Cattle panels

[shdybrady]

What are the best posts to attach a cattle panel too? I was thinking wood and using fence staples. Around here t posts are around $5 a piece, I can get pressure treated landscaping timbers for a $1.97 a piece. It would be more digging but honestly I think they look better and will last longer. But just for conversation how do you attach to a t post? It seems like the t post clips arent going to be long enough for the thicker guage cattle panel. I assume you could use some kind of baling wire or maybe something thicker guage. I dont like this idea only because you will be tightening the wire up on to the spline of the post and it seems like it could cause it to break overtime

[GrannyG]

We used T posts ...we wired them to the posts....around here, even treated posts would not last too long....

[shdybrady]

I know people around with post that are 10 years+. If I have to replace some post after 10 years. I think Im doing ok

[where I want to]

I've done both. Here the ground is wet for half the year. The t-posts have been pushed out of vertical by the goats, while the treated posts have snapped off at base. Goats are hard on fencing if not hotwired off at body level.
I have fastened the cattle panels to wooden posts by using old high tensile spacers screwed over the cattle panels and onto the wooden posts. This allows me to unscrew the spacers to remove the panels if I want to get something through the fence.
The wire on the t posts has not come off in ten years.

[nathan104]

We use t-posts. We use baling wire to attach them. Prefer the t-post as if you need to move the fencing at any point or take down a few panels for some reason, its simple to pull hte t-posts and relocate. Dont buy t-posts new for $5. Keep an eye on your local craigslist. Ive got a stack of 100 extra t-posts that I paid an average of $2 for in the last year thanks to craigslist.

[AuntKitty]

I have my goat yard fenced with cattle panels. Where I need to attach the panel to a wooden post I use 1" screws & that metal plumbing strapping. I cut a strip of the metal 3 holes long and put a screw in a hole on either side of the panel wire. My goats pushed on the panels enough to loosen fencing staples, even the longest ones, but they have never gotten through the "clips" I made from the plumbing strapping. Not the prettiest, but gets the job done

[whodunit]

We tie the panels to t-posts with bailing twine. Works well.

[Cliff]

We use wire to attach panels to t-posts. The wire lasts fine.

[Alice In TX/MO]

T posts

[FreeRanger]

I used the clips that come with the T-post. Works just fine.

I also watch Craigslist for used T-posts. Saves a ton of money and the animals don't care if post are a little rusty. Plus search out the 7 foot ones, better for cattle panels because you can sink them deep and still have some of the post above the cattle panel. This allows you to run a single hot wire across the top, using insulators of course.

[Old Vet]

It depends on what you are trying to do. To keep goats in T-post is a good ides but if you are trying to keep cattle that may be wild then regular wooden post is the only way to go.

[coolrunnin]

I have cattle and t-posts and they do fine. If stock wants thru your fence they go thru the fence. The idea is to keep em happy enough to stay on your side....lol

[Ramblin Wreck]

Another vote for t posts. One source I've found for used posts is the local recycling yard. Generally they go for around $2 each, some nearly new.

When I've attached panels to t posts, I've used heavier duty zip ties, as I've always saw it as only a temporary thing.

[PaulNKS]

T-posts and wire. I always use wood with "H" braces for the corners unless it's a very small pen, then all t-posts.

In a big portion of the midwest and eastern states, you can cut "hedge" posts. It's actually Osage Orange. Those posts will not rot off. If you put them in and tamp, that post will stay there 50 years.

[TnAndy]

DO NOT USE LANDSCAPING TIMBERS FOR ANYTHING. They aren't pressure treated, just dipped. Use them for fence posts, and they will rot off in a couple-three years.

[Minelson]

I use T posts and treated wood on the corners and gates. I tie the panels on with baling twine also.

[MO_cows]

We built our 50 X 100 corral with landscape timbers originally for the same reason, they were cheap. We even painted the ends that went into the ground with leftover paint to help them last longer. They lasted a few years before we had to start replacing them. And, some of them warped to where the fence leaned in or out. If it warped the wrong way it pulled the staples out. They are meant to be used horizontal, not vertical.

So it does save a buck now but makes more work and expense later.

[KMA1]

I would recommend against using landscaping timbers. Around here, a lot of them won't last 2 years laying on top of the ground, much less buried. They are not fit for anything. I would recommend steel T-posts, or black locust, cedar, treated posts in that order.

[springvalley]

Originally Posted by TnAndy

DO NOT USE LANDSCAPING TIMBERS FOR ANYTHING. They aren't pressure treated, just dipped. Use them for fence posts, and they will rot off in a couple-three years.

I second this, they will not last, buy t posts or good wood fence posts. > Thanks Marc

[frankva]

Originally Posted by TnAndy

DO NOT USE LANDSCAPING TIMBERS FOR ANYTHING. They aren't pressure treated, just dipped. Use them for fence posts, and they will rot off in a couple-three years.

Originally Posted by KMA1

I would recommend against using landscaping timbers. Around here, a lot of them won't last 2 years laying on top of the ground, much less buried. They are not fit for anything. I would recommend steel T-posts, or black locust, cedar, treated posts in that order.

Originally Posted by springvalley

I second this, they will not last, buy t posts or good wood fence posts. > Thanks Marc

Third. Those 1.97 rounded edge things at Home Depot Do not last in contact with the ground. I used several as edge, half in the ground. Mold/algae almost immediately.

Barber uses them and seems happy. She is pretty clever and may have soaked them in a bucket of something first. So as long as you go into it open eyed.