T-post safety question

[seabreeze]

I have two sections of fencing I’d like to replace this fall. Both are currently electrified high-tensile with line posts set about 48’ apart. My plan is to replace it with 1.5" electric tape (have had that in other pastures for many years and am happy with it). This will require adding more line posts. Right now, as has been discussed in various threads already, 4x4x8’s are very expensive ($19ish around here). I can sink t-posts with safety caps for about $5 - $6each.

I’ve never used t-posts for line posts. With the safety caps (just caps, no sleeves) are they “fairly” safe, or am I looking for trouble? All fence is electrified, so, generally, horses stay off of it. Of course, I know anything can happen any time. But, for those of you with experience with capped t-posts, do you see any greater instance of injury than with all wooden line posts?

Thanks so much!

[Minuet]

I’ve had this same setup for years, and not had any problems. Now, my horses are older and not testing fences regularly. They do however, occasionally hurt themselves but never with t-posts.

[Jarpur]

I’ve had t-posts with the caps from TSC for decades, with no problems, even with weanlings and yearlings. The caps fit pretty snugly on the posts, so it’s not as though they’d fall off easily when brushed, for example, IME.

[horsepoor]

The only t-posts I have used here are fully covered, not just caps, and I have never had an injury from them (knock on wood) in the 15+ years we’ve had horses here. But once you do the full covers, the price per post rivals that of the wood.

I know quite a few people and places that have used the caps on t-posts with no issues, and I think I would be comfortable with them on exterior line fencing. I don’t know that I personally would use them where horses are across the fence from one another or in very small paddocks, where there is more of a chance of interaction with a t-post in between. But I’m pretty risk adverse.

[Jarpur]

Mine are not located where there would be horses on opposite sides of the fence line at the same time, true. No horseplay across the fence, in other words.

[Texarkana]

Most of my fence at my last farm was t-posts with vinyl caps and electric wire to keep them off it. Zero issues. Not a single injury.

On the other hand, I’ve had endless injuries with my current unelectrified 3 board fence.

I prefer the vinyl caps that slip snuggly over the top of the post instead of the round, hard plastic caps. I find the hard plastic ones are knocked off the post easily.

[Djones]

I cap the ones where the horses are often close to rhe fence line (water tank area, gates, etc.) All others are uncapped. I have no horses sharing a common fence line.
definitely get the snug vinyl ones, not the plastic caps. Paper wasps like the air space in the caps, trust me on that. OUCH DAMMIT.

[SugarCubes]

@Texarkana

Most of my fence at my last farm was t-posts with vinyl caps and electric wire to keep them off it. Zero issues. Not a single injury.

On the other hand, I’ve had endless injuries with my current unelectrified 3 board fence.

I prefer the vinyl caps that slip snuggly over the top of the post instead of the round, hard plastic caps. I find the hard plastic ones are knocked off the post easily.

Sorry to hijack, OP. Tex, I put in T-posts with electric rope temporarily until I finalize where I want to divide my pastures and perimeter fencing and then was planning to replace the electric with 3 board fencing - now you have me second guessing that idea! Can you elaborate on injuries? Do you have the top board electrified? If not, do you think having the top board hot would have prevented injuries?

[ASB_Stars]

I have used electric with caps around areas that I was re-seeding, within paddocks. I bought the caps that cover the the t-post, but also have the tape going through them- so, in effect, they are protected by the electrified tape. I had a line post break, and I used a t-post to shore it up until I could get to it, and put a cap on it- no electric. My crew pulled the cap right off, which of course terrified me. I had a mare years ago who opened herself up on a t-post. Not pretty.

[Pehsness]

I’ve always been kind of embarrassed with my tpost and electric fence, but the longer I have it the more I appreciate it. No injuries in 6 years, easily put up and taken down by one person (not that I’ve done that, but I could!) And not permanent so I can rejig if I want.

Plus tposts are useful for so many thing - stacking wood, vegetable trellis etc.

[Texarkana]

@SugarCubes

Sorry to hijack, OP. Tex, I put in T-posts with electric rope temporarily until I finalize where I want to divide my pastures and perimeter fencing and then was planning to replace the electric with 3 board fencing - now you have me second guessing that idea! Can you elaborate on injuries? Do you have the top board electrified? If not, do you think having the top board hot would have prevented injuries?

