Fence

[4hfarms]

Not bragging or showing off. I built mine out of the cedars that fell over the fences during the tornadoes a few years back. Used green 4 wire for the new one. We like it, don't really care what others think. Don't think the cows care, well, never told me anything anyway.... maybe they make fun of me for it. Didnt ask.

 

[Brute 23]

Some of my neighbors have figured out how to really make money on cattle. They don't touch a fence and don't worry when their cattle get on our side. It's dang near free fences and grazing. Hard to be that.

 

[Twisted]

Some of my neighbors have figured out how to really make money on cattle. They don't touch a fence and don't worry when their cattle get on our side. It's dang near free fences and grazing. Hard to be that.

That is what I've seen a lot of as well. Just turn them out and go check on them if someone complains, then if the livestock do more damage than they are worth just claim they aren.t theirs. It's a shame really.

I have done a lot with nothing my whole life but have never shied away from making something fancier or much more pleasant to look at just because the labor to do so is double or triple what it would take to just throw it up and move on. In most all cases the materials are near the same. Then after making something that I am quite proud of have someone say it looks like I spent way too much money and will soon be bankrupt is rude.

Do the cows or the people who will buy my beefs care what the fence is made of or cost, probably not, but they don't live there.

 

[cowman82]

Some of my neighbors have figured out how to really make money on cattle. They don't touch a fence and don't worry when their cattle get on our side. It's dang near free fences and grazing. Hard to be that.

those cows just hang around those farms and won't ever leave... my neighbors cows are on the road eating the ditch all day b/c he doesn't feed them anything all winter. They were in my bottom hay field a lot, and after a lot of complaining I finally had to spend 2 DAYS fixing HIS FENCE.

Now.. my cows get out and they just go.. cya later. neighbors have new cows to sell at the barn and a nice little extra $$$$.

 

[greybeard]

cowman82, I had a neighbor named Jerry Faulkner about 2 miles downstream from me that was kind of like that. In drought and every winter, he just cut his river side fence and let his cows 'run the bottoms' which also meant they could come into people's yards. We all put up with it for the most part because he was really a good guy, about the last of the old time thicket cowboys that had horses and dogs and would always happy to come down & do his thing if you had one of your own get out and get off in the woods too thick far a man to travel on foot, much less on a 4 wheeler. Caustic knows the type terrain and heavy brush there was there. A hardwood bottom that in drought and winter always had some green stuff for cows to eat. Yaupon, some kind of bunch grass and sweetgum leaves on young saplings..
But, eventually his cows got in the wrong neighbors yard (retirees from cities that wouldn't know a bull from a cow) and they called the sheriff's dept on him and it wasn't the first time, so the judge ordered him to either fix his fences permanently or he'd have to sell his cattle. He had Parkinson's disease real bad so he just sold his livestock, then died from a small kitchen fire a few months later. Jerry was just Jerry. Did things the old way and I really do miss him.

 

[Stonewall Joe]

We have barb wire or fixed knot fence for pasture fences. 80% has been replaced in the last 10yrs the rest was probably built in the 50's and 60's. We decided to replace about 2,000' of fence around our house with the Continuous fence panels and post in the pics over the last 6 months. We build all the fences ourselves to save on the labor. The pipe fence was a bit of a splurge but didn't break the bank and should be trouble free for the next 30-40 yrs at least.

Our corrals are built out of used oil field pipe and sucker rod. The next set I build will be out of the contiuous panels. The panels are more expensive but are a huge time saver and seem to be a much better option.

how close are you setting the posts and are the panels stout enough to handle crowding

 

[Brute 23]

I know all our neighbors. Most are real good. I don't don't play with the ones that aren't. I give them ample time to communicate and us make a plan. I use to just eat it and not say much. If they try to dodge me or take advantage I'll have the sheriff's office pick their cattle up and they can get them from there. Same with bad fence or other issues. Had a guy leave over 20 cows on us for several weeks. Had another guy leave a big tree on brand new fence and blocking a row for going on 2 years before I went to the land owner directly.

No one who is worth a flip and handles their business ever has an issue with me. The one who don't, are know by most as being a pia.

 

[Lucky]

how close are you setting the posts and are the panels stout enough to handle crowding

The panels are 20' long so we've been setting the post 10' apart. We are putting this up along the road and around the house so won't have a crowding issue. I definitely wouldn't be afraid to use them on corrals with 10' post spacing. The panels are 1 1/4" 14 gauge tubing so are pretty stout. We bought 5 bar but they also make 6 bar which would be better for corrals. They are a little pricey but go up really fast. Time and labor are big issues for us so we tried these out.

