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CONTROL COWS FROM GOING UP OR DOWN A CREEK
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<blockquote data-quote="Anonymous" data-source="post: 1961"><p>Ah, the joys of fencing across a creek.</p><p></p><p>Building a water gap is like skinning a cat. Hundreds of ways to do it and they're all messy. When you're fencing across a creek or branch the main thing to remember is that when the water gets up your gap WILL wash out – no matter how strong it is. It would cost a fortune to build something that can withstand high water without giving way in some fashion. It's not the water that does the damage. It's the debris stacking up against the gap and the pressure building from upstream. The trick is to build failure points into the design so fixing it is easier. There are two basic approaches, each with countless variations.</p><p></p><p>One basic design is to build your gap in such a way that the gap will swing up when all the limbs, flotsam, and other crap build up against it. Then they will be shoved under the gap and it will swing back down when the water goes down and you have cleaned out the leftovers. This type of water gap can be made from pipe, bull panels, corrugated tin, tires, etc. Whatever material you use will hang from a cable that is stretched across the creek. It will work OK but if big limbs or anything else get hung up in the gap they will tear it out, so when you're wiring things together don't make it too strong. Make sure to use good posts on each side and stretch the cable high enough that it will not get snagged by any debris. If it goes with the gap your whole fence will be damaged since you are probably using those posts to stretch regular fence running away from the creek.</p><p></p><p>The other basic way is to build a wire gap using stays that sit on the ground instead of posts. You will still need a good strong post on each side. Stretch tight enough to turn cows. Wire it to the post on one end very strongly, but weakly to the post on the other side. Then when the creek gets up the gap will break where you want it to and sweep over to one side and lay down. When the creek goes down you can clean all the mess out and swing it back.</p><p></p><p>As said, there are many variations but most water gaps swing up or to the side. All are a pain to fix but the good ones are a lot less of a pain than rebuilding from scratch, which is what you will do if you try to build a strong fence across. When a creek or branch gets on a tear it wins every time, so let it win on your terms.</p><p></p><p>Craig</p></blockquote><p></p>
[QUOTE="Anonymous, post: 1961"] Ah, the joys of fencing across a creek. Building a water gap is like skinning a cat. Hundreds of ways to do it and they’re all messy. When you’re fencing across a creek or branch the main thing to remember is that when the water gets up your gap WILL wash out – no matter how strong it is. It would cost a fortune to build something that can withstand high water without giving way in some fashion. It’s not the water that does the damage. It’s the debris stacking up against the gap and the pressure building from upstream. The trick is to build failure points into the design so fixing it is easier. There are two basic approaches, each with countless variations. One basic design is to build your gap in such a way that the gap will swing up when all the limbs, flotsam, and other crap build up against it. Then they will be shoved under the gap and it will swing back down when the water goes down and you have cleaned out the leftovers. This type of water gap can be made from pipe, bull panels, corrugated tin, tires, etc. Whatever material you use will hang from a cable that is stretched across the creek. It will work OK but if big limbs or anything else get hung up in the gap they will tear it out, so when you’re wiring things together don’t make it too strong. Make sure to use good posts on each side and stretch the cable high enough that it will not get snagged by any debris. If it goes with the gap your whole fence will be damaged since you are probably using those posts to stretch regular fence running away from the creek. The other basic way is to build a wire gap using stays that sit on the ground instead of posts. You will still need a good strong post on each side. Stretch tight enough to turn cows. Wire it to the post on one end very strongly, but weakly to the post on the other side. Then when the creek gets up the gap will break where you want it to and sweep over to one side and lay down. When the creek goes down you can clean all the mess out and swing it back. As said, there are many variations but most water gaps swing up or to the side. All are a pain to fix but the good ones are a lot less of a pain than rebuilding from scratch, which is what you will do if you try to build a strong fence across. When a creek or branch gets on a tear it wins every time, so let it win on your terms. Craig [/QUOTE]
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CONTROL COWS FROM GOING UP OR DOWN A CREEK
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