Best tool to cut (a lot of) chainlink fence

[ilyaz]

We need to remove an old chain link fence from an entire side of a small (~0.6 acre) property. Removing poles should not be hard (they all rotted out) but I will probably need to cut the fence vertically in many places into manageable pieces. What's the best tool for the job? Some type of bolt cutters? Reciprocating saw with a blade for cutting metal? Something else? Thx!

 

[JoeD]

Bolt cutter would be my choice. It will cut the ties to the poles and the fence wires.
Fence is too floppy for a saw. It would just fling back and forth.
Angle grinder with a cut off wheel might work also but would still second choice to bolt cutter for me.

 

[user 4883]

cordless angle grinder with cutoff wheel gets my vote.

 

[Snoonyb]

Look at the bottom of the individual links, there is a twist, cut it off or open it with a plier, unwind the strand and move to the next location.

 

[Steve123]

Bolt cutters would do it. But before spending money on new tools, try out your biggest pair of diagonal cutting pliers. Its not like the fence is made of some heat treated alloy steel, it should cut pretty easily.

 

[nealtw]

 

[Diehard]

This is what Snoonyb was talking about...

 

[Brian Famous]

I'd use the bolt cutters to cut above the twist at the bottom, and then unwind. Not only is that an easy way to take it apart, it also doesn't leave you with sharp wire ends all over the place when you're trying to dispose of it.

 

[bud16415]

I would take it down and roll it up. Put all the small pieces in a cardboard box and pull out the poles and stack them up next to it. Take a picture of it and put it on Facebook or CL with $100 takes all. People are always looking to build a dog run or something.


You wont have to haul it away and you can go out to dinner.

 

[ilyaz]

So I went there today planning to take it down and now am having seconds thoughts (maybe these thoughts are better in separate thread, not sure). Not all wooden poles have rotted out. In a couple of places the fence got almost flattened by fallen large trees (that have been removed). Does it mean that the fence itself is damaged beyond repair and need to be removed? If I put in new polesto replace the ones that fell and then try to stretch the chainlink, what are my chances of straightening it out? Having a functional, albeit not perfect aesthetically, fence might be a nice feature for the property that we plan to sell soon and a seller is likely to be a first-time home owner with small kids and/or dogs. We would need to cut a lot of overgrown grass and and weeds around the fence before attempting this, but that should not be too hard.

 

[Gary]

I also agree with Snoonyb. We did a chain link fence for my daughter/son-in law, and it was an easy job to un-crimp the end of a link with the pliers and basically unscrew it.

Great method to repair a couple spots if you decide to keep it.

 

[driz]

Easy enough to repair. Still if you are ditching it just roll up and sell it as noted. If you don’t want to do that. Justput it by the road with a sign sayin FREE. It will jump right into somebody’s pick up truck within two days guaranteed.....