Ferguson K
Herd Master
What? No pictures of the fence being stretched ?!
Guessing the tractor pulled it tight.
We used a ratchet.
Guessing the tractor pulled it tight.
We used a ratchet.
Non-Climb 2"x4" Horse Wire Fence
- Thread starter Baymule
- Start date
babsbag
Herd Master
Awesome fence. Our land is everything but level so fencing here is really a challenge. I am the official fence stretcher and I usually hire young blood to drive the posts. We have a pneumatic fence post driver but usually no power where the fence is and the generator is just too hard to haul up and down the hills on the tractor. Love the added weight to the driver, but picking it up and putting it on the posts would about kill me.
I have oak trees, lots of oak trees, and the mighty oaks seldom blow over and if they do die it takes them FOREVER to fall over so I do use them for posts whenever I can. They make great corner posts. I only have one corner of fencing that we had to make a real corner brace for, the rest are trees. Lazy...perhaps...but they will outlive me.
I am thinking of buying 16 acres and the thought of fencing it terrifies me.
I have oak trees, lots of oak trees, and the mighty oaks seldom blow over and if they do die it takes them FOREVER to fall over so I do use them for posts whenever I can. They make great corner posts. I only have one corner of fencing that we had to make a real corner brace for, the rest are trees. Lazy...perhaps...but they will outlive me.
I am thinking of buying 16 acres and the thought of fencing it terrifies me.
I hear you on that note Babs... I'm trying to find a property with a minimum of 20 acres (up to as much as I can get - looked at several approaching 100 acres). I won't/can't fence the whole thing right off, but the prospect, even done over time, is quite daunting.
babsbag
Herd Master
Especially daunting when I want 2x4 no climb $$$ with no barbed wire and hot wire top and bottom...top to keep critters out, bottom to keep LGD in. She respects that wire.
What I'm really worried about is if there's already some (bad) fencing done and I have to rip all that out first, then clean everything up before I can even start... No sense getting all wound up about it till the time comes and the evaluation is complete I guess. Plenty of time to gripe about it down the road... ![:\](/styles/default/xenforo/smilies/side.png "side :\")
Mike CHS
Herd Master
I may change my mind later but my longest perimeter has a railroad/railroad tunnel for a border and the old shared fence would take a dozer to clear out. I'm going to put new fence inside the property line enough that I can maintain the outside without having to fight with the undergrowth around the tunnel entrance. It (the tunnel) goes under our driveway so we own some useless property on both sides of it.
Mini Horses
Herd Master
The 2X4 you used is WOVEN -- anyone not familiar, there is also a welded and that just comes apart eventually. My fence was put up 15 yrs ago....used a lot of field fence and hot wire inside. That fence is now being replaced with the 2X4 woven where I don't already have it, an area at a time. The field fence is not good without the hot wire for mini horses & goats. I just don't know who rubs on it more!! I run a hot wire about
2-2.5 feet up to prevent this. Worth gold to save that expensive fence from being stretched out. Some additional T-posts in line have preserved the field fence in several areas as it does stretch badly. I have 3 solar hot boxes that were ALSO worth the expense! 15 acres, fenced & cross-fenced is expensive, time consuming and hard, hard work. Luckily (?) I had a parcel that had been crop farmed for a long time, so no trees --- have them now --- and yes, growth on the existing fence is a mess to clean up. A few yrs of non-attention to that growth created a real mess! Shame on ME. But, life happens.
I actually have an alley the entire length of my farm (which is rectangular), down the center, and use that to move animals from pasture to pasture, drive thru for feed, equipment move, etc. So, pastures are off to each side, and there are several, all with gates onto alley. Some have gates between them for access without going into the alley/driveway. I mow it, etc. and sometimes turn a few animals into to graze. It is gated at each end. Being only one here to do the work, this method has worked great for herding by a single!
I loved your pictorial and the explanations of past mistakes. It is helpful to any who haven't fenced and a reminder for those of us who also have mistake issues
that we are now re-working. I like the gates with the fenced bottom. Mine are tube type and if graduated at bottoms are ok for keeping adult animals...the goat kids go back to mom anyway...if I want to limit any, I can add some fence but, pain in butt.
