high tensile fence

[cleland]

We have access to grazing some corn stalks and waterways on the neighbors place, only problem is that one side is not fenceed. I am considering putting up a high tensile electric fence. I do have a few questions though.
- how far apart on the posts?
- how many wires should we put?
- if i use hedge posts can i staple to the posts w/o insulators?
any other suggestions from any one who has done it for a perimeter.
We use electric to divide pastures, and on top of barbed wire in the bull pastures, but never as a perimeter

thanks
Jeff

[c farmer]

i have a 5 wire fence with 4 hot wires, I put my posts 25 feet apart and all of the hot wires need insulators when attached to posts.

[backhoeboogie]

There must be a thousand posts on this subject back down in the threads.

[hillsdown]

I have a section that is high tensile electric wire that is adjacent to a hay field. we have just ran 2 wires and the posts are about 15 feet apart. Never a problem with escapees , however if they did escape they will still be on our property. I think it comes down to how well trained your cattle are and how respective they are to hot wire . If they are content where they are they will stay there. Our cattle are electric fence trained from day one. I also section out pasture by using 2 strands of yellow wire fence and plastic posts with never a problem..


The key to a good hot wire fence is the ground rods and make sure you have insulators on each post.

[hillsdown]

I should add that my bull pen mainly only consists of 2 strands of electric fence and when the fence is working there is never a problem..

[mtncows]

What is on the other side of the fence line? If it is a road or other open land,I would not use less than three.Check to se if your county has a fence law.

[JRGidaho`]

It sounds like your cows are trained to electric fence. I would just do two wires with posts at 50 ft. Do you have this lease for longer than a single year?

You can staple directly to seasoned hedge. In dry conditions there should be no voltage loss. When it is wet there will be some voltage bleeding through on every post. Put a big enough charger on with appropriate grounding and it shouldn't be a problem. I normally figure 1 joule per mile of fence. If you are going to use uninsulated hedge, I would plan for at least two joules per mile.

The comment about checking your local laws for liability is reasonable. I don't think any states allow fewer than four wires in an electric fence as a a legal fence. If you're in a low population area I wouldn't worry too much about it. If you're next to a busy highway, then maybe you should follow the letter of the law.

[cleland]

I have the lease for as long as I want it. I will only be able to graze it when there are no crops in it though. I am probably going to start with electric fence and then build barb wire as time will allow. It is a half mile off of a busy highway, with another piece of plow ground on the unfenced side.

[Angus Cowman]

I agree with JRG on NO - insulators on hedge post the owner of Powerflex fence has all of his fence on hedge post with no insulators

if running cow/calf pairs I would run 2 wires 1 at 18-20" and 1 at 36"

[JRGidaho`]

I have the lease for as long as I want it. I will only be able to graze it when there are no crops in it though. I am probably going to start with electric fence and then build barb wire as time will allow. It is a half mile off of a busy highway, with another piece of plow ground on the unfenced side.

If you find the 2-wire electric works, why would you want to go through the cost and headache of building barbwire fence?

I haven't built a barb wire fence since the early 1980's and can't think of anything that would ever motivate me to do so again.

[Willow Springs]

Our cows are trained to electric fence, but don't have a problem when new cows come into the system. We run one high tensile wire with posts about 75-100 feet apart depending on topography. I started out insulating, but found it unneccesary with dry posts and the fact that we use fewer posts than most people. We just use a little bigger fencer. If the soil is very dry or frozen in winter, 2 wires might be better for grounding, however our cows don't bother trying to go anywhere in the winter because it's all snow anyway.

As was stated in the last post; why would you ever use barbwire again? We fence our land for a fraction of the cost using electric, and can fence piece of land very quickly.

[donaldjohnson]

go to tractor supply and get a free video on high tensile fence. its worth your time.

[KMacGinley]

All you need for this is a simple electric fence, I use white poly wire for this, 1 strand. Use a high quality, battery type charger to get the fence as hot as possible if not near power. I also like step in posts. Plastic

You can't afford to build anything permanent, it is not your land and you may have a falling out with your neighbor.

[dun]

All you need for this is a simple electric fence, I use white poly wire for this, 1 strand. Use a high quality, battery type charger to get the fence as hot as possible if not near power. I also like step in posts. Plastic

You can't afford to build anything permanent, it is not your land and you may have a falling out with your neighbor.

AND put in a good ground system, electric fence is hardly worth spit without a really good ground system!

[KMacGinley]

I put in 3 six foot copper rods 10 feet apart.