Fence boards

[bja105]

I need to build a pen for my cows, with a chute. I also need to build an outdoor riding arena, that will double as a second pen. The pen will be around 50'x50', the arena will be about 50'x100'. Measurements may change radically according to my whim and availability of materials.

I plan on using as much wood from the farm as I can. The posts will be pressure treated, but I want the boards to be from our trees. The tree I have the most of is Tulip Poplar, aka Yellow Poplar. My two neighbors both have sawmills, and can cut it to any dimensions I ask them for. Neither has a kiln.

Can I use fresh, wet tulip for fence boards? Will it warp or crack?
I haven't even cut the trees, yet.

[COWS]

No. Poplar is not decay resistant, and is not strong. Poplar used outside will decay rapidly, like 2 or 3 years. If you have some of your facilities under shelter it would be fine, but needs to be 2 inches thick for strength. White Oak is the tree of choice for that purpose in the east. Red Oak will be fine, just will not last quite as long. Black locust would be great since it is tough and decay resistant, but locust trees big enough for lumber are scarce.

COWS

[bja105]

Will it rot just being in the weather, but not in contact with the ground? What about paint or sealer?
Tulip outnumbers Oak 20:1 on our farm, and I have been trying to use the Tulip and favor the Oak.
I planted some locust, but it'll be a few decades before they are lumber.
I have some soft Maple, but most of it is too small. I have some red pine, any better for boards?

[TnAndy]

Poplar won't last long for what you intend.

I'd disagree about it's strength, as it is fairly strong and makes good framing. I also use a lot of it for siding, but I paint it with a couple coats and protect it with as much roof overhang as possible.

White oak IS the tree of choice. WO has tyloses, which is a closed cell structure. That is why is was used for water barrels.

Red oak has an open cell structure, and will not hold up in outside weather conditions. I would not use it for fence, unless you plan to paint/stain it on a regular basis.

You might check and see if anyone does custom pressure treating near you. We had a place here at one time, don't know if it's still open.

[arabian knight]

Sure would not go with Poplar at all if you want it to last past a few years. Oak and white oak at that only is the way to go for that purpose you are going for.

[1shotwade]

Forget about black locust for lumber. It makes great posts but will never make lumber. It severely checks on both ends.Even if it checks and you cut it back it will check again.
Other options for wood that will weather good would be osage(if you can find straight grain),cedar or Sassafras and the hickories.

Wade


Add katappa to the list.

[ihuntgsps]

Fencing is such a necessary thing that I would only want a good one and try to do it right the first time around.

The wood species you are talking about sound like they could be better used indoors.

If your reason for making the fence out of available wood is mainly to save money my suggestion would be to look at milling lumber you can sell to pay for a metal fence.

Treated posts with cattle panels, recycled hwy. guard rail, oil field pipe, etc. will last much longer, with much less maintenance, and could probably be bought with the money gained by selling milled lumber, or even firewood.

I have found used cattle panels in great condition for half of the new price, used hwy guard rail for slightly more and oil field pipe is cheap the farther south you live.

[greenacresusa]

We've always used rough hewn oak boards for our fences. They are mostly all 30+ years old being outside with some rough horses. Just now are we starting to replace some here and there. The boards we use are 1" x 6" by 16 foot. Wish we could buy them at the price we paid for them 30 years ago LOL!!!!

[||Downhome||]

I'd skip the boards at least for the cattle pen, and use cattle panels instead.
Less up keep,not to expensive. 16'x4' panel is around 20 bucks at TSC.

[TnAndy]

I use cattle panels on my cow corral, but also put a top board (2x8) on it so the cows can see a definite barrier and aren't tempted to try to jump the panel. I've had some really wild cows over the years.

[bja105]

Sounds like cattle panels are the way to go, price and labor wise. I doubt I have the time to do much logging by the time I need this to be done.

How do you secure cattle panels to posts, any particular staple?
I probably will put on a top rail on some of it. Do I need a top and bottom rail to keep the cattle panel straight?
I might go with hog panels on one side, since it might be a common fence with a pig pen in the future.

[ihuntgsps]

heavy gauge fencing staples work well.

I suggest putting the panels inside the pen so cattle rubbing on them push them into the post.

A rail on the top couldn't hurt but should not be needed.

Don't see any reason for a rail on the bottom.

If you raise feeder pigs they shouldn't be able to get through the panels I wouldn't think.

Cattle panels are 54" high and hog panels are much shorter and not suitable to contain a cow in my experience.

[TnAndy]

Funny thing, here, hog panels which are 34-36" (depends on where you get them) high are 4-5 dollars MORE than cattle panels. Hog panels do have some wires closer together for the first couple feet, but there isn't that much more material than a cattle panel. Go figure ?

Only way a pig would get thru a cattle panel is if they are VERY small. A short strip of 2x4 fence wire, or even chicken wire, tied to the cattle panel on the hog side of the fence would cure that, and be a whole lot cheaper than going with a hog panel.

[bja105]

Good stuff, folks. Thanks.

Next questions

How deep should I sink my posts? My soil is clay or silty clay. We are on top of the hill, so it is only wet some of the time.
Any reason not to run an electric wire along the top? Not to keep the animals in, but to get from my fencer to the majority of the fence.
Can I build a chute for AI out of cattle panels, or would wood be better?

[||Downhome||]

I'd use tube gates for your chute, look around for used ones.
The panels would not hold up to a thrashing Bovine.

[||Downhome||]

heres a resources for you,

http://www.ag.ndsu.edu/extension-abe...dingplans/beef

[TnAndy]

Originally Posted by ||Downhome||

I'd use tube gates for your chute, look around for used ones.
The panels would not hold up to a thrashing Bovine.

I made my chute out of 2" thick oak lumber. Cattle panels are fine for a corral, but for a chute, like Downhome said, you get a cow excited, and I think a panel wouldn't come close to holding them.

[ihuntgsps]

unless your cattle are super tame I would not go with panels for the chute.

The best chutes seem to have solid wood with shorter post spacing for maximum strength. I would go at least 60" tall also so nothing jumps over.

If you have Dexters like I do you could get by with a 54" tall chute.

[bja105]

Ok, no panels on the chute. I can handle buying good wood for that little bit.
A local store has cattle panels and fence posts on sale this week.

Is there any problem using 4"x8' round posts instead of square 4x4's? I guess i can staple through both panels at the joints.

Downhome, I like the link you gave us. I think I can build that head catch they have plans for.

[||Downhome||]

I'm sure you'll find a few things there of use.

I would also suggest a bit of searching on google, take a look at different chutes.

We don't have the space for cattle here, though neighbor raised about ten head and did run them on the front paddock and back.

So not to unfamiliar.

Herefords which seems pretty popular around here.

I myself prefer that High Speed Beef... lol

You know the kind that feeds its self.

much less work and expense.