Fence panel broken. How to fix

[Bouba]

Hi,
Purchased few fence panels just over a year ago and treated them to cuprinol.

Noticed that few of the panels have their featherboard loose. Please could someone advice what i need to do to fix these.Looks like the nails holding the slats have either rusted or become loose due to the panel shrinking.

Do i use screws or nail gun with brad nails and what size. I spent quite a lot of money and did not expect this so soon.

 

[big-all]

they wont have rusted in a year
what thickness are the timbers ??
i would get 25/30mm by 3.5mm turbo gold 2mm pilot assuming thats less than the full plank and strut thickness
iff its around the edge frame then go for 40mm
just make sure you position the bits correctly before drilling [possibly lifting to cover newly exposed surfaces]as that wont be easy once screwed

 

[Bouba]

Thanks Big-all.
The slats have become loose from the cental rail,which looks like a thin vertical length roughly around 7-8mm thick.

The slats are around the same thickness.wondering what caused the slats to come loose. The fence panel are rigid,and do not move between the concrete slots posts.

 

[big-all]

you can get 12 or 16mm screws so perhaps 16mm but would always go into the verticals as it keeps it standard
would expect the planks to be perhaps 5mm thinner unusual to be the same thickness

 

[^woody^]

If you secure them now, won't they split when the damp weather comes?

Fence panels tend to do this.