Oak fence boards put up green or dry ?

[Rob in NC]

 I'm probably gonna end up running one by six white oak for my fencing boards on my horse pasture I was wondering if most people put them up green or dry? I could see them being a whole lot easier to run a nail through green but I don't want them Bowed up and looking terrible after a year  because they moved a couple inches in every direction.  I'm sure there's some guys on here with some experience dealing with white oak fencing

[nativewolf]

Green and only green.  We sometimes saw a pile of them and let me tell you... green.  Fencing guys pay me $1/bd more for green right off mill.  Sitting a week and they don't want them.  Green.  Go with what the experts use...GREEN..not dry.

[Rob in NC]

That's what it thought I just wasn't sure about movement after the fact once thier up. I guess you could change out the real bad ones. Every oak pile I have about 10% go crazy the rest are fairly stable.

[moodnacreek]

Just because everybody does it wrong doesn't make it right.

[Foragefarmer]

Just because everybody does it wrong doesn't make it right.

I was doing a search looking for current pricing on fence boards. Anyway
I was a fencer for 15 years full time till an injury and rehab shut me down. Common happening it would seem.
Fencers use and want green boards for 3 and 4 board fence for the same reason wood workers steam wood to bend. Lots of rounded corners and hilly terrain to deal with and you need a board that can bend. Getting the client to paint the fence promptly and leaving repair boards for the inevitable few twisty boards solves most issues. My opinion take of that what you want.
I build the board fences on my farm from the unused boards I would stick in the barn and they would dry. And you can't run a  good curve and it is hard to flow a fence over a hill and I think the boards that were going to warp green warp just as bad dry once hung. Again my opinion
The true secret to a good board fence is a well set post. She needs to be tight in the ground. Again my opinion.
Oh and fence board prices are shocking locally. Last time I bought an oak board was in 2019 and I paid $8.25 for a pretty board. Now the cheapest I can find from a quick search are $12 and not pretty and $15 for a good looking board. Poplar has taken over for a reason. 

[Don P]

It's mostly gone to treated pine here. We took a whack of dry WO to the farm for fencing, even if they started green they would be getting installed pretty dry by the time its done. Battery tools take the misery out of it as far as I'm concerned.

After watching what the sun does to a fresh oak board on a bright warm dry day, I'm not sure that starting off with a network of surface checking is the best thing for longevity?

[kantuckid]

Wood fencing in the KY horse farms areas just west of me is a huge business. When they were oak, much was procured near me. There were brokers for that market alone who dealt in 1x6x16 oak fencing boards from mill to farm, rough sawn and always green. Mostly I see PT pine used in recent years. 

[Dave Shepard]

The last wo fencing I milled was 5/4x6x14'. Put up green. 

[Rhodemont]

  What I have found from building oak fence from oak I mill is:  A well set post is the most important; No sap wood at all; Fresh green is easier to install than dry particularly where big rocks make post placing not perfect; 2 1/2" deck screws hold better than nails; predrill everything, even green splits near the ends; Using green prevents painting/staining right away and inevitably you will do it before the wood fully dries and then the paint will not hold; The area of the green board up against the post will not dry as fast and the joint will hold water and will never get painted so that is where it will start to rot;  Horses that crib will go after green oak. 
 So, with all that I have found that the best fencing I have built is using dried white oak, cut to size in the field to fit the post space, primed with Kilz on the ends that go up against the post, predrilled for deck screws, fully primed asap.  Yes it is a lot more work but with a repaint every couple years using a sprayer the fence is going to be there long after me.