This reminds me of when we drilled wooden post holes with our non-power down auger. You had to stand on the auger while it was spinning (hooked up to the PTO) to drive it into the ground. Fun times. /s
I have seen that done with a front end loader using the tractor bucket to slowly push the t-posts into the ground. You need two people - one holding the t-post and one on the tractor. You do it in slow motion and it doesn’t look that dangerous. However I have never tried it.
T-posts are easy, managing no-climb wire and getting it tight is hard. It is really heavy and also it is hard to stretch without a tractor (though there are other ways to do it).
I’ve set up T-posts with electric Horseguard tape and I’m pretty happy with that solution. I do get the very tall T-posts and cap them; the height alone I think makes them quite a bit safer. I don’t always get them pounded straight since I do them myself and by hand but no one has to look at it but me, and the tape is forgiving.
The t-post pullers work great, just get one.
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For the record- while stretching with a tractor is the easiest way, it is not recommended by the fence manufacturers because overtensioning is way too easy.
The first long line I did, I thought it needed to stand up more so I rigged it to my truck. Looking back now (and after putting up 4 more long stretches) that line is WAY too tight and might fail in the winter when the metal contracts. It’s like hitting a wall when you lean into it.
A fence stretcher and 2 come alongs gives way better tension control. The stretcher can be 2 2x4s through bolted, nothing fancy or expensive.
As others have mentioned, woven wire fences are intended for permanent installation, not temporary ones.
One reason they need very strong corners and the wire doesn’t manage well being taken on and off, is best installed and left alone for long time.
Panels are expensive, but are perfect for temporary or permanent fences.
They are truly portable fencing for smaller areas, become expensive for larger ones.
The OP wants 100’ temporary?
Perfect for portable panels and you still have panels in great shape.
Woven wire is ok, but will not be easy to remove, store and put back up somewhere else.
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I have also really soured on woven wire because it fails badly. If the horses break it, if it corrodes, you end up with a big dangerous mess and that’s what I’m dealing with now. I am replacing with flex fence and horseguard tape.
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Hmm, yeah, OK, I guess I should look into electrobraid again. I had looked into it originally but then decided against it. Probably because electric fencing intimidates me. However, in this pasture I already have electric wire along the top of one fence (not turned on; I don’t even have a charger set up, but the line is there) that I could branch off, so that wouldn’t be too hard I don’t think.
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I was banned from holding t-posts when we used the tractor to drive them - I looked too worried and it bothered the tractor operator. Too bad later he had to hand drive 15 of the posts because it turned out to be too rocky and the tractor’s continuous force kept bending the posts whereas hand driving meant the rocks could shift in between each effort (and the rest of us were too short to efficiently hand drive posts). In the end, we did manage to set up a ~1/3 acre paddock in one morning.
woven wire because it fails badly. If the horses break it, if it corrodes, you end up with a big dangerous mess
we have V-Mesh woven wire fences on drill stem posts that are over 70 years old that are still completely functional today , admittedly these were never intended to be temporary
I have V mesh too. Maybe 20 to 25 years old. It held up really well when the tornado came through a few years back. The insurance company would not give me enough money to replace it but I was able to hire people to pull it back up where the big trees pulled it down. Not as pretty as new but fully functional. Fence crews HATE it because it is so heavy and stiff but once up I have found it to be really sturdy. No horse I know can break it and they tend to know that and don’t mess with it.
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No electrobraid, unless you enjoy treating degloving injuries. Wide electrical tape is much, much, much safer and more visible, and not significantly more expensive. I like the Horseguard brand myself.
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