Hi-Tensile Fencing???

[Up North]

For you folks who have Hi-Tensile fencing, what's your preference for Corner Posts? Wood(what diameter?), Steel, or poured Concrete?

[Hammer4]

We use 8 inch round wooden posts, I think they are treated syp ( southern yellow pine ) from the looks of them.

I use one 80 pound bag of concrete per post, poured in dry, then add a bucket of water.

We haven't had any problems so far at all.

We have also used those wedge-loc pieces to make t-post corners, they seem to be working ok so far at the in-laws place.

[ace admirer]

steel is not an option for me because i electrify, any insulator that is broken or any wet leaf that happens to fall between the wire and the post will ground the fence down to no voltage. with the deer population we have in my area, i find about ten to 20 insulators broken every month.

i would love to try concrete post, but know little of the methods of making or fastening insulators. i tried plastic post a decade or two ago. found that they would slowly bend with forces. that was no good for hi tensile. maybe different with todays plastic.

as it is i use 6 inch as a min. and try to find 7-8 inch treated corner post. i use 6 inch brace post and 4-5 inch hoz. braces 8 to 10 feet long. in some long runs, i use double brace post.

like i said...i would be very interested in hearing from someone that has concrete/high tensile experience.

[agmantoo]

Recycled metal I beam posts deep into the ground with porcelein insulators mounted with a bolt. Plastic insulators break

[milkinpigs]

Used crossties, 3 ft. in the ground.....tamp them in good and they WILL NOT give.

[Up North]

Originally Posted by milkinpigs

Used crossties, 3 ft. in the ground.....tamp them in good and they WILL NOT give.

With the wildfires of last winter & spring in Texas & OK, are cattlemen in your area looking more to non-wood materials, to avoid losing main fence structures to fire?

[Bearfootfarm]

I used telephone poles cut 8 ft long and set 4 feet deep. My town sells used ones for 35 cents a foot. No braces and none have moved at all in 2 years (knock on wood) Check with your local utilities to see if they have them

[Ronney]

Over here, if not using electric, all our fences are what we call "post and batten" i.e. post every 9ft or so (depending on the lay of the land) with 6,7 or 8 hi-tensile wires and battens attached to them every 2.5 feet. The end posts and corner posts are what we call strainers. Strainers are longer than posts, are usually around 6-8" in diameter and are sunk into the ground almost the same length as what remains above and always have "foots" attached to the bottom of them (which is what Milkinpigs is referring to as crossties I should think.) While this is an expensive way to fence, I would defy anything to move those strainers if they have put in the ground properly and most NZ farmers look at building a fence to last a lifetime of farming. When we build a new fence here we know it will last 40 years with reasonable maintenance which basically means replacing the odd batten or rejoining wire that some idiotic bull has snapped.

Cheers,
Ronnie

[Up North]

Ronnie more language differences, LOL. Pretty sure MPIGS means RailRoad crossties, which are timbers about 10X10 inches square and 9 feet long. They are placed crossways under steel RR tracks. AS they are pressure boiled in creosote /oil when new they last long time.
Sorry but I'm just not visualizing your description of Battens?

[Bearfootfarm]

I think the battens just mean lightweight spacers to keep the wires seperated but dont actually touch the ground. And 9 foot spacing on high tensile fence posts seems awful close to me. My line posts are 50 feet apart with nothing between them. But then mine are electric too so they dont get any pressure on them for more than an instant LOL

[milkinpigs]

Sorry Ronney, i'm not fluent in Kiwi , yet LOL. I am talking about used rail road crossties. The ranchers that were using pipe set in concrete reported in many cases tha 4 in. pipe H-braces and corner posts twisted and warped from the heat of the grass fires, leaving big mess to deal with. Steel T posts are running over 3 bucks, so most are going back with cedar posts.

[Ronney]

Duh, my fault, I should have known what crossties were From what you describe, they would make bloody good strainers and last your liefetime in farming and some.

Bear has the right of it with the battens. They help strengthen the fence and stop stock poking their head through the wires and I would defy any lamb to make it's way through them. Bear, with electric we have huge spaces between the posts, with post and batten the posts are much closer together to take into account the strain that is put on them and the lay of the country - every rise and every hollow has a post and every post in a hollow is footed to stop it being pulled out of the ground. As I said, this is an expensive method of fencing but will be there for many years, is low maintenance and about as close as one can get to being stock proof for sheep, lambs, cattle and calves. Rung pigs can't get through them, unfortunately unrung pigs will dig under them so we will use electric wire on outriggers to deter that behaviour.

Cheers,
Ronnie

[Up North]

A good friend of mine grew up in a small town General Store on the Plains of North Dakota. One day an 85 year old rancher came in and asked about fenceposts. My friend Stormin' Norman explained to him they had 2 kinds - The big old cedar ones that would last 40 years or the new machine-peeled pencil posts that were easier to put in but only lasted 15 years.
The old Rancher looked Norman square in the eye and growled " Get me them Cedar Ones Boy, I'm just gettin' started at this Ranchin' business!"
Now that's an optimist- most fellers that age don't buy any Green Bananas! :banana02: :banana02: