Which do you use and like? Use and hate?
Will I have a problem using plastic insulators with 2" electrical fencing tape?
Do you have any other suggestions? I’d like to use existing T Posts that have barbed and plain wire. The electric will keep the horses off that existing fence until I can afford to do pipe fencing there.
Has to endure screaming sunlight and extreme high temps. for 4 months out of the year.
Thanks!
Look at the horseguard site. The have some cool tape holders that protrude away from the t-post an inch or so that keeps everything electric away from the prior install. I did permanent fencing with 2” tape, tposts and the horse guard complete sleeves. It’s holding up great.
You have two issues.
First, keeping them from leaning over the top of the fence. For that you can use “t-post” caps and really any sort of electrical conductor (slick wire, braided wire, or tape). You don’t need to use a full 2" width unless you want to.
Then you have to keep them off the fence and discourage sticking their heads through the fence. Here you can use “stand off” insulators for as many strands as you think you will need (at least two). Here I’d carefully cost out the different options and go with the least costly but effective method. If you are going to replace the current fencing with pipe in the near future you can go low end as you’re only going to have to cover a limited period of time. If this is going to be a multi-year project then you’ll want something like Electrobraid. It is NOT cheap but will stand up to Mother Nature pretty well.
One thing I’ve found helps with keeping horses off a fence it is to keep it clear of vegetation that they can browse on; use either mechanical or chemical means. Then cut the grass on both sides short for the width of one pass with your bush hog or mowing deck. If there’s nothing to eat along the fence line they are less likely to “hang out” there. And the fence is easy to see and you’ll quickly see any issues that need correcting.
G
its: https://www.horseguardfence.com/index.php
I will warn you… they have the worst website I’ve ever seen. 1995 called and they want their dial up back… Their connectors are pricy, but they are so well made and easy to use. Super thick plastic. They beat anything I found at tractor supply or my local ranch store. My super crusty ranch fence installer loves the stuff.
I don’t love the round t-post caps that also double as insulators to hold tape, or any other hard plastic cap. I find they pop off entirely too frequently.
I prefer the fitted vinyl style like this:
https://www.tractorsupply.com/tsc/pr…fe-t-post-caps
My last farm was fenced with t-posts, field fence, and barbed wire, and we did not have the luxury of replacing the fencing. I used 5” extenders and two strands the 1” tape from TSC (I forget the brand). The tape held up perfectly; extenders would break from time to time, but are cheap and easy to replace. I chose the 1” over 2” because I find wider tape is more likely to catch the wind; I already had a solid and visible fence, I just needed something to keep them off the metal.
One thing I didn’t realize when embarking on that project is that there are two different styles of extenders depending on which direction your t-posts face— flat side facing inward or the skinny side facing inward (totally not the proper terms, but hopefully you get the idea). Double check which one you need; I ended up needing different styles for different sections of the fence.
Also, as hideous as that rusty woven wire/bared wire fence was, I never had an injury from it. I’ve had far more injuries on my current property with its unelectrified and “pretty” 4 board fence. Go figure.
Also look at Kencove fencing. Another difficult website, but! Very solid products for all sorts of fencing needs. I’ve been using their insulators on T-posts for 2 inch tape and really like them, so far they’ve held up well to deer, turkeys, large falling trees, bears, and sun and wind. I don’t use top insulators, but that is because getting a straight line would be difficult with posts at slightly different depths.
It is wind that is the headache though. If you are in a windy area, I might be inclined to go with braid/rope instead of tape. I have a hard enough time on the top of a very windy New England hill…I suspect where you are now is windier? Good insulators will keep the tape from leaving the post in the wind, but the tape will start to stretch regardless.
100% agree, their offset arms would be great for this situation, and the tape you use can be re-used later.
Right? Their site is terrible! :lol: :lol:
We’ve had HG since April '04. The tape looks just like it did when we put it up, barring the shaded areas that have some lichen growing on it :lol: Most of the insulators have been replaced over the years due to deer taking them out and the occasional horse (ie a scuffle too close to the fence and foot caught things), but never due to just breaking on its own. Large sections are subject to whatever winds come our way, all the Summer sun. The insulators dry, the fence/tape does not. But also, the newer insulators seem to hold up to weather better than the original ones we used.
Regarding wind - just space posts a bit closer together. There’s enough air flow through this tape that when properly tensioned, and posts not too far apart, there should never be a problem. Max post spacing for this is 15/16’, I did 14’ I think, but for really windy areas I’d to 10-12. It’s still cheaper than board fencing, and cheaper to repair.
I hadn’t heard of Kencove to took a look. Their tape tensioner/insulator is similar in how they hold the tape, with the wing nuts. But they are more than 2x the cost of the HG insulators, and the HG insulators can also be used with fiberglass posts if needed (ie for temp fencing). I wouldn’t use their universal insulator with HG tape as it doesn’t look like it will hold enough tape tension on its own.
Great advice. My reason for going to tape is because it’s more visible. I don’t underestimate my horse’s ability to spook at dead people and think about running through fence like the barbed wire. I though the tape being wider might be easier for him to see. But I never considered the wind causing more (unreasonable) maintenance.
Texarkana… very helpful advice. Thank you so much.
While this totally works if you are installing the fence and posts at the same time from scratch, it may not be an option since the OP is adding electric tape to an existing t-post & wire fence. She’s likely stuck with however they are currently spaced. I know I had to add a couple posts into the fence line at my previous farm for various reasons and it was a pain to do with the existing wire in place.
Pricing, I went to look…always looking for cheaper and as good 
Not sure, a pack of 25 Universal post insulators for wood fence on Kencove come out to 35 cents per. HG is 70 cents per. If I am reading the sites correctly! Which I may not be.
