high tensile wire....does brand matter?

[jdg]

Hello all....

About to do a pretty extensive fencing operation and am wondering if anyone has had experience with different brands of Class 3 galvanized, high tensile wire. Not sure if I need 180,000 or 200,000 PSI, and uncertain whether or not a name brand buys me any more quality. Will be doing 4 wire perimeter and lane ways, and 2 strand pasture subdivisions...with posts spaced from 25-40 feet, pending situation. thoughts...?

-dg

 

[dun]

Brand doesn;t matter as long as it's double galvanized and in the 170-180k pound range. The resons for the lighter weight is so that it's easier to bend and work with

 

[James T]

I've never used it but interested. What are the benefits/drawbacks?

 

[Lucky_P]

Don't know that it makes any difference.

Electrified or not?
Mine is all electric - most has been in place since '95 - still looks as good as the day I put it up; just bought whatever Class III galvanized 12.5 ga. HT wire they had at the local Southern States, Central Tractor, or Tractor Supply stores when building fences.
If electrified, you don't have to crank the tension up any tighter than it takes to keep the wire from sagging. On flat/straight runs, I only put in posts every 100 ft or so; closer in uneven ground or runs through the edge of the woods.
A good 'hot' energizer makes that fence a 'psychological' barrier more so than a true physical barrier. Most of my farm (110 acres of pasture, segregated into 16 5-acre paddocks + 2 10-acre winter-feeding 'sacrifice paddocks) is fenced with two strands of electrified HT wire - at 18" & 30". Bull pasture is 4 strands; holding pen/alley, leading up to round pen and working facilities, is 11 strands of non-electrified HT at 4-6" spacings, with posts 16 ft apart.

 

[HDRider]

Don't know that it makes any difference.

Electrified or not?
Mine is all electric - most has been in place since '95 - still looks as good as the day I put it up; just bought whatever Class III galvanized 12.5 ga. HT wire they had at the local Southern States, Central Tractor, or Tractor Supply stores when building fences.
If electrified, you don't have to crank the tension up any tighter than it takes to keep the wire from sagging. On flat/straight runs, I only put in posts every 100 ft or so; closer in uneven ground or runs through the edge of the woods.
A good 'hot' energizer makes that fence a 'psychological' barrier more so than a true physical barrier. Most of my farm (110 acres of pasture, segregated into 16 5-acre paddocks + 2 10-acre winter-feeding 'sacrifice paddocks) is fenced with two strands of electrified HT wire - at 18" & 30". Bull pasture is 4 strands; holding pen/alley, leading up to round pen and working facilities, is 11 strands of non-electrified HT at 4-6" spacings, with posts 16 ft apart.

That sounds good. I have 150 acres I am about to do a fence in a very similar fashion.

Question - This might be hard for you to answer - Do you think going to five strands would work if I wanted to run goats?? I want to run goats in a rotation with my cattle.

More Questions - These are easier for you -
What posts did you use?
Would you use the same post if you did it today?
Can you describe your corner posts?

Thanks

 

[circlew]

HD I kept goats behind a 3 strand electric fence. The main objective is to keep the fence hot!! You want to keep them in and predators out as best you can.

 

[papavillars]

My dad raised goats most of my life he always said if it doesn't hold water it won't hold goats. I ran three strand and had to add another strand.

 

[Lucky_P]

Ends/corners are most important. A number of things I do differently than I did 18 years ago when I put up the first runs of HT fencing.
Original fence was sort of semi-temporary - slapped up a perimeter around 40 acres or so using t-posts and 'wedge-lok' hardware in a couple of days - worked OK for what I needed at the moment, but replaced end/corners with more substantial wood posts - mostly eastern redcedar(with lots of heartwood) cut out of the woods on the farm here. Have had to replace a number that were less than 10" diameter with black locust or discarded utility pole posts, as those smaller cedar posts have broken or rotted off faster than I'd anticipated.

Biggest headache these days is trying to keep gates/latches lined up - farm manager(wife) isn't satisfied with a piece of chain - gotta be those latches that you can 'supposedly' open from horseback. With long runs of HT wire - even though the tension is not cranked up - gate posts tend to shift over time, requiring me to jack 'em back into position and pound in rock between the post and bedlogs.

Goats? Don't know that I'd count on keeping them in with HT fencing; may work for some, but I'd bet it wouldn't for me. Saw something years ago about effective voltages - to keep cattle in, you've gotta maintain at least 2500 volts on the fence; goats require around 7500 volts - that's HOT, and you may have to have alternating electrified/nonelectrified(grounded) wires in order to contain small ruminants, especially if conditions get dry.
Someone wiser than me once opined that the only truly effective way to contain goats was to pour two 10 ft-tall concrete walls 20 ft apart, fill the space in between with water and stock it with sharks and piranhas. lol - but some truth...

Wayne Burleson used to have a pretty good website - PastureManagement.com (though it appears to have disappeared and been replaced by something else) with some good info on building electrified HT fences, good diagrams/instructions on floating brace assemblies for end/corners, etc. Here's one of his tip sheets with some links to other good info: http://www.ibiblio.org/farming-connecti ... ncemis.htm

 

[jdg]

Has anyone used Bekaert's ZA (Zinc aluminum) coating on barbed or High Tensile wire? Their literature says it last as long as Class 3 galvanized but is
cheaper....$89/4000' roll at T.S.

-dg

 

[Banjo]

Never used it specifically, but you can get any of it for $100 or less around here.

 

[dun]

The aluminum that I've used in the past isn;t nearly as resilient as the steel. It seems to stretch when a limb falls on it or a deer runs through it whereas the steel will bounce right back to where it was without having to rerun or retighten it.

 

[Banjo]

I called TSC a while back to price their HT 4000' rolls and it was so much cheaper than everyone else it kind of made me leary of it, so I went with the higher priced stuff.

 

[Lucky_P]

If you're gonna electrify your HT wire, you don't need the compression springs. Only place I still have those is on top strands in runs through the woods - and probably don't need them there - my 'low-tension' HT fences push right down to the ground if a tree fell on them - and pop right back up once you get it removed. Heck, I can step on the top strand, mash it to the ground and walk over - or have someone drive the truck, tractor, or 4-wheeler over while I'm standing on it.
Again - if electrified, you don't need high tension - it's more of a psychological barrier than a true physical barrier. Guess if I had frontage on a roadway, I might want something more substantial - but I don't, on either count.

 

[lucky7chief]

I would suggest only 1 wire for cross fences. We used 2 strands but have since taken the second wire down. It's unnecessary and keeps cows from keeping the grass off the fence. Also, small calves will crawl through 2 strands and not find their way back.