Rebar as a secondary fence line

[Chapin81]

hi everyone, I'm trying to lower my cost because ever since January I've spent out the wazooo in either upgrades or things that are necessary for the cattle operation to move forward. As some of you know we are located in Guatemala I'm in NYC. Our pastures are divided with either barb wire and wooden post that are 12-13 years old or barbwire with wooden post and a tree called Gliricidia Sepium sometimes called quick stick, back home we call it madre de cacao. These tree takes a few years to grow but it becomes a great "living fence" this is a common practice down there to avoid unnecessary spending on wire and post in the future. I want to run hi tensile wire as some of you have recommended so I can practice rotational grazing the hi tensile was supposed run on the original fences however most of the post are rotting or the quick stick isn't thick enough for an insulator, buying wooden post has gone up in price significantly. I found these Zareba screw on insulators, in the pic it's mounted on rebar up to half inch. I was thinking of maybe running the hi tensile with the rebar 6-12 inches in front of our permanent fence and maybe 5 ft in height. Has anyone done this?? How long would rebar last buried into the ground? What if I throw some cement in there so the soil doesn't eat away the metal??how far apart can I place the rebar?? I really only need it to hold the hitensile because the real fence is behind that hitensile. I was looking into buying fiberglass rods but to ship them it's going to cost an arm and a leg, buying down there isn't an option everything is so darn expensive. I just purchased 5 plastic Gallagher handles down there to tie at the ends of the turbo wire at $12 each plus shipping! Btw rebar is costing $5.50 per 20ft rod 1/2 inch. Wooden post are costing $5 per post. The trees below are not mine, it's just a pic I took of the internet to show what it looks like.
Thanks in advance for any suggestions or advice.

 

[kenny thomas]

The rebar will last longer than you will want to be in the cattle business. It is used to mark survey points here and will last a lifetime+

 

[Chapin81]

The rebar will last longer than you will want to be in the cattle business. It is used to mark survey points here and will last a lifetime+

Anything in particular I need to do like paint it with rust proof paint?? The soil can't eat it away can it? Thanks for the positive response.

 

[wbvs58]

5' is far too high for a hot wire. I would be going just 2-3'. Your concept is good though.

Ken

 

[sstterry]

Anything in particular I need to do like paint it with rust proof paint?? The soil can't eat it away can it? Thanks for the positive response.

No need, like Kenny said, it will outlast you. I also agree with Ken, 5' high is not necessary for electric fence. Shoulder height on the animal is sufficient.

 

[SBMF 2015]

Should work. I run two wires, 16" & 3 2" high. If you put the did posts in the ground 12" you can make them 48" long and get 5 out of a 20' stick. If you have access to some used sickle sections and a welder you can add a spade to the bottom of the posts to make them more stable in muddy conditions.
We made a mini post driver out of a 1" diameter pipe and a pipe cap. Filled the cap with weld for weight. Works better than a hammer.

 

[Rafter S]

I don't think anyone answered your question about spacing. I use rebar for temporary electric fences, and I put them about 20' apart. I put one wire about knee high and one about waist high, but could probably skip the bottom one.

And I also agree about not using concrete. Not only will it significantly raise cost and labor (since you'll need to drill a hole and fill it with wet concrete, then hold the rod in place somehow while the concrete cured instead of just driving the rod into the ground), but I'm not at all convinced they would last longer. They'll likely rust off at the top of the concrete just as fast as they'd rust in the ground.

 

[MurraysMutts]

2 wires work great for keeping CALVES in most of the time. But dont worry. If they do get out, they will get back to mama. Clever lil devils they are. For cow I just run 1 wire. About waist high.
Rebar last FOREVER it seems

 

[backhoeboogie]

Rebar will bend when livestock push it. It does not spring back as well as wire does. We have all dealt with plenty of bent cattle panels. I have also dealt with bent tube steel.

 

[Rafter S]

Rebar will bend when livestock push it. It does not spring back as well as wire does. We have all dealt with plenty of bent cattle panels. I have also dealt with bent tube steel.

That's true, but if they're pushing on posts holding hot wires you have bigger problems. And the rebar is pretty easy to bend back straight, or at least straight enough.

 

[Chapin81]

I don't think anyone answered your question about spacing. I use rebar for temporary electric fences, and I put them about 20' apart. I put one wire about knee high and one about waist high, but could probably skip the bottom one.

And I also agree about not using concrete. Not only will it significantly raise cost and labor (since you'll need to drill a hole and fill it with wet concrete, then hold the rod in place somehow while the concrete cured instead of just driving the rod into the ground), but I'm not at all convinced they would last longer. They'll likely rust off at the top of the concrete just as fast as they'd rust in the ground.

My dad suggested to use concrete because some areas are muddy when the rain arrives, but I figured 2-3 feet deep should be plenty. Thanks for the advice on the distance. I figured too far apart wouldn't be a good idea, this is my first time using hi-tensile.

 

[Chapin81]

2 wires work great for keeping CALVES in most of the time. But dont worry. If they do get out, they will get back to mama. Clever lil devils they are. For cow I just run 1 wire. About waist high.
Rebar last FOREVER it seems

so far the herd we are working with right now, they actually stay in the paddock. newborns are not getting near the polywire at all.

 

[Chapin81]

Rebar will bend when livestock push it. It does not spring back as well as wire does. We have all dealt with plenty of bent cattle panels. I have also dealt with bent tube steel.

hollow tube/pipe steel??

 

[dvcochran]

My dad suggested to use concrete because some areas are muddy when the rain arrives, but I figured 2-3 feet deep should be plenty. Thanks for the advice on the distance. I figured too far apart wouldn't be a good idea, this is my first time using hi-tensile.

Like others have said, weld on some spade and you will have a much better post. Two rows perpendicular to each other ideally. This may not be a huge problem for you but freeze/thaw really pushes post around.