First, my horses are idiots. :lol:

Second, no, it’s not electrified, and that’s the problem. We rent here and can’t run electric for a few reasons.

But some of my injuries:
-two fence jumpers who didn’t quite clear it either time (I’ve never had horses on my own farm try to jump out prior to this farm)
-a degloving injury from getting a leg caught badly in boards
-a horse who rolled too close, got caught, and scraped herself up
-soooo many scrapes and splinters from rubbing on it

Growing up, we had a lot of injuries on our farm with our unelectrified wood fencing, but I always blamed it on poor farm maintenance. Later in life I boarded at plenty of places with plain 3 or 4 board fencing and had no issues. But since moving onto this current farm (that’s in quite good shape), all of these injuries have me personally wanting to avoid wood going forward unless it is electrified. However, it still tends to be the gold standard most places.

[seabreeze]

@horsepoor

The only t-posts I have used here are fully covered, not just caps, and I have never had an injury from them (knock on wood) in the 15+ years we’ve had horses here. But once you do the full covers, the price per post rivals that of the wood.

I know quite a few people and places that have used the caps on t-posts with no issues, and I think I would be comfortable with them on exterior line fencing. I don’t know that I personally would use them where horses are across the fence from one another or in very small paddocks, where there is more of a chance of interaction with a t-post in between. But I’m pretty risk adverse.

Thanks for the feedback. This would be exterior fencing, two short ends of a 4.5 acre rectangle. No horses on the other sides. I’ll do the long side in the spring (The other long side is the 1.5” tape that is a shared line with smaller pastures).

[seabreeze]

@Texarkana

Most of my fence at my last farm was t-posts with vinyl caps and electric wire to keep them off it. Zero issues. Not a single injury.

On the other hand, I’ve had endless injuries with my current unelectrified 3 board fence.

I prefer the vinyl caps that slip snuggly over the top of the post instead of the round, hard plastic caps. I find the hard plastic ones are knocked off the post easily.

Thanks for the plug for they vinyl caps. I was wondering if there was any big difference between them and the round, plastic caps. Most of the plastic caps I see have the insulator included, and I wouldn’t run the tape along the very top, so it seems like a bit of a waste. Good to know the vinyl caps are effective.

[seabreeze]

@Djones

I cap the ones where the horses are often close to rhe fence line (water tank area, gates, etc.) All others are uncapped. I have no horses sharing a common fence line.
definitely get the snug vinyl ones, not the plastic caps. Paper wasps like the air space in the caps, trust me on that. OUCH DAMMIT.

Thanks for the advice about the vinyl vs. plastic caps. I would probably cap them all. My mare ripped her belly open on something last year. To this day, I have no idea how she did it. I walked every inch of my pasture acreage and checked every post and gate. Nothing. So, I don’t want to give her a chance for a repeat.

[seabreeze]

Thank you all for your comments. I really appreciate your experiences and perspective!

[poltroon]

I like the round plastic caps and have not had problems with T-posts or with the caps coming off. That said, I buy the heavy duty t-posts (which are green here) and I buy 8’ ones so they’re very tall (6’ 6" IIRC) even after being driven. That may seem unnecessary, but what I like about the very tall t-post is that it’s much less likely a horse can come down on one if it’s above his head, cap or no. I wouldn’t feel great about using a post that finishes at less than 5’ once driven into the ground.

The big hard plastic caps have done well for me in a harsh UV environment. I’ve never used the soft vinyl ones but I felt a little skeptical about them.

I have always used them with electrified fence (horseguard) and I don’t use the clips on the caps at all.

[moving_to_dc]

I feel like the big plastic caps will “deflect” a horse that comes down on them, while the snug T-shaped vinyl caps will still allow the T-post to penetrate a horse if one were to come down on a post.

I do run my top line of tape fence in the cap insulators, and it is HOT [ATTACH=JSON]{“alt”:“Click image for larger version Name: melwood fence 2 a.jpg Views: 0 Size: 15.9 KB ID: 10755487”,“data-align”:“none”,“data-attachmentid”:“10755487”,“data-size”:“medium”}[/ATTACH] , and with all white insulators, white tape, and the t-posts painted white, the fence looks quite impressive for the small cost it was to install.

Sorry for the picture being inserted right smack in the middle. No clue why it did that and it isn’t cooperating when I try to fix it.