Poly wire for temp. electric fence

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farmerjohn

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Do any of you like polywire? I need to fence off some wheat and ryegrass. I need elec fence that is easy to put up and take down. In the past I have used 17 guage wire and it's hard to take down and reuse.

Does polywire carry a good current?
Is it easy to splice if a cow breaks through?
 
If it breaks or fraze, I just tie it in a square knot. If you get the stainless 9 conductor stuff it will still carry over 7k voltsd at the far end. The far end in ur case is only about 3/4 of a mile in any particular run.

dun
 
I hate that stuff.. used it for the first time last fall, and this past weekend spent a couple of hours taking it all down!

Our problem is the WIND. I can't keep it up or out of the barbed wire fence (behind it).
 
The wind is a big problem, also deer catch their antlers in it and tear it out. Waste of time and money.
 
dun":1vn9ty5f said:
If it breaks or fraze, I just tie it in a square knot. If you get the stainless 9 conductor stuff it will still carry over 7k voltsd at the far end. The far end in ur case is only about 3/4 of a mile in any particular run.

dun

On a long run ( over a mile)It helps to join them stainless to stainless.
 
I really like polywire; polytape usually is a problem in high wind areas and we've had problems with the wires burning through where polytape connects to a gate handle or the high tensile wire. Never had any of those problems with polywire.
We use electric cord wheels to take them up. And as Dun, whenever it needs spliced I use a square knot. I use step-in posts about 30' apart and have enough slack that I can use another post to push the wire down to about 6" from the ground to step over it. It has enough tension to bounce back to the proper height, which for us is about 30". We use a single wire to hold yearlings and older. A double wire is required if you need to hold calves. A triple wire worked for us to separate two groups of cows with a bull in each group. In a situation like that, I place the posts closer and put a little more tension on the wire.

Some of our polywire fences have stayed in place for 4-5 years before needing replaced. Other fences are taken up each season and moved. Deer seemed to be a big problem the first year, not so any more. Either they have learned to jump it or I've learned to leave a proper amount of slack so it will have some 'give'. We use Kencove(I think), one brand my husband got at our local Harvestland was awful. The strands of plastic were larger, not formed from smaller strands twisted together. It broke easily, did not mend easily, and was harder to handle.
 
Polywire is good stuff! Have used it for semi-permanent internal fencing. Also have several reels that I can put up or take down and move. Quick and easy.
 
Single strand at 30" to 32" high and 7,000 volts will hold anything but calves and deer. Expect it to be knocked down by deer once or twice a year...

I use my old 17 ga for a scare wire on some 4 strand barbed wire fences.

I use a single strand high tensile wire for permenent or semi permenent interior fences. You can roll it up fast using a 55 gallon drum.
 
farmerjohn":wlsxumyw said:
Do any of you like polywire? I need to fence off some wheat and ryegrass. I need elec fence that is easy to put up and take down. In the past I have used 17 guage wire and it's hard to take down and reuse.

Does polywire carry a good current?
Is it easy to splice if a cow breaks through?
I think it is the best thing since ice cream. It is way stronger than the 17 guage wire, last longer than the junk I used to buy that rusted out in a couple of years. I buy the Gallager wire that has stainless and copper braids and is a lot better than the junk I buy at Tractor Supply. I get an easy 8500 volts a mile away. Once the cows are trained I can't see a reason to use anything else.
 
rkm":1jrd8ukj said:
The wind is a big problem, also deer catch their antlers in it and tear it out. Waste of time and money.

That is interesting, I have never had the problems with deer and wind like you are saying. I put is up a day or two ahead of time and let the deer figure it out and just put enough slack in it so they bounce off of it, and once in a great while they break it, I mean once or twice a year, and I am in a real high density deer area. The 17 guage wire is brittle and will snap when ever something hits it. The wind problem I wonder if you are talking about the poly tape instead, that you need to splice together with a joiner, if you tie the tape together the strands short out, the poly wire you can tie any way you want.
 
I have never had much luck with poly wire especially when I use it where there old fence or a wooded area. I was always told not to strech too tight I find it wrapped on old wire or brush. Sometimes just broken. I have a friend who has 100 angus cows and backgrounds all his calves for a year. Most of the time he has 300 head. He uses poly wire, even some of his exterior fences are a single strand of poly wire. I don't know how he does it.
 
rkm":2yuislul said:
I have never had much luck with poly wire especially when I use it where there old fence or a wooded area. I was always told not to strech too tight I find it wrapped on old wire or brush. Sometimes just broken. I have a friend who has 100 angus cows and backgrounds all his calves for a year. Most of the time he has 300 head. He uses poly wire, even some of his exterior fences are a single strand of poly wire. I don't know how he does it.

Most of my exterior fences are just one strand of poly wire, I run it through the woods and swamp and just nail insulators to tress. I could not afford fence if it were'nt for this stuff.

Ray
 
rkm":2xdqsnox said:
I have a friend who has 100 angus cows and backgrounds all his calves for a year. Most of the time he has 300 head. He uses poly wire, even some of his exterior fences are a single strand of poly wire. I don't know how he does it.

High voltage and good insurance...
 

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