[ARCHIVED THREAD] - Barbed wire fencing question (Page 1 of 2)
Posted: 11/30/2005 1:46:54 PM EDT
| I need to build a barbed wire fence around a 5 acre property. How do people get the wire so tight around the stakes? Is there a pulley or some kind of ratchet for this? |
you need to use Gaucho wire. then get a fence wire stretcher. |
Would this be a Home Depot kind of thing or a fence company kind of item? |
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farm and ranch supply. anywhere you can get "t" posts and "bob'war" so you need a stretcher. a lot of 6' tall