Fencing

johnjohn3423

For reasons I wont go into, I have to take over the running of a farm that's not in great shape. The first thing that has to be done is fence it all.

Initially I've to fence fields that boundary roads. What's there currently is a hedge and its mounded up in places but the cattle are breaking out through it.

What I am thinking is to put 3 rows of barbed wire on the field side of the hedge. I want to make this a permanent job. Its wet enough ground, west of Ireland. This has to hold in cattle that are gone wild enough.

Are creosoted posts the only type to use, with high tensile barbed wire.

For straining posts what do people use. Diameter and length. How often would straining posts need to be put in.

For the in-between posts what do people use. What space in-between these posts.

What height should the rows go at.

I've done some fencing in the past, its just while I am at it I may as well do it right. So looking for peoples views.

minerleague

Ideally get hedges cut first to clean back area to work in. Have you access to electricity for electric fence ( good solar ones around now too ) Much cheaper than barbed wire fence. ( less posts etc )

Siamsa Sessions

Some distances and sizes to answer your questions here: https://www.teagasc.ie/media/website/publications/2016/Good-Fencing-January.pdf

This would be research/demo farm standards, so you might be able to add or subtract a few inches in the real-world.

funkey_monkey

https://www.boards.ie/discussion/comment/119873250#Comment_119873250

Intermediate posts every 15m is very optimistic - that's every 50ft. It would also vary of the fence type too.

HHH

Barbed wire is the only job on a troublesome boundary. Cut back the ditches and fence it in tight to the ditch. Almost zero maintenance and peace of mind that the boundary is secure. Money well spent. Electric fence is only an option on internal fences imho

Belongamick

Completely agree with HHH - boundary - three row barbed wire all the way, internal fences - electric will cover it. Risk is high of an animal getting on to the road and involved in some sort of incident/accident.

Strainers that I have used were approx 14 ft (telegraph pole type) in the corners of the field to be fenced. They will last longer in dry ground = probably get 10 years out them. Recently, I am replacing all strainers with concrete gate posts - a bit more cumbersome but a lifetime job. The wetter ground seems to rot the best of strainers. Strainers are critical to maintain tension in the fence. On long fences, approx 100meters you may need two. Attach barbed wire to the strainer and use a ratchet fence strainer to keep is tight. Once tight, you have a line to drop down your fence posts every 7 meters approximately. I have used 6 foot round grant specification posts, tapped down with a post driver. You will need some help with this and maybe visit a couple of neighbors for guidance.

Lime Tree Farm

I was told put plain wire on road boundary, as that was the law. It's in case vehicle crashing into ditch and getting tangled up in it, emergency services having to deal with it.

minerleague

https://www.boards.ie/discussion/comment/119875234#Comment_119875234

Would that be if wire was the only fence ( no ditch / hedge ) ?

amacca

Just to offer a slightly different viewpoint ....I always go with two row of barb and a third row of plain electric wire (all high tensile).....

The big advantage I see here is if you go with 3 row of barb the too row often becomes a lovely place to scratch an itch and the feckers go aheadvand do that and they aren't long taking the strain of the wire and breaking down sections (I say not long in practice it could be years and years but I really do aim for the lifetime job when I fence and I've found that works best if you have a decent fencer (good joule rating .. spec beyond the acreage/km as much as possible and the fence won't be touched then its down to the quality of your posts, wire and how it was erected etc)

When it comes to posts, get the best you can get, no point getting the soft tanilised shite unless you want to be back in 5-7 years replacing them all including kingposts/strainers...there's also a lot of shite creosoted ones masquerading as quality that aren't....and even if theres good penetration of the preservative they can be too dry/brittle and snap easily if you are using a post driver..

The best lasting wooden posts I have here are ex telephone poles and good larch (I have posts out if some Australian tree as well - it's like a rubber wood and they would survive an apocalypse but I'd say cost prohibitive now) ....look at how dense the rings are in cross section and the depth of penetration of the preservative....there's a place in Wales I think that treats decent wood posts to the same spec as ESB and there used to be a couple of places that sold them but I don't know if Brexit made a balls of that or not....

I've stopped using wooden ones nearly altogether now and I use the clipex as it's less hassle to put up (no post driver) appears to last well (10 yrs so far in heavy ground) and not a hell of a lot more expensive (+ takes the guesswork out of it)

Lads will say they look bad and they wouldn't trust them but I've put them up on boundaries and internal with a hot wire on top and I've had no problem for years now....mind you I wouldn't use their strainers (ridiculously expensive and you could weld a version up yourself with a bit of tubing or drive a section of an ESB pole)

Anyway, my two cents.....

johnjohn3423

Thanks everyone for taking the time to respond. Forgot to say the place is question if full of deer. Does that make a difference as to what fence ye would put in.

The ground is so undulating that the straining posts will need to be put in often enough id say. I take it that once the wire has to be held up/down by the staples at the intermediate posts that its not ideal.

Ye have me thinking about a row of electric wire on that top but I think it would complicate the situation for now. How do the electric fences hold there power if a branch/briar touches it.

johnjohn3423

https://www.boards.ie/discussion/comment/119875234#Comment_119875234

The fence will be on the field side of a hedge/mound. Thanks for the heads up but its not something to worry about here.

amacca

https://www.boards.ie/discussion/comment/119877764#Comment_119877764

If its got a decent joule rating a fencer will be able to burn through vegetation ...if it doesn't with respect to the area or km you are asking it to power a fence over it will cause power loss and the shock won't be adequate to control stock....(although if they are used to a fence you could nearly have it off for days with some stock and they would be wary of it/respect the boundary)

As an example I use a cheetah M60 on a 40 acre outblock....its rated for around 200km or about 80 acres ...or something like that....with a 15 joule output it will burn through most vegetation and still retain enough power or voltage [your fence teser probably indicates how effective your fence is in terms of voltage] that the shock is strong enough..as you drop down specs the fencers will be less able to do that on that acreage but the model below is probably perfectly adequate....

So it's probably overkill but I'm an overkill sort of person and for not a mental price difference its a significant step up from the model below and I like not giving 2 fs if vegetation touching it and only really having to make sure its protected against ligning strike and get it repaired ir replaced when it eventually pops (which to date is only once)....if you have more area there is a model up at around 800euros roughly....you will find other makes too, I'm not a cheetah rep but I liked the fact they are made here and you can get them repaired by the company and buy like for like replacements easily etc..and there's not too much electronic add ons that can also mess up on them..

As for deer I honestly have no idea as I've never had to deal with that...off the top of my head they might not initially respect an electric fence as they may not have encountered one before....they are better jumpers too..........but I'd imagine there's a spec out there to make a fence deer proof I've seen ones for pigs and all sorts on a lacme fencer booklet I read through a long time ago....

older by the day

I'm another fan of barbed wire on the ditch. I would not put an electric strand on top of it though. If in time the barbed wire tips the electric anywhere on the loop you will have no shock. I would go with barbed on the ditch and a strand of the white electric wire and moveable metal posts around the edge. Very easy to take down to clean under and put back up again. And those cheap timber posts don't last pissing time in boggy land. I don't know what will stop the deer though