looks like this:
(source: terrasaw.co.nz)
Alternatively, as others have mentioned, you could just lay it on top of the ground for the short-term. And of course, some back-breaking labor would also accomplish the job.
A few options (ordered by relative ease):
buy the premade section and cut to fit
use regular 2x4 (1.5x3.5) material and ignore the size difference
find a tablesaw and rip stock to the exact size you want
Alternately, you could run the panels full width and fill in any gaps at the bottom with triangular pieces.
Best Answer
You are not going to be able to restretch it if it is as smashed as you say. What you will need to do is cut out the bad part and insert a new length of fencing. You attach the new piece (splice) by taking one piece of wire from the fence and winding it through the existing fence and the new fence. This wire stitches the two pieces of fencing together.
Once you get the smashed portion replaced with good fencing you can restretch the whole length and attach it to the posts as normal.
pic from fence-material.com