Fence Builders! Bracing Corners Without Tensile Wire

[Marla_100]

I’m having a disagreement with my fence builder who wants to use high tensile wire diagonally on all corners of new pasture fencing. There has to be a SAFER way to secure the corner posts and prevent them from popping out when fence is stretched. In the past I’ve gone around and cut the tensile off after the fences were built but this may have weakened the fence, IDK.

Having had one sliced leg injury on a horse from tensile, I’d like to find an alternative. I have the booklet from Red Brand no climb, but they recommend the tensile wire.

Any other suggestions?

[KnKShowmom]

Will there be horses on both sides of the fence? If not, then the brace should be on the outside with the fence running on the inside of the posts.

We fence our pastures with 4x4 posts and woven wire - our corner posts are 6x6 set in crusher run with 4x4 diagonal braces. Along the lines we alternate between diagonal and horizontal braces depending on length, slope etc. of the line.

Have never had a corner pop and we pull our fence very tight.

[SonnysMom]

Could you do a short span on the corners and either brace it with 4X4 or landscape tie or fence post either as an H with the crossbrace pretty far up or an N but have the diagonal piece only go down about halfway?
I use the 2X4 no climb for my dog yard and have that sucker pulled pretty darn tight. I braced using 4X4 on the diagonal. Still tight and posts are straight.

Cats love it as a scratching post too. So far no dogs have used it to escape.

Went and found pictures.
H
http://northgeorgiafencecompany.com/html/farm_fence.html

Different version of the N than I was thinking (scroll down to white fencing)
http://www.myhorseuniversity.com/resources/eTips/September_2010/DidYouKnow

More like the N I was picturing
http://www.kencove.com/fence/T+Post+Tools_detail_HWCS.php

And a different version
http://williamsfarmfence.com/gallery/wire-mesh/horse-fence

[horsepoor]

Ours are braced with wood posts, which can be diagonal into the ground or an H brace. If you google the Centaur HTP manual, it shows how to do them. If it holds up to pulling Centaur taut, you can bet it will hold up any kind of fence.

[Marla_100]

KnK, yes horses will use pastures on both side of this fence. thanks.

Sonny’sMom, I like the idea of the corner brace shown as a wedge-loc brace set. I need to see if these are available around here. thanks.

Corner posts are being set in concrete however our sandy, soft soil makes compacting difficult for stability.

Any other ideas??

[Bluey]

High tensile is even worse for horse injuries than barbed wire, according to our vets.

If that is what makes sense for your situation, then that is what you have to use.

If you can go with any other, let the builder know, he has to do what you need, not what he likes best.

[KnKShowmom]

Rode along with a vet on too many ugly calls involving high tensile wire when it first came out -

If he is insisting on using it for corners, could you use some oak boards on the outside of the posts to “fence in” the braces where a horse couldn’t get to them? It would be more expensive but would save on vet bills in the long run.

[Marla_100]

I’ve tried to be creative in thinking of ways to block the wire without ruining the aesthetics of the fence, but it wouldn’t be “pretty”.

I’m going to suggest concrete in the holes of the second post from corner (like shown in the Centaur Manual) and see if he goes for this. Can’t believe all the expensive gorgeous horse farms around me have this wire as bracing. It’s just the way they do it here, but most fence builders aren’t horse people so they don’t realize the danger involved.

[pony_grandma]

Yep, like the way the neighbor guy told me no woman needed to be going over there telling the fencing guys how to do their job! Then I used a magnetic wand and filled a bucket with the nails they left on the ground! They’ve never had to soak and wrap a puncture or had worse heartbreak from a nail thru a foot bone.

Stand your ground and good for you to ask a smart question, the advice on this forum is precious - wish we’d had this kind of access to learned knowledge eons ago!

Hint: you could avoid corners … like KY make rounded turns, oops only works one way not two sided.

[KnKShowmom]

You don’t want to use concrete if your posts are treated - crusher run is better and will be much easier - add around post, dampen and tamp and it will set up nicely.

[SouthernYankee]

[QUOTE=horsepoor;7093455]
Ours are braced with wood posts, which can be diagonal into the ground or an H brace. If you google the Centaur HTP manual, it shows how to do them. If it holds up to pulling Centaur taut, you can bet it will hold up any kind of fence.[/QUOTE]

This, we put up Centaur fence and used H braces at all corners. You can also get brace brackets that screw into the brace post and vertical post. It made the job much easier. Our only regret was not putting more concrete in the holes around the post, you can never have too much concrete.

