Fencing, how about it?

Did he get his idea from a fence around a prison, that's what it looks like.

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玉

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Well I called a local farm and ranch supply down there, I like sticking with local suppliers if I can.

I got a quote for 2600ft of 48" non climb horse fence, 90 4"x8' wood posts, 10 8"x8' wood posts, 200 1.33 weight 8ft T-posts, 1000ft of wire for bracing, delivered for $5,500.. Seems like a reasonable price to me.

Bobcat with auger is $250 a day, I haven't checked price on compressor and pneumatic T-post driver.

I think that's what I'll go with, should leave about a foot above the fence for electric or such.

Got a couple of hands lined up to get it done over thanksgiving week, and likely spend the whole week cutting trees/brush and getting it done.

Only thing I guess I have left to figure is gates.

What width gates do you folks use, and why? I was thinking 12' gates, but only because I figure I would never need to get anything more than 12' wide through a gate.

I used the 2x4" non-climb mesh for a 6' fence w/ t-posts 10' apart to fence in close to an acre (200' on a side, and it stretched very well. Just be sure not to the get "utility" wire that looks the same at a distance but doesn't stretch. I used one 5' walk gate(so I could get the lawmover through) and one 12' gate, that was double hung and one 10' single hung. The 10' got the most use and never sagged even after 6 years.

The best prices I've found in N Central Texas is Tractor Supply but they don't deliver. Have you looked at the McCoys in Bastrop? They have good prices and deliver. Don't go to that area often enough to suggest anyone else.

I called Smith Supply Co. in Smithville.

Talked to old Mr. Smith.. He quoted me $117 for 100 ft roll of horse fence. I think that's a tad cheaper than Tractor Supply and McCoys and that is delivered price on 26 rolls. Cash on delivery.

I did forget to ask him the brand though, they carry 3-4 brands. Rangemaster, Red Brand, Oklahoma Wire and Sheffield. All of them look like 10 gauge top and bottom wire, 12.5 gauge mesh and decent brands as far as I can tell.

$8.30 for 4"x8' wood post, $25.15 for 8"x8' post, and $7.18 for 8' 1.33 weight 8' T-post.

Seems like a pretty good place to do business with, so I'll likely start using them for supplies for anything they have.

I didn't get gates yet, I figure I'll leave 20' openings where I want two gates, I'll be laying crushed concrete or limestone in a big U shape coming in, looping around the shop and back out through 2 gates, with a short drive off that up to the house.

I figure I can leave the two 20' openings between end posts, and then come back in and add gate posts and brace them to the end posts on either side.

I have about 25 trees to take down along one side, smallish oaks most of them, and about 100ft of heavy brush to clear, and then the fence to put up in a week. If I get that done in time I may go get gates and put them up too.

I have a sheep that puts his head through the 4x4 stuff. Just a little note for you to consider. Elec doesn't work much on sheep. I still keep my sheep in the 4x4 stuff....but you might need to watch them.

..............If you're willing too spend the money for a strong , long lasting don't use any Wood ! Use 3 inch OD pipe on all corners , Hbraces and T's , and use 2.5 inch for your deadmen . Install 2.5 inch pipe diagional(kicker) braces on all corners and Hbraces , make your holes atleast 9 inch diameter , and 12 would be better . It'll take 2-80lb. sacks of sackcrete for a 9 inch hole , 36 inches deep and 4 sacks for a 12 inch diamete hole , 36 inches deep . Finally , run two parallel strands of 2point Barbed wire spaced 6 inches apart so you'll actually a 5 foot fench . USE 8 foot long posts , so you'll have 3 feet of pipe , IN , the ground and 5 feet , OUT ! The last step is too run a double row of Hot wire(s) offset about 6 feet out from the main fence too keep all the critters from rubbing\leaning on your new fence . Horses , sheep and goats Love too rub their arse's on a strong , tight fence ! You should beable too mow within the 6 foot wide protective zone . , fordy