And a pack to t-post insulators is 5.95 on Kencove, 8.95 on HG. But, I’ve never used HG, they may be better at wind issues and such.
Thanks G. This is all great advice. I have some mesquite trees that are impinging on the fence line… I need to figure out how to get them OFF, whether by cutting back or just attempting to yank out. I know how silly that second option sounds.
If I can’t get the mesquite out, I’ll just run a second fence line some 8’ off the existing one that is entwined with the trees. Either way, it will be hard to keep both sides of the fencing grass low since it’s directly ON my property line. One neighbor, no problem mowing on their side or weed whacking. The other 2 sides, I haven’t seen anyone to ask and the property is pretty neglected, so…
it’s about 5 acres total.
I really appreciate everyone’s suggestions and advice on this.
OP, I also did the “run a second fence line” thing for the section of my fence line that was overcome with dense vegetation. It worked completely fine. I used step-in posts and continued with the 2 strands of tape. I left maybe 5’ or 6’ between the fences-- wide enough that I could fit the mower back there and get it all mowed with one pass down and one pass back up.
I did find that even though they are shorter and made of fiberglass (which scares the bejesus out of me), the fiberglass step-in posts worked markedly better than the hard plastic ones for interior fence purposes. I had major problems with the insulators snapping off the hard plastic ones and the fence coming down, presumably from wind & deer, but also from the occasional downed branch which would completely destroy the plastic posts no matter how tiny of a branch. The fiberglass posts never got “icky” or splintery (which was my greatest fear) despite 5+ years of weather. Of course, neither style of step-in post will work in hard, shallow, or rocky soils, if you are dealing with that. I’m guessing it’s not too bad if they could get t-posts in.
Very true. Depending on costs, it may be doable to add a fiberglass post in between existing posts if they are pretty far apart, or add them at 12’-ish intervals if they’re closer together but still too far.
If those Universal posts will maintain enough grip on the tape for its own contribution to the tension, that’s fine. I just can’t tell how much grip they actually have with that design.
i can’t speak to any t-post insulators, I’ve never used those
You guys are awesome. Thanks for all the info. Keep it coming 
I have horseguard and t posts, bought the insulators for the t posts from stateline tack. I called and they added free shipping onto their 30%off! The caps I bought from Kencove I believe, I shopped around for the best deals.
Horseguards website is horrible, I called them and spoke to Gordon I think was the name. I emailed him a google map of my proposed fence layout and he helped me figure out how many tensioners I would need. Definetly get the HG tensioners, and do not let them send you the keepers only if you do decide on HG, ask specifically for the button ones. The newer ones that are just clips do not keep the tension, the button ones do. I have the caps with the tape insulators and the buttons keep enough tension that I have no sagging with only the tpost caps used all the way around my top fence line.
I am broke so I used T posts for my corners and they are holding up great so far. For any gates besides my main entry one, I use the HG handles, for the two pieces of leftover HG I use to keep the pony out of the barn, I bought the cheap polytape handles from Kencove, one of the hooks keeps coming loose and I have to retighten it over and over. If you can swing it, get the HG handles.
2in Other brand polytape is still not as heavy and wind resistant in my opinion. We have gotten decent winds thru East TN here recently, and my HG doesnt move. I really recommend it. I found a woman in Ohio selling about 3000ft of it, all random lengths, about 100 step in posts, and misc connectors and tape plate holders,I am not sure of the technical name, AND a 50mi Zareba charger with a small ground rod, for 500 bucks on fb.
Anyways, saying that to say even though I have a ton of connection points due to the various lengths, my fence is HOT and hits hard when you touch it. We did install 2 additional 6ft grounding rods though. It was worth the 4hr trip there n back!!!
ETA: I have the extenders off my carport legs on a part of the fence, and a tensioner on them and they hold up the fence great too.
For wind you can lightly twist your 2” tape in between posts. Helps prevent the tape from fluttering and stretching or wearing.
Yes, this is what I did for my Horseguard – I have the bipolar tape, which I love. We have hurricanes, does that count as wind, LOL? I’ve had it up for 6 years.
I got the black/grey fibreglass posts from TSC, I love those things. Since the fencing that came with my property is hi-tensile, those posts are 30+ feet apart. I just used the fibreglass step-ins to fill in the gaps between the existing wood posts. Since I’m poor, I don’t have them every 12’ as per recommendations. Instead, mine are spaced “about yay-far apart so the tape doesn’t flap.” Where there are treelines breaking the prevailing winds, that can be farther apart.
Horseguard’s website is indeed terrible, but it does work. I have also always had great experiences with their reps – I sent them a schematic that I had hand-drawn on paper of how I planned to do my tape & they helped me work through it & create a list of what I needed to order. They also give their products weird letter codes instead of names, so the having the rep help with the first order helped me get that first batch right.
Mine is mounted on a mix of t-posts, wood posts, & then of course the fibreglass. I power it with an AC/DC Stafix charger (HG tape needs lots of joules) that runs off a deep cycle battery which I keep charged with a solar panel. I love this setup very very very much. And when that fence is on, it’s got a hefty zap.
Agree with their customer support, they really are fantastic! I also sent them drawing examples of the different things I had, and they made sure I had proper tensioners, not just insulators, for inside “corners” that had enough bend, and helped me understand how to connect fencing under gates.
I personally wouldn’t twist the tape, it’s not designed for that.
The salesman from Ramm Fencing actually told me to do that with their 1 1/2" tape. He just said to not put too many twists in it or it’ll break the small wire filaments that conduct the electricity. I had more issues with the filaments breaking because the tape was flapping in the wind and rubbing in the insulators. If I just twist the tape a couple times, it solves all the issues.
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