Dixieangus
Well-known member
When you stretch barb wire do you hook it to the post then stretch or stretch then attach to post
Great system !---I learned something here as I'm getting ready to string 5400 ' of 5 strand!!SRBeef":fmtdetck said:I just finished putting up some 5-barb wire fence in the past couple weeks. I did part of it myself and hired what I didn't have time to finish.
The pro's do it as Dun mentioned - stretch then staple. Unless you really know what you are doing that can be dangerous however.
On the portion that I did on my own I use a different system to terminate and tension barb wire. I mark the heights above ground on my end post(s), put a staple in about 2/3 of the way at each height. I then use about 4 ft of smooth #9 brace wire thru each staple twice around the post then twisted around itself leaving about 2 ft of #9 free.
I cut my barb wire just inside a barb so there is about 5" of end with no barb and at a point which overlaps the end of my #9 wire by maybe 6". I insert this end of the barb wire into a "Large/#12 Barb Wire" Gripple connector, insert the free end of the #9 and use the Gripple tool to pull the #9 smooth wire until the barb wire is as tight as you want it. I then add another staple and hammer them both down lightly. The twist is holding the wire, not the staples. Gripple has a new tool which you can preset for the tension needed at which level it clicks like a torque wrench.
On long fence runs I do this at both ends. On medium to short runs I wrap around the post and twist the barb wire on itself at one around the end post and use the #9 and Gripple to tension the other end.
This is a good, safe, one-man system that a fencing novice can use. And they can be easily tightened later by pulling a bit more of the #9 thru the Gripple with their tool. Here is a link to the Gripple website if you are not familiar with them. Premier sells them online.
http://www.gripple.com/us/products/catalogue/agricultural/
These are a bit more expensive to use than the old stretcher but in my opinion they are worth the small difference in cost, not to mention the savings in medical costs if some barb wire breaks while you are stretching it, etc. They are reuseable.
Here's a picture of what I tried to describe above.
I cut an existing fence to add a new gate. The top two and bottom two of the 5 wires are tensioned as described with the #9 and barb wire gripples. The middle wire on this fence is electric and terminated a bit differently but wit a gripple used to tension it also. I don't do this middle wire of 5 electrified any more. I find that adding a separate 14 ga on 5" standoffs inside a 5 barb does a better job of keeping the cattle back and not pushing on the fence. I used the large gripples to tension the #9 brace wires also. I find it easier than the twist method used by the pros.
Dixieangus":1z4c5a4q said:When you stretch barb wire do you hook it to the post then stretch or stretch then attach to post
Dixieangus":3h87va39 said:When you stretch barb wire do you hook it to the post then stretch or stretch then attach to post