Fencing opinions sought

[tytower]

I have to get some opinions for a court case . They need to be from people with cattle experience and big cattle at that.

I have been asked to show that the fence in the photos is " NOT SUFFICIENT " .

My cows are Droughtmasters and the adult females go to about 600 Kilos and the 5 year old bulls up to 1200 Kilos.

The existing fence is about 200 meters long (620 foot) 4 strand barbed wire about 20 years old with plenty of rust spots and rusty star pickets widely spaced with some pretty hopeless old strainers ( 3 over 200 meters including the ends)

The suggestion is that it can be repaired ,staying essentially as is using a minimum of replacement posts and the old wire. My contention is that the fence is not a sufficient fence to restrain my cattle and should be replaced with a timber post fence at 3 meter spacing with about 8 strainers (including ends) and new galvanised high tensile wire .

I would appreciate all comments especially from experienced cattlemen.(or women)
Edited 15/10/7 - Pics are hard to find -try this and page down
http://cattletoday.com/photos/showgallery.php?cat=503

or this http://cattletoday.com/photos/showphoto.php?photo=7147&cat=503&limit=all

 

[cowsrus]

I could not bring up the photo.

 

[Jogeephus]

From what I viewed in the gallery, I don't see how the fence will keep anything in or out.

 

[Jim62]

What fence are we dealing with?

I don't see no stinking fence.................

 

[cowsrus]

I found the photos and it,s kind of hard to tell. It looks like the fence has been upgraded and patched up through the years. I would say that it,s going to have to be replaced if you want a first class fence that will hold livestock. A cow or a calf will always find a hole in a fence and it,s usually at the most inconvenient time for you.

 

[novatech]

The fence is doing the job at this time as indicated by the taller grass on the other side of the fence.
Any fence can continualy be patched and made adequit enough to keep cattle in or out. The question is weather is is economicly feasable to continue repair or would it be cheaper in the long run to replace. In this case it seems that many posts need to be replaced along with the wire so in my openion it is time to replace as it would cost the same or even more to repair. Maybe less material to repair but the labor would eat you up. It may also be a question of forage availability. If there is plenty of grass where the cattle are grazeing there may be no problem. But if it gets short ant the grass on the other side is doing better you can bet the cattle will walk throught that fence in its present condition.

 

[marimus]

The existing fence is about 200 meters long (620 foot) 4 strand barbed wire about 20 years old with plenty of rust spots and rusty star pickets widely spaced with some pretty hopeless old strainers ( 3 over 200 meters including the ends)

The suggestion is that it can be repaired ,staying essentially as is using a minimum of replacement posts and the old wire. My contention is that the fence is not a sufficient fence to restrain my cattle and should be replaced with a timber post fence at 3 meter spacing with about 8 strainers (including ends) and new galvanised high tensile wire .

The point of high tensile is that you don't need as many posts in the run, strain is taken by the end assemblies. 3 meter spaced timber posts sounds more like regular 2.5mm IOWA pattern barb to me, although 3 meters is kinda close, won't see anybody around these parts putting that many posts in.

If your cattle can't be contained, I would say your cattle need some education in respecting fences. Electric works well for that.

In any case, I say your cattle, your problem.

 

[tytower]

Thanks all for the replies . I'll print it off and use it now.

marimus-I am in a very wet area and posts must be close as they lean against them when feeding through the fences.In dryer areas this is not a problem.

Also there is a law in QLD ,(Dividing fences act) that both parties contribute to the erection ,repair or replacement of a mutual fence.In my case both parties have cattle so thats how it should be I believe.

I'd like to use IOWA barb but the cost is more and the fence must be as used in the surrounding district under this act.

Your statement that a high tensile fence is held up by the strainers is interesting . I have been fencing for 35 odd years and while this may indeed be the result after straining a newly erected fence, that tension in the wire is gone after about a year or so and I have found I must restrain it then to get another two to three years of the fence remaining under strain ,if I am relying on strain to hold up my posts.

It needs to be restrained regularly after that if you wish to rely on that tension.So I agree with you and but with qualifications.

Now the problem I have found comes when re-straining. Tieing the wire is recommended to be around the post ,around the wire and up or down then between the wire and the post to get a lock that can not be pulled out by cattle straining on the wire. This done then , when re-straining high tensile wires, it tend to break at that point as you undo it . This is not normally a problem if the run of fence is sufficiently long , say 200 meters.

There is sufficient loose wire that when re-strained the broken end is about a foot further away from the post. But if the fence is shorter than 200 meters you can end up having to join a piece in to enable it to be tied off properly again.

That method of tieing wire is recommended by Waratah fencing and others and the recommended tension is 300 lb ,1.3 kN .
http://www.onesteel.com/products.asp?action=showProduct&productID=104&categoryName=
Any rusty spots will usually snap at that tension so its only applicable for new wire.