Fencing Recommendations and Experience, Please

[Twiliath]

I’m sure this has been asked somewhere before, but searching does not show me anything relevant.

My husband has decided that he never wants to replace a fence post or rail again. Ever.

We currently have post and rail fencing on some interior lines - around the house, yard, and paddock. We also have electric fencing on interior fields. The perimeter fence is wood posts with non-climb horse fence from Tractor Supply with a 6-inch board at the top.

Some posts that we put in 10 or so years ago have rotted. Some in less than 3 years.

He now wants to buy 16-foot fence rails, cut them in half, and make posts out of them doubled and then cut holes for rails. These rails are the recycled milk jug plastic (PDSE) and theoretically permanent and indestructible. However, the little experience I’ve had with this type of fencing shows that it’s hard to put the rails in and, when they do break, they’re sharp and cutting.

He’s also talked about Centaur and Ramm fencing. I’m not sure I like the look after years of it being up. It looks like something that needs to be continually tightened as it stretches over time.

What I’m looking for here is what holds up over time with the least amount of maintenance.

He also thinks he wants concrete posts and that he’ll make them himself. I’m uncomfortable with concrete posts.

[Field_of_Dreams_Mini]

Welded pipe. That’s what they use down here and it’s indestructible, unless you run it over with a tractor.

It’s also inflexible, so if a horse runs into it… ouch.

[wsmoak]

He should probably move. Seriously, you cannot live on a farm and NOT do fence maintenance. It’s just part of the deal.

Welded pipe works great in the arid southwest. Out here I’d think rust would be a bigger problem… you’d definitely need to keep the welds touched up with paint, and possibly paint the entire fence.

If your posts are rotting in 3-10 years, something is wrong. If they were pressure treated, they should have had a warranty. For example, random internet search turns up YellaWood having a 30-year warranty on their posts: http://www.yellawood.com/resources/warranties-msds.aspx

My neighbor has one of the vinyl post-and-rail setups, and it looks pretty good. The horses remove the post caps and push rails out occasionally, but overall it’s in good shape and has been there probably 8-10 years.

[wildlifer]

All our posts (I can’t take credit, my neighbour did all the fencing before I bought the property from him) are telephone pole sections with coated HT wire. In between large posts are smaller eucalyptus wood stakes (very hard and durable). I line it with a strip of bipolar HorseGuard tape (no grounding, yay!) and use the fiberglass black and grey step-ins from TSC (the white ones are the devil!) which have a 10 year guarantee.

Maintenance = pretty much zero (posts are pounded, neighbour has hydraulic driver) and his fencing has been up for probably 20 years.

Do it right, do it once.