12' is good for drive through gates if you are not haying, just make sure you won't be needing wider, nothing worse than ruining a great fence by going back and messing with it. I like single hung 12'ers, not 2 6'ers. You can put a block under loose end of gate for it to set on to keep gate from sagging, also 2 gates thet come together, blow back and forth in the wind. Single gate is much more secure. 7' T posts are tall enough, 2' in the ground is enough (post will bend at 2') gives 5' above ground. Get some rock (crushed is best) to tamp wood posts in with. Tamp them real good at the bottom, if bottom isn't good you can never get them good and tight. Mound up around the post a little, no wet puddles for wood posts to set in. Probably not so important there with sandy soil. Horizonal braces with the brace wire right and tight. Bottom of corner post, brace high or above on brace post. I use double brace posts if r-e-a-l long runs. No more than 2 rolls of mesh wire tightened at a time, if longer you need 2 posts set, braced, and brace wire both ways set, to tighten to. Then tighten next run. Each section does not have to be exactly 2 rolls, divide so no more than 2 rolls each. Tighten fence good but don't take all the crimp out of the wires. Crimp is the little wavy dips in the horizonal wires. If you tighten it so tight you take them all out, you have nothing to take slack out in warm-cold expansion-contraction. Also no way to take out slack in rolling ground (dips in the run) Plus you just put way to much strain on a fence. You need a fence strether to pull the wire even, top to bottom. Stretcher shown below. I like a comealong to pull, better precision, don't get it too tight. Take your time get it right first. Sounds like a lot of work for 1 weekend. I prep, get all posts set then string wire and get it up temporarily section by section. Then go back and attach the rest of the wire clips. Very time consuming. 1 clip on top, skip 1 wire and another clip. 5 clips come per post. 1 on bottom then divide the other 2. Fence wire first then barbed on the bottom so fencing does not hang up on barbed. Hot wires can be added anytime.....James

http://www.backwoodshome.com/articles2/sanders103.html

If electric fence wires will be required to keep animals away from the fence, why spend the money (and maintenance) on a woven wire fence all?

Consider a 5 or 6 wire high tensile fence, with some, or all of the wire hot? A low 6" hot wire (kept weed free), should keep predators out and smaller animals in. HT is probably cheaper and much easier/quicker to install and should last forever.

[QUOTE=jwal10;4738144]12' is good for drive through gates if you are not haying, just make sure you won't be needing wider, nothing worse than ruining a great fence by going back and messing with it. I like single hung 12'ers, not 2 6'ers. You can put a block under loose end of gate for it to set on to keep gate from sagging, also 2 gates thet come together, blow back and forth in the wind. Single gate is much more secure. [quote]

I can't think of anything I might need that is wider than 12', maybe a used mobile home if I decided to pull one in to live in while I build out the house.



I'll be taking a whole week, plus two weekends, 3 guys. About 8 days total.

I figure two days to clear trees and brush and stake, a couple days to set posts, couple days to string wire.. give or take a couple days.

I do have two dips I need to run through though, There's a wet weather creek of sorts running down one side I have to fence across in two places where it enters and leaves the property.

How do you handle getting horse fence tight down and up through a dip?

Regular fence as he isn't there all the time. High tensile fence is great until it shorts out. a hot wire keeps horses from reaching over, And one 2'-21/2' off the ground keep goats and cattle from rubbing. I use a barbed on the bottom, no worry about shorting out....James

Sorry, thought it was a weekend. you have it taken care of. Gates sound good. If short run and more than a 1' deep I don't. Brace posts at both sides, set fence and come back and set the gap. If deep you may need a temp cattle panel or such at the bottom. hinged to allow water flow. Corner post can be set at edge of drop, horse fence lowered on creek side for the gap. If creek isn't too wide but deep a post or pipe used for the hinge....James

[QUOTE=Txrider;4738176][QUOTE=jwal10;4738144]12' is good for drive through gates if you are not haying, just make sure you won't be needing wider, nothing worse than ruining a great fence by going back and messing with it. I like single hung 12'ers, not 2 6'ers. You can put a block under loose end of gate for it to set on to keep gate from sagging, also 2 gates thet come together, blow back and forth in the wind. Single gate is much more secure. ...............At my previous residence I had a dip about 5 feet lower than the sides........I set pipe posts on the upper portion of each side , then I installed a 6 foot wide Hbrace in the middle at the Lowest point , now , I stretched my field fence wire straight across and above the dip just like the dip didn't exist ! The total fence run was about 230 feet , my neighbor and I started standing on the wire at each of the high points , we gradually worked our way down too the center as the wire began too stretch which I had NO idea IF it would break or what . Well , it did finally did stretch and we affixed it too the lower Hbrace and we tied it off . Even now , 16 years later that fence wire is still Very tight and straight .
................This method will , NOT , work with 2x4 wire simply because it is TOO strong as there is too much wire in the Matt too beable too stretch like the field fence , did ! , fordy

