Fencing spin-off: coated wire questions...

[NaturalSelection]

Spin-off from another fencing thread. I am investigating options for hore pasture fencing on a new property that doesn’t have any existing fencing. I orginially thought I would want to do electrobraid because the posts can be spaced really far apart and I have seen some farms that host horse trials take down the electrobraid and run x-country through a pasture since the posts are spaced really far apart. I was thinking increased post spacing and the ability to take down the fence periodically might be nice for mowing and reseeding pastures, but after reading a lot of COTH bad reviews on electrobraid (horror stories), I’m reconsidering. The Ramm coated wire looks really nice and intriguing. I read through the installation .pdf and I’m thinking about the longevity of wooden fence posts (rot). I wonder if anyone has substituted chain-link type metal posts sunk in concrete for the treated wood posts shown in the instructions? What about the maximum post spacing, the instructions indicate 10’ spacing, has anyone skimped and tried increased post spacing, perhaps 15’ or 20’ between posts? On a long, straight run (500’) I wonder if the coated wire would still hold tension? Other thoughts/considerations for coated wire fencing?

Thanks,
Katie.

[wildlifer]

What do you mean by coated wire? The only fence I truly hate is the rope braid (well, barbed wire), but there is an amazing new coated hi-tensile wire (large guage). It’s not cheap, but very nice. I bought my property as bare pasture from my neighbour, so it came with the hi-tensile fencing he’d put in. He’s a fence contractor (among other things), so the many of the posts are pounded-in telephone poles, LOL, that baby’s not moving! I’d always hated wire fencing b/c I’d tended some nasty accidents caused by cheap/thin/poorly hung wire.

I lined it with a strand of HG tape, b/c my horses very much respect tape & one has NO respect for wire – that said, the wire itself taught me that CORRECTLY installed hi-tensile is very safe for horses (given the fact that NO fence is 100% safe, they love to drill boards through their chests or slash with PVC or…pretty much anything we can’t think of, LOL). It literally saved my gelding’s life when he jumped THROUGH it. It has built in breakaway/give points at the ceramic insulators & the tensioners & the heavy gauge wire (mine is 12 mm) slides to the ground/springs away from horse.

My heart stopped when I saw him hit it, but all the top two strands broke at the insulators immediately & it all rolled smoothly down the front of his cannons…& didn’t leave a mark on him.

I hate admitting I’m wrong…but I was totally wrong, and Awesome Neighbour taught me how to do parts of it last weekend as I was making a new gate opening (it’s ALL in technique) and I’m STILL geeking out on it (science/physics nerd too).

[kalidascope]

wildlifer, this: http://www.rammfence.com/fence/coated-wire-fence (I assume :)).

I’m looking at fencing options too currently, and will probably do a rail of horserail at the top and several coated wires underneath. Like this, but in black. Wouldn’t meet your criteria of being easy to take up/down though.

[tinah]

Perimeter or cross fencing? For cross fencing we just use good old fashioned electric tape hooked up to a HOT charger. We are constantly moving fence, setting up rehab paddocks, moving horses off pasture for winter, etc. Got the 4 foot step in posts, and a strand or two keeps everybody where they are supposed to be. On long runs we need taller, we put at post with a cap about every 100 foot. We have a couple different chargers. The 50 mile charger works just fine hooked up to 1000 foot of fence or so. Just don’t brush up against it.

[MistyBlue]

![]( have the Ramm 5/16th coated wire fencing and I LOVE it!

Not sure how it would do on metal posts or how it would be attached. I have 6" round line posts and 8" round end, corner and gate posts pounded in. This type of fence has a lot of tension on it to work right and not sure if the metal posts can stand up to the tension. Ours was strung and then tightened with the tractor pulling it. (it slides through the staples so it can ‘give’ if it needs to and be re-tightened easily in minutes after)

My top rail is 4.25" Flex Fence and there are either 3-4 strands of coated wire under it depending on paddock. It’s economical and easy to put up if you’re somewhat handy. The only part we sucked at was putting in the posts, and we REALLY sucked at that LOL! Hired someone to come pull out what we tried and put them back in.