 

[GoWyo]

The panels are 20' long so we've been setting the post 10' apart. We are putting this up along the road and around the house so won't have a crowding issue. I definitely wouldn't be afraid to use them on corrals with 10' post spacing. The panels are 1 1/4" 14 gauge tubing so are pretty stout. We bought 5 bar but they also make 6 bar which would be better for corrals. They are a little pricey but go up really fast. Time and labor are big issues for us so we tried these out.

I like to put up continuous fence in my pens and just weld them to 2-7/8" posts. They handle more pressure if there is a 2-3/8" top rail on the posts. The pipe top rail really ties the fence together.

 

[Lucky]

I like to put up continuous fence in my pens and just weld them to 2-7/8" posts. They handle more pressure if there is a 2-3/8" top rail on the posts. The pipe top rail really ties the fence together.

If I was building a corral out of them I'd definitely do pipe post with pipe top rail and weld the panels to them. We used clips with screws on this fence since theres no pressure. The last corrals we built we used sucker rod and they are time consuming to put up and constantly breaking welds.

I'll get some better pics of this fence later.

 

[GoWyo]

If I was building a corral out of them I'd definitely do pipe post with pipe top rail and weld the panels to them. We used clips with screws on this fence since theres no pressure. The last corrals we built we used sucker rod and they are time consuming to put up and constantly breaking welds.

I'll get some better pics of this fence later.

Sucker rod has to be put up with clips and pipe post with one end free floating. They are really prone to breaking at the weld with just the expansion and contraction from heating and cooling.

 

[Brute 23]

Sucker rod has to be put up with clips and pipe post with one end free floating. They are really prone to breaking at the weld with just the expansion and contraction from heating and cooling.

Rods are high tensile metal. You have to use the correct rods to get a good weld. That and alot of people try to put a little ball of weld to tie it in on top or maybe on bottom and that not very strong.

 

[greybeard]

I've welded a crapload of sucker rod and downhole pipe of all kinds with low hydrogen rods such as 7018. mild steel rod like 6011 6013 sure won't work. Mild steel will weld it, but about the time you get moved over to the next joint, you here the PING! of the joint ya just welded cracking at the weld. Downside to low hydrogen rods is they don't like rust and dirt and they need more amps.

 

[Lucky]

Whenever I go back to fix a broken rod weld I try to use a clip and weld the clip to the pipe so the rod free floats just a tad. If I do weld the rod to the pipe I use a 7018. Unfortunately learned this the hard way.

 

[Brute 23]

I've welded a crapload of sucker rod and downhole pipe of all kinds with low hydrogen rods such as 7018. mild steel rod like 6011 6013 sure won't work. Mild steel will weld it, but about the time you get moved over to the next joint, you here the PING! of the joint ya just welded cracking at the weld. Downside to low hydrogen rods is they don't like rust and dirt and they need more amps.

A lot of people on the farm don't like to use 7018 for that reason. They can be a little harder to use, also.

Lucky me I grew up with a welder and he wouldnt let me use any thing else hardly. In 6th grade I had my first shop class. I came home and told my dad I was welding in class. That was the first thing he asked me. What rods did you use? I can't remember if it was a 6010 or 6011 but he just shook his head. He went outside and loaded up a canister with 7018s and sent me back to school with it.

We use to build cattle pens, hog traps, cattle guards, oil field equipment, trailers and a lot of other stuff when he had his shop growing up. He guaranteed every weld for the life of the item.. sucker rod, cattle panel welded on, etc. People would ask about the cattle panels coming loose and he told them the welds on the panels will break before my welds from the panel to the metal will. He was right. I have seen both cattle and hogs break the welds on the panels first. We had to cut off the panel and replace it. The welds never broke.

 

[backhoeboogie]

Some of my neighbors have figured out how to really make money on cattle. They don't touch a fence and don't worry when their cattle get on our side. It's dang near free fences and grazing. Hard to be that.

We had a neighbor like that. His cows were starving and they had to go somewhere. You learn to never plant winter wheat in the pasture that adjoins that neighbor. You almost need a buffer zone of land.

 

[1982vett]

We had a neighbor like that. His cows were starving and they had to go somewhere. You learn to never plant winter wheat in the pasture that adjoins that neighbor. You almost need a buffer zone of land.

Hell, I keep a pasture and a hot wire between my own bulls.

 

[Hamiam]

My husband built these H post for our neighbor with some pipe she already had. She & I got them installed last year. Today, my husband just finished some modifications with a kicker. His only welding training was in high school. Next, we work on our road frontage fence. It's in rough shape.

 

[backhoeboogie]

Hamiam there's a whole lot of us that learned to weld in HS. We've burned a lot of rod in the 50 years since then. The more you weld, the better you become.

 

[Silver]

I've never heard anyone say 7018 is hard to weld with. In fact up here it is often referred to as 'farmer rod'.