Here is the gate to the Night pasture... going out to the hay field. Gates are usually the weakest link, at keeping predators out.


Can also see the camelbacks on either side.

The front gate to the drive is 16'... another gate is 14'... and the others are 12' wide.. wide enough for most small to medium sized tractors and equipment to get through.. might be a tight squeeze though.

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Shari

Because I won't be there most of the time, and when I am for now it's just to keep my dogs from roaming when I am down there working on improving the place.

I won't be moving there and having livestock for a few years I hope.

My thoughts right now is to just get a good solid fence and gates up around the place and use the best all around fencing I can for any kind of animals.

One thing I have learned is plans can change and I may end up needing or wanting to sell the place, buy a better place, whatever, and I figured being at the outside edge of commuting range to a metro area horse fence would likely be the best for resale. As well it's good for any small livestock I may want to keep later.

I have everything squared away in my head now I think, except how I'm going to run down through the couple of gulleys I have.

I'd say they go down about 4-6' deep, and 50-100ft across, not too steep on the sides. Basically this gulley runs down the length of the property down one side in the woods, then under the road and into a creek that runs parallell to the road on the other side.

Not sure how much water flows down that when it rains hard yet, but there are 2 culverts about 30" to let it under the road. I'm thinking of maybe adding a dam and clearing out the trees and making about an acre pond on the N end at some point in the future.

Here's a property pic. The gulley runs down the east side through the oak woods, parallel with the road on the east side, drains S to N, and I have to cross it with fencing it at the N and S ends. You can see my S property line cut through the woods at the bottom.

http://s775.photobucket.com/albums/y...t=property.jpg

All galvanized metal should be grade 3. Verify the treatment of the wooden posts as to the life expectancy. The treatment should match the requirements of most state specified projects. On H braced posts the horizontal ----- needs to be not less than 8 feet long, shorter horizontals will let the posts start to topple over time.

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you know you can!

Wow, great property, I enjoyed the pictures. I would slope the creek banks and just run right through them. 2 30" culverts.... could be a lot of water. I would probably leave a good gap (fencing nearly straight across) at least for the width of the culverts. Other wise it would probably just pull the posts out any way. Sounds like it needs braced line posts at least the width of the 2 culverts, then a cable for a hinge and a frame for a panel to push open if there is a lot of water. Might work to leave the fence high and run several strings of barbed wire to let the water through. Pond sounds great....James

Reason to run a combo of Woven field fence and hot wire...as because some times.. the power goes out. The woven field fence will keep predators or dogs at bay until the power comes back on.

With the predator base I have here.. both are needed. And if you properly stretch the Woven field fence... shouldn't have to do anything with it until the wooden posts rot out.

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Shari

LOL Ah I guess maybe. His Father was the Head Jailer/Boss in Yamhill county Jail before he passed away a few years ago.

We normally put what I call sweeps...wire extending under the gate to keep coyotes and dogs from going under.
The top sweep is to keep keep Bobcats and what not from jumping over the gate.

DH got tired of running out there in the middle of the night to protect our animals, in his underwear carrying his shotgun to shoot Predators.:baby04:
Hence the fencing we have now.

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Shari

A field fence unroller/stretcher that goes on a tractor makes putting up fencing so much easier and it is worth the money to buy if you can't find one to rent. Getting a nice tight fence becomes a one person job, although of course the more hands the faster it will go.

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"The Constitution says to promote the general welfare, not to provide welfare!" ~ Lt. Col Allen West

Another way if you are in a pinch.. there are hooks under the front of most cars, you can also use that as a pull point.

Lehman's sells a pully system my DH likes to use to tighten the fence.
BlockandTackle

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Shari