GREAT JOB ! Now, enjoy the accomplishment.
I run a hot wire about2-2.5 feet up to prevent this. Worth gold to save that expensive fence from being stretched out. Some additional T-posts in line have preserved the field fence in several areas as it does stretch badly. I have 3 solar hot boxes that were ALSO worth the expense! 15 acres, fenced & cross-fenced is expensive, time consuming and hard, hard work. Luckily (?) I had a parcel that had been crop farmed for a long time, so no trees --- have them now --- and yes, growth on the existing fence is a mess to clean up. A few yrs of non-attention to that growth created a real mess! Shame on ME. But, life happens.
I actually have an alley the entire length of my farm (which is rectangular), down the center, and use that to move animals from pasture to pasture, drive thru for feed, equipment move, etc. So, pastures are off to each side, and there are several, all with gates onto alley. Some have gates between them for access without going into the alley/driveway. I mow it, etc. and sometimes turn a few animals into to graze. It is gated at each end. Being only one here to do the work, this method has worked great for herding by a single!
I loved your pictorial and the explanations of past mistakes. It is helpful to any who haven't fenced and a reminder for those of us who also have mistake issues
that we are now re-working. I like the gates with the fenced bottom. Mine are tube type and if graduated at bottoms are ok for keeping adult animals...the goat kids go back to mom anyway...if I want to limit any, I can add some fence but, pain in butt.GREAT JOB ! Now, enjoy the accomplishment.
Last edited:
- Thread starter
- #18
Baymule
Herd Master
Good point @Mini Horses I will go back to my first post and clarify that.
I found more pictures! This series is on putting on the clips that come with the T-posts. If not properly put on, they will pop right off when an animal rubs against the fence. And of course, using the horse wire, the smaller holes makes it harder to get a tight wrap on the clips, as pliers and such won't go through the smaller holes.
T-post clips 101.
This is a clip.
Once you put the clip in place, and this is where many people stop, you have to wrap the clip around the wire. Sticking a screwdriver through the loop and using it to wrap the clip is the easiest (for me). Because the hole is 2"x4" I used one of those real short screwdrivers.
Having a nosy helper makes the job go easier.
Then I used channel locks to put a further wrap on the clip. You could use these, pliers or fencing pliers-whichever is best for you.
Do both sides!
Then you have a tight-wrapped clip holding the wire in place. Animals can rub on the fence now and the clips won't pop off!
I found more pictures! This series is on putting on the clips that come with the T-posts. If not properly put on, they will pop right off when an animal rubs against the fence. And of course, using the horse wire, the smaller holes makes it harder to get a tight wrap on the clips, as pliers and such won't go through the smaller holes.
T-post clips 101.
This is a clip.Once you put the clip in place, and this is where many people stop, you have to wrap the clip around the wire. Sticking a screwdriver through the loop and using it to wrap the clip is the easiest (for me). Because the hole is 2"x4" I used one of those real short screwdrivers.
Having a nosy helper makes the job go easier.
Then I used channel locks to put a further wrap on the clip. You could use these, pliers or fencing pliers-whichever is best for you.
Do both sides!
Then you have a tight-wrapped clip holding the wire in place. Animals can rub on the fence now and the clips won't pop off!
- Thread starter
- #19
Baymule
Herd Master
I will have to get pictures of stretching the fence. We still have a stretch to go. Yes we used the tractor and sometimes a come along. We used a piece of 5/8" rebar, 6' long, and wove it in and out of the end of the wire. We folded the wire back, doubling it for added strength. Wrapped a chain around both ends of the rebar, and hooked the clevis hooks on the front end bucket, tilted the bucket down, backed the tractor up until the fence was tight. Then to get it really tight, I tilted the bucket back towards the driver's seat, which made the fence "twang" tight and sometimes lifted the front end of the tractor off the ground.
wow, now that's tight!
