What has been everyone’s experience with t post caps? Seen them work in action? Are there some brands better than others? I will be installing a 1.5 acre non climb paddock and want to make sure I do what I can to prevent an impaling. I want to add some electric to the inside of the fence to keep a horse off of it as well.
I have caps on all my posts and I don’t think there’s one brand that’s better than the next but I’ve never had a horse attempt to impale himself.
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I used the kind that doubled as an insulator for the electric tape I was using and I found they worked out fine.
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I’ve only recently been using them (horses that really like to wrestle and a batch of t-posts with very ugly tops). My feeling is that for bad rubs, the slip on type will work. However, I hate to say it, but a horse rearing and coming down On the post? (i’ve got two giants and they absolutely could hit the top of a 6.5 foot post) the only cap that is likely to help is the one that is a ‘mushroom’, the sort that doubles as an insulator. Tellingly, the mushroom is very similar to what is now required on rebar at construction sites.
That being said, I’m putting the slip on type on every post from now on, because every little bit of insurance helps! And in some areas, the mushroom type.
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My experience:
I used to be super judgmental in the sense that I thought the only acceptable ones were the “mushroom” style everyone mentions above.
But I can never get those things to stay on the post reliably. They are constantly coming off, even with properly tensioned tape or wire, even with adhesive. There always seems to be some that never budge and some that fall off no matter what, and I don’t think it has anything to do with the brand of cap. I think the posts are imperfect.
So I tried the vinyl slip on style instead. While they don’t offer as much protection in case of an impact, they offer some protection plus prevent sharp edges. And I kind of figure the impact protection is moot if the caps are falling off every time the wind blows.
Signed,
Someone who had a horse come down on a t-post where the cap fell off and fracture her jaw.
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sigh I guess I’m going to be an anxious mom no matter what. I may look into glueing the suckers down if I have too much of a problem.
A Mickey Mouse solution?
Tennis balls - cut smallish X on 1 side to slip over pole. Stays tight. A friend’s BIL worked at tennis club and vast amount of used/spent balls for free.
I have used plastic caps with and without electric tape/wire holders.
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I have some of these as well. I like the black ones here; mine are the yellow ones. Although maybe brighter colors are better for a variety of reasons.
I’ve never had one come off, as far as I can recall. Trying to imagine what would cause them to pop off? Maybe different types of t-posts?
I have some posts in my shed with them still attached; they aren’t really that easy to remove from the heavy duty t-posts.
I have caps with the electric fence clips on them over every T post in my field. Never had one fall off or even break in the winter. After the first few months I went around with a hammer and remacked down any that had wriggled loose as the posts settled but have not had an issue since. Besides protecting from impalement, they make my fence taller too!
My experience is the same as yours.
When I used them I had the yellow too. I liked how bright they were.
I only had one T-post that was grumpy about keeping the cap on. We added a little bit of duct tape (not to be sticky, but to add some bulk) and never had a problem after that. I think the problem is the top of the T-post being deformed. All the rest of the T-posts it was more - once on it is major work to remove the darn cap.
This type is what I have.
