Ausra Farms - Updated

[Alexz7272]

BUSY day yesterday. Got up at 7 and went inside at 7. Forgot to eat even. Got about a an acres worth fenced FINALLY. It was hard work but my sheep & alpacas LOVE the additional space. Was a 1.5 woman job, my roommate/occasional farmhand cane out sporadically to help & learn. I have blisters, cuts, bruises, aches and pains, sunburned face & neck but I love what I accomplished!!!

Had to weed wack the whole bottom part first:

Thise insulators are Hard to do

Testing/running wire:

Ready for the sheep & alpacas!!

 

[Latestarter]

Looks like a tremendous accomplishment. Congrats! I'm still working on mine Just curious... Why did you put a large space insulator at the bottom as opposed to just keeping the close/short ones? Won't it make it more difficult to keep the fence line clear of growth via weed whacker? You'll maybe have to use chemical instead?

 

[Alexz7272]

@Latestarter I have a couple sheep that are jerks and will tesr it like crazy. Also for the babies so they dont get too close to the road. We will use a sprayer to keep the grass dead but put it high enough that as long as we keep the whacker against the ground, it would not hit it. But we’ll only use that if necessary.

 

[Bruce]

Twisted wire to make the fence more obvious??

Those t-post insulators can be a pain. Push, push push, ALMOST THERE, need yet more thumb pressure! And some seem to almost pop on by themselves with little pressure.

I can see using the longer standoffs on the low wire, you can whack underneath them and not worry about ripping the plastic string on the T-posts. If they are just high enough you can get the mower deck under it and make quick work of the growth there.

 

[Alexz7272]

@Bruce Essentially, yes! We live off of a semi-major road unfortunately (didnt use to be ), we already struggle with idiots and the previous owner left us the twisted wiring along the whole perimeter (the only good thing they left us) so we figured we might as well reuse it!
I will always recommend useing 14 gauge wire for the electrical lines, we tried the smaller size and it kept snapping on us too easily. It was SOOOOO frustrating! But now I have like 3 more acres to do. And I hate those insulators with a burning passion.

 

[Bruce]

You could skip the T-posts and sink 8' wood posts 6" diameter minimum every 10' or so. That would be so much easier than dealing with the snap on fasteners

 

[Alexz7272]

Thats what I wanna do But they may be expanding the road in front of us and want to see where they are pushing it to before we put in more permanent fencing. We also have some dead trees we need to replace before finalizing and then I dont have the money for that nice of fencing
I would give ANYTHING to do the wood but for now, I must struggle with those blasted t-posts and insulators.

 

[Bruce]

Geez, I was kidding. Must be getting a wood post into the ground is easier there than here!

 

[Alexz7272]

Picked these guys up at the auction today. Any ideas on their age?

 

[Alexz7272]

Got these babies too cause I am insane