[Marla_100]

I believe the problem is I’m using no climb welded wire fencing and it MUST be stretched for approx. 300 ft. The H brace and wood diagonal do not brace in the same way that an attached (wrapped around upper part of corner post and bottom of second post) twisted tensile wire would do. At least that’s what the fence builder is telling me.

If someone can tell me if the H and diagonal would work just as well, that’s what I’ll go with. I hate arguing with someone about the safety of my horses.
And I keep using that word- safe, not safe, safer… as a hint to the fence builder.

[SonnysMom]

My run is 200 ft for no climb wire fencing. The barn where I board have runs over 300 ft of no climb but doesn’t use the wire bracing.
Could you put in the H brace and the wire brace to pull the fencing and then remove the wire once it is pulled and stable?

Bluey- Sonny was at a farm with high tensile. Some of the wires were coated with white for visibility the others were electrified. Since the farm owner has beefers it is a very hot fence. She also keeps it tight and has lots of strands. She told me she has had horses bounce off it with no injury.
My horse Finnegan got a little too close to it when he was visiting for a weekend. It musta zapped him pretty good because he would not go within 15 or 20 feet of that fence.

In our area we would never use barbed wire for horses. I almost lost a mare to it. The vet said she was a quarter of an inch from the jugular.
In my area the turn-outs tend to be much smaller, more like big paddocks and more horses per acre so it is more likely to have a horse get trapped or jostled into a fenceline than in a big field.
There are certain horses I would not put out in high tensile fencing. But they are the type of horse I wouldn’t own anyway since they have no self preservation.
I think it is extremely important to maintain high tensile fencing to keep it HOT and tight. I would not want to turn out in it if it was sagging, had only a few lines, was not really hot or didn’t have the coated wire for visibility.

Horses can find ways to hurt themselves on any type of fence.

[SouthernYankee]

http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=YxYlSojEz9s

I would recommend this type of bracing. We have no-climb on a section of the farm, corners are braced with 6x6 and diagonal braces, it’s started to pull the post out of the ground due to tension. Personally I like a H brace best but a combo H brace and diagonal should allow you to get the proper tension.

[CrowneDragon]

When I had Centaur the corner posts were HUGE (they looked like small railroad ties) and were many, many feet in the ground supported with rebar underground and lots of concrete. There were diagonal wood posts helping brace them as well. They held a lot of tension and did fine.

[BEARCAT]

How about smooth wire? (Different from high tensile)
You could even put something over it after it is tigthened, like a split PVC.

[WildBlue]

Mine have the wooden ‘H’ brace and diagonal tensioned wire. But, as someone mentioned upthread, you just put the diagonal wire on the outside of the no-climb so it’s not a danger to your horses. Or, if you have your posts on the inside (a hazard to horses), you can cover the wire. There’s a good reason for adjustable, diagonal tension on fence corners.

[McGurk]

Sonny’s Mom,

Thank you for defending high tensile. I have it and love it, but as you mentioned, keeping it HOT and doing the minimal annual maintenance required are critical. I became a convert when I had a big dumb TB colt run in it full tilt and bounce off it unharmed. I wouldn’t use it for broodmares and foals, but other than that, it’s terrific.

However, I do agree with the OP that the high tensile brace in the corner is a concern. If you were also going to have a strand of hot wire on top, I wouldn’t be as worried, but without a strand of hot wire, yes, the high tensile brace would worry me, particularly if you have horses on both sides that are likely to visit over the fence. I have nothing to add to the suggestions for different bracing methods, you’ve gotten lots of good advice.

You’re paying for the fence, the contractor needs to listen to you and do it your way. And your neighbor is a flarkin’ idiot. Because you’re a woman you should just roll over and let the contractor do what the want? I don’t think so.

When I explained to the contractor that put up the board fence on our road frontage that I wanted the boards on the inside and the posts on the outside, he looked at me and said “Oh, horses, right? You horse people always want the boards on the inside.” End of conversation.

[ridingagain]

My TB was put in a pasture with a hot four strand high tensile fence for the first time two weeks ago at my barn. The neighbor found him outside the fence in the morning - multiple deep lacerations on all four legs, one down to the bone. Thankfully, no damage to tendons or ligaments and he should make a full recovery. After several days at the vet and surgery, my pocketbook won’t! Never again!

[Bluey]

For years now, our braces are pipe, a concreted in H and one \ on the wire side, going down to and welded on another concreted in pipe post, that we cut right above the , so it doesn’t stick out but maybe a foot.

Those braces seem to hold just fine.