Except for tightening it once in a rare while and wiping some green off of it once a year from the Flex Fence. It looks great and it works great. My late mare was a fence-smasher. She wouldn’t jump anything if she could avoid it, but she had anger-issue problems with canines and if one wandered too close to her paddock she’d charge the fence and smash right through it. I replaced more damned fence boards when I was still boarding her, she’d through her head up and hit the fence at a full gallop with her chest and smash right through it. (I bribed that BO a lot, and apologized a lot)
The first time she charged our Ramm fence, she hit it full force and it bowed out and then tossed her on her ass right back in the paddock. 1600+ lbs of pissed off mare. Fence was fine, mare was fine except a little sore in the chest and a scraped arse.

Here’s my fence:
[IMG]http://i5.photobucket.com/albums/y172/MistyBlue5105/NewfenceandgardenMay2010009.jpg)

[IMG]http://i5.photobucket.com/albums/y172/MistyBlue5105/NewfenceandgardenMay2010006.jpg)

[IMG]http://i5.photobucket.com/albums/y172/MistyBlue5105/NewfenceandgardenMay2010002.jpg)

[Flash44]

I’m fencing in the spring, and will do a top rail (probably wood) and 3 strands of electric tape. Absolutely will have electric to keep the horses from rubbing and scratching on the fence. They know what it is and they stay off it.

The fencing I’m replacing has 4" square posts, and they were here when we bought the place. BIG difference between the 4" square posts and the 6" rounds or half rounds - the bigger posts are WAY sturdier.

[TrotTrotPumpkn]

I blogged about this below, so I won’t go into a ton of detail, but consider putting an in-line tensioner (like a Kiwi strainer with “quick end”) at 250 feet instead of putting your tensioner on the end. My longest run isn’t quite 500’, but on the one I put the strainer on the end I don’t have near the tension as when I put it in the middle of the run.

On the tape side of things, I did have dear hit the top tape again and need to go fix it. I really regret I did a 400’ run without a break, because it’s going to suck to repull. The good news is even though it’s a bit saggy it’s still doing it’s job. I’ll get around to it when the temp gets above 0.

[horsepoor]

The installation guidelines for the Centaur version has specs for metal posts, IIRC. I think you can use a lighter version for line posts but then have to do some pretty heavy duty ones at the end, properly braced (do not ignore the bracing requirements as you will regret it – I have one place where our installers screwed up on ours and it is a mess that we need to fix). I’m not sure if OP means round metal posts or t-posts – the latter makes me cringe a bit as it would offset the great safety aspects of the coated wire, IMO. Whether you can go longer between posts would be a good question for the Centaur dealer that posts here (BasqueMom). The Centaur product is called White Lightning and while I don’t have it here, I’ve boarded where they did use it and really like it – we did a three rail fence using the wider Centaur HTP rails, but I really like the looks of the multi-strand coated wire fences and the cost is much nicer.

[neversaynever]

We have the coated wire - two hot, two not hot and wide Horse Guard electric tape for the top line. We’ve had it for over 7 yrs and haven’t had any problems or injuries even though one slid through it and took out a section. The wires just popped off of the insulators and no damage to the horse, except his pride. Most of our pasture fencing is strung on wood posts, but we did put a pasture recently with metal t-posts with sleeves and caps (Kencove). Corner and gate posts are still heavy, braced wood posts because they take so much more tension then the line posts. We do have in-line strainers along the long runs to make sure it stays tight. It looks great and the horses absolutely respect it (except the time the one miscalculated his sliding stop). With the sleeves, it cost maybe a little less then wood posts, but with the insulated clips installation was easier and much, much faster. We’re hoping to put in another smaller pasture within the next 6-8 months and use it again.

[NaturalSelection]

Thanks for all the comments and suggestions. To clarify, I am considering the 2" (?) metal posts, similar to what is used for chain link fencing (not t-posts) instead of the wood posts and just for line posts. Corner posts would be braced wood posts. Maybe the metal posts are overkill, what’s the lifespan of wooden posts?

I was thinking of using the coated wire for the pasture areas, but I haven’t decided about the farm perimeter yet. I want to have a 20’ wide lane around the perimeter of the property for riding/walking/skiing. The land is a 30 acre rectangle and two sides are boarded by road. I started reading the field fence thread because I thought I might want to use field fence on the perimeter to keep my dogs off the road. However, I have seen lots of deer cross the road and walk through our field on the way to somewhere else. I worry that the deer won’t know how to navigate the field fence. Can they jump it? Anything recommended to keep dogs and horses in but would let deer pass through?

