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Anonymous
I have to re-fence my yard. My wife wants to go with 4 board PVC fence. Looks good but will it stand up to cattle? I see it alot in my area some people have a hot wire with it but most don't. Thanks.
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Saw on an Ag show once where a dairy farm used PVC pipe that they poured concrete inside (at least the posts). Don't remember if they poured concrete in the horizontal sections. They used it in the holding pen areas where the cows would rub against it a lot. They liked it because it did not rot etc. I would think it would be expensive though...but would look decent for years.
eric
Well-known member
I priced 3 bd pvc here in N Tx when I was doing my fence. It ran about $9.50 a ft installed, thats for a top rail and 2 cross bds. It made more sense for me to just have a 2 7/8"- 5ft tall- 4 strand pipe and cable put in instead, and it was a couple of bucks a foot cheaper. Only good thing about pvc I could find was the fact that it would never need painting again. I was also turned off by seeing some fences pushed out by cows, as the planks are only in the vertical posts a couple of inches or so. Don't think I would trust it to pen a bull for very long.
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Anonymous
I have one(3 rail) here at the house. I have had several rail pieces broke by cows that wanted my green lawn grass when they are runing cornstalks on the other side. They stick their heads through and just keep pushing.It now has a hot wire guarding it.
i think if you put a hot wire on the inside it would be a pretyt good investment, at least aesthetically. you wont have to replace rotted boards, no painting, just have to pressure wash with a little chlorox every now and then.
Hawk
Well-known member
Another consideration. The plastic fences don't perform well at all in a grass fire. Thet will lay right over on the ground. I personally wouldn't trust one to keep my livestock in, with or without a hotwire.
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Anonymous
I was told not to pour cement inside the line posts, because the line posts need to be able to move a little when the ground freezes and thaws. Several months ago I had a stud colt try to jump the pvc fence, he got high centered on the top rail his weight took the fence down. The eletric fence didn't slow him up.
Running Arrow Bill
Well-known member
mark":1nqp8cde said:
Think PVC fencing was designed for the "Show" atmosphere, for "Fencing off areas at Trade Shows", and to "contain" mild-mannered horses. While they promote it as "good" fencing, think their market is more directed at Gentleman Farmers who don't want to get splinters from wood posts or to lift steel posts. So much for my early morning sarcasm...lol.
Nothing beats steel posts and quality barb wire! Creosoted used utility poles are also sturdy and long-lasting for corner posts.
If the fencing is for a House Yard area, then PVC would work--just have another good barrier fence away from that fence to contain the livestock.
D.R. Cattle
Well-known member
I've seen too many of those PVC fences that looked like CACA after only a few years. Horses are abusive to anything. I like electricity. It abuses them back.
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Anonymous
I like the looks of the PVC pipe but I always wondered what would happen if you had a grass fire?
Running Arrow Bill
Well-known member
john":3ti8lqdg said:
PVC (polyvinylchloride) has a low melting point and produces a toxic smoke. Will burn. Yes it will melt into a PVC blob. If it doesn't melt, when it gets hot enough it will bend, perhaps under it's own weight.
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Anonymous
I'm a fence contractor and tell customers right up front electric on the pvc or it'll fall over. I use little white insulators and shoot them into the posts with galv drywall screws. then string wire or white poly wire, preferably 2 strands. as for filling posts with concrete, your installer was lazy. they must be filled to keep the freeze thaw cycles from popping them out of the ground. however they can be filled with sand or ag-slag. sand is iffy but ag-slag packs well and doesn't flow out the slots around the rails like concrete. pvc gates are worthless, way too much flex. I set a treated 6X6 and use a saw to let the rails into the post then hang a steel gate. PS concrete in post holes in this part of the country shouldn't come to the surface. stop filling the hole 5 or 6 inches below the surface so frost doesn't have a lip to push up on.
