Barb wire vs hgh tensile

[midtncattle]

What do you guys think. Got about 20 acres getting ready to fence. This may be a preference thing.

[hooknline]

Barb never really stops anything that wants thru. Go with the thickest guage and cheapest of the 2

[hillsdown]

If you can add heat to the tensile I would go with that. If not 5 strand barb is the best .
Or for the absolute best fencing, 4 strand bard and one hot one of tensile, We have that on our perimeter fencing to the west and north ,cattle stay where they are supposed to be, ours and the neighbors.

[pdfangus]

my therory on fencing is make the eyes water and the knees buckle.....

barb wire is not as good a conductor.

12 and 1/2 gauge high tensile with 9000 volts.

[BIZIN]

If your gonna build it right, then high tensile. I can build high tensile faster, with less man power and less than half the price. Our perimeter fence is 5 strand high tensile, 5 ft high, 3 hot, 2 ground. ground wires are all attached to 15' ground rods every mile, that grounds out the fence really good and we have a speedrite 32000 running on every 20 miles of fence. Put our posts every 100-150' depending on the terrain, so your saving money on posts by spacing em that far apart. I can span a 300' slough and put a 9' post on either end, 4' in the ground and the wire never has to go into the water or anywhere near it. Run 2" irrigation tubing under the gates and then run an insulated wire through the tubing and seal it up with caulking so no moisture gets in. and it keeps power flowing through the fence with the gate open. Make sure you never use tire tubing or anything like that to wrap wire around the posts, make sure you use a porcelain or plastic knuckle to cut wore at the ends of the fence and gates. If you use some kinds of garden hose or tire tubing it has wire running through it for reinforcment and it just grounds your fence out.

[Galloway2]

I use a single strand of (Red Brand) high tensile 4-Barb, and make it hot. The barbs are razor sharp. Our neighbor has a good four strands of barbed wire, and his cattle are out all the time, but don't get in with ours.

[pdfangus]

THE NATURE OF BARB WIRE MAKES IT A LESS EFFICIENT CONDUCTOR. NOT SAYING IT WON'T WORK....JUST THAT IT IS LESS EFFICIENT AND EXPERIENCES MORE CURRENT LOSS.

IN VIRGINIA IT WILL NOT MEET THE NEW NRCS SPECIFICATIONS TO USE BARB WIRE FOR ELECTRIC.

[dun]

THE NATURE OF BARB WIRE MAKES IT A LESS EFFICIENT CONDUCTOR. NOT SAYING IT WON'T WORK....JUST THAT IT IS LESS EFFICIENT AND EXPERIENCES MORE CURRENT LOSS.

IN VIRGINIA IT WILL NOT MEET THE NEW NRCS SPECIFICATIONS TO USE BARB WIRE FOR ELECTRIC.

After being grabbed by a barb on an electric fence once I would sure never electricfy barbed again.

[midtncattle]

Thanks for ideas. How hard is it to get the tensile hot? What would it take to heat 9 acres worth of fence?

[Isomade]

THE NATURE OF BARB WIRE MAKES IT A LESS EFFICIENT CONDUCTOR. NOT SAYING IT WON'T WORK....JUST THAT IT IS LESS EFFICIENT AND EXPERIENCES MORE CURRENT LOSS.

IN VIRGINIA IT WILL NOT MEET THE NEW NRCS SPECIFICATIONS TO USE BARB WIRE FOR ELECTRIC.

After being grabbed by a barb on an electric fence once I would sure never electricfy barbed again.

[Angus Cowman]

Thanks for ideas. How hard is it to get the tensile hot? What would it take to heat 9 acres worth of fence?

A good sta fix 6 charger will do a fine job might even be able to get by with a 3 you need to determine the amount of wire on the fence not just the length of the fence

these folks can answer any question you have and will be glad to do it http://www.powerflexfence.com

[Lucky_P]

Ditto what most of the other folks said.
Grew up with barbed. Fenced the current farm with electrified HT, starting 17 years ago. Original wire looks as good today as when I put it up. Would never go back to barbed.
HT is quick and easy to put up, easy to repair and maintain, much much less expensive to put in. There is a learning curve in getting used to working with it, building appropriate end/corner assemblies, etc., but once you get that right, you can 'roll on, buddy'.
Almost all of my 110 acres of pasture - perimeter and interior divisions - are only 2 strands of electrified HT at 18 and 30 inches. Bull pasture has 4 wires, all hot. You need a good, hot energizer and a digital fence meter that'll direct you to shorts/grounds. But, unlike the old weedburner type chargers I grew up with, a good high-voltage/low-impedance charger will push quite a jolt, even through a lot of vegetation growing up into the wires. About the only time I lose enough voltage that calves will 'try' it is if a T-post insulator is broken or popped off, and the wire's grounding out on the t-post.

[midtncattle]

Thanks for your answers. Is there much maintenance on th HT wire? Does it stretch much and require tightining?

[dun]

Maintenance is oratically nil and unless a post shifts it won;t require retightening if put up right the first time.

[krankieone]

Thanks for your answers. Is there much maintenance on th HT wire? Does it stretch much and require tightining?

I use HT wire and only have to restrain when trees fall on them or the Roos give them a real hammering (I dont imagine you'd have too much trouble with them)