I was thinking I would use the coated wire fencing to section off four pastures (1-2 acres each) that could be opened to the dry lot area. Does anyone ever do temporary fencing the first year (as described by tinah) to see how they like the layout before investing in permanent fence?

[neversaynever]

The deer will just jump the field fence unless it is really tall. The ones around here just causally hop our fences and they are about 4.5 to 5 ft tall and some are on slopes so they have to jump even higher if they are on the downhill side. Don’t have the field fence though so don’t know if they might get a back leg hung-up if they miscalculated. They sometimes brush the top tape on our fence and make it sag. I’ve seen the little ones crawl under the strands of coated wire.

[TrotTrotPumpkn]

I can’t imagine weed-whacking or spraying thirty acres of no-climb. I’m so lazy. I would have to raise it high enough to mow under. My 200+ feet I did in no-climb drives me nuts to maintain where I let it get too low to mow under. But I was worried about the dogs. I discovered once they got zapped by the Horseguard they won’t go in the pasture even if I hold open the gate. So I never completed the whole run in no-climb anyway. Which would have looked better, than half one kind and half the other, but such is life.

[Calvincrowe]

Yes, deer can easily jump 4 foot field fence. 5 feet with a top rail is not their preferred path though. We used chain link posts for our new sections of fence–they make different grades (thicknesses) and diameters, so do check before buying. The heavy corner posts are $100+ each, and are BEEFY! They must be set in concrete (all of them, frankly) and capped. You can wire most fencing onto it, like no climb, field, etc. You’d need special attachments for hot wire and the like. We are very pleased with our metal posts+field and no-climb fencing. Very attractive, and we used a round metal pipe as a top rail to match the posts. Not cheap, but will last for decades.

[Simkie]

I see a ton of this stuff around here, OP–maybe it would work for you?

http://www.geotekinc.com/Products/CS_Fence.php

FWIW, my horses have been in electrobraid for years. You’re going to find horror stories about every kind of fencing. If you want electrobraid, keep it tight, keep it hot, and you will be fine.

I have a no climb on the perimeter and electrobraid for the cross fencing, and it works very nicely.

[Against_All_Odds1]

My mare is boarded in the same set up at MistyBlue but with one strand of hot wire inside. She’s never touched it in the 4 years she’s been there. Love it!

[Sparky_Boy]

[QUOTE=kalidascope;7947599]
wildlifer, this: http://www.rammfence.com/fence/coated-wire-fence (I assume :)).

I’m looking at fencing options too currently, and will probably do a rail of horserail at the top and several coated wires underneath. Like this, but in black. Wouldn’t meet your criteria of being easy to take up/down though.[/QUOTE]

I was going to do exactly that set up but decided against the top flex rail. I went with 4 coated electric wires from centaur. Love it. Couldn’t be happier.

All 4 are hot but have considered turning off the bottom string for snow and weeds.

[Fergs]

[QUOTE=NaturalSelection;7948658]
However, I have seen lots of deer cross the road and walk through our field on the way to somewhere else. I worry that the deer won’t know how to navigate the field fence. Can they jump it? [/QUOTE]

Grown deer shouldn’t have a problem, but often fawns cannot clear 5’ no-climb. A friend of mine had several accidentally hang themselves earlier this year.

[wildlifer]

[QUOTE=kalidascope;7947599]
wildlifer, this: http://www.rammfence.com/fence/coated-wire-fence (I assume :)).[/QUOTE]

Oooo, fancy! But yes, that is very nice fencing. I agree with the poster who said you don’t necessary need to top flex rail, although it is very pretty if you have the $$$.

I have not used them (not in my income bracket, haha, plus I have Epic Neighbour), but I have heard nothing but good things about Ramm/Centaur service, so my advice would be to ask them directly.

I did that for my HorseGuard, as they do have some specific recommendations, which I discovered…are true, haha. Despite the fact HG has a TERRIBLE website, bless their hearts, they do have PHENOMENAL reps & service as well, one just has to call or email instead. I think we had a series of about 10 emails & diagrams & they set me up with everything & all the info I needed & even gave suggestions for construction to save money. So it’s always worth a chat!

[Sparky_Boy]

Here’s a photo. Love it. No maintenance. I put a lane between mares and geldings to prevent playing over the fence.

I bought from the centaur rep that posts here. She’s out of TX I think.

https://www.facebook.com/HunterHillFarmIowa/photos/pb.516433035143505.-2207520000.1420909696./605064399613701/?type=3&theater