# Recommended nail guns for fence panels and siding (1 3/4" Max Length nails)



## mechanicalengineer

Anyone out there have any recommendations for a pneumatic nail gun for constructing fence panels and nailing siding. I have several Porter Cable nail guns (framing and finish nailers) which have given good service. Porter Cable has a coil magazine roofing nail gun which I assume can be used for fencing and siding. I'm just looking for some fresh outside opinions.
Thanks for any viewpoints.


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## Sawkerf

Coiled roofing nails would work fine for siding, but I would use 8d's for fence boards.


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## mechanicalengineer

Sawkerf, Thanks for your input.


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## Gregn

Funny fencing would come up at this time, as it is something I'm getting ready to do myself. 
I will be using my framing nailer with 3" framing nails to attach the stringers to the post in conjunction with carriage bolts and nuts. We get strong winds here in Oklahoma. So all the help you can get saves work later on.
I also will be putting up fence panels, but am not happy with what they use for stringers for the panels. Which is the reason for attaching 2×4 stringers to the post first.
I intend on using the framing nailer to nail the fence panel stringers to the stringers that I put on the posts. If I were just nailing the fence boards to the stringers I would use my 16 gauge nailer for that task.

As for using the coiled roofing nailer for nailing siding. I would not recommend using it for vinyl siding, that's just my opinion. I prefer to hand nail vinyl siding.


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## roman

I wouldnt hesitate to use a nail gun on a fence but for wooden siding, not the vinyl, nor the cement board brands ……..I prefer galvanized nails, driven by hand, leaving the tip, slightly proud of the wood. I think it's the only way to avoid the "ugly" filler, and nearly the only way to keep the nails consistently spaced both vertically, and horizontally.

That said, Grex, IMHO, 15 or 16 gauge nailer, does a 2 1/2" nail. They are the best on the market, have great features like a blow gun, bendable hose adapter and if kept oiled, will pound thousands of nails, flawlessly. Not cheap but cheap work aint good, and good work aint cheap.

2 cents


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## mechanicalengineer

My guestion was primarily for a nail gun to use in nailing fence panels to the fence "stringers". Most prebuilt fences are built with the panels stapled to stringers approximately 1 1/2" thick. After a few years of rain and sun the staples rust and the panel boards loosen and fall off. I was looking for a nail gun to shoot 1 1/2 to 1 3/4 " nails to repair/renail fence boards to the horizontal stringers between posts. I have a framing nailer that will use a minimum of 2" round head nails, but 2" nails are too long.


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## roman

most nail guns, at least the stronger finishing nailers, like the 15 and 16 gauge, have a maximum length, but you can also use shorter nails of your choice


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## mechanicalengineer

Finishing nails are not satisfactory for fence panel boards. I need nails with a "head" for holding purposes.


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## a1Jim

Your nail gun should be able to take nails the size you need.I use stainless steel ring shank nails.


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## GaryC

Just my opinion but, I never use nails for a fence. I use screws. They dont work out as the wood moves


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## mechanicalengineer

My framing nail gun is a Porter Cable Mdl # FR350 and according to the specification data the minimun size nail length is 2 inches. I have never checked to see if nails shorter than 2 inches are available for it, furthermore, if they were, I'm not sure they would work. Any experience out there??


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## BreeStephany

I'm a fan of Hitachi personally for nail guns. I have used other people's Bostitch, Porter Cable and Senco nailers, but I haven't found any of them to compare to Hitachi in regard to overall durability, quality of construction, and least amount of jams; but thats just personal preference I suppose. I have a Hitachi NV65AH coil siding nailer that I really like. It took me a few uses to get used to the sensitive trigger, as it sometimes likes to double fire if your not careful, but beyond that, I have never had any issues with it. I believe the smallest nail it takes is 1-1/4" and it goes up to 2-1/2". Used it to side and trim out many house exteriors without a jam or underdriven nail.

I've done a few fences, and we generally used Senco Duraspin collated screwguns (corded, the cordless ones are worthless in my opinion) to fasten fencing with coated screws, as there were generally less issues with screws over nails in regard to rusting, backing out, loosening up, or otherwise; but if you good galvanized ring shank siding nails, you probably won't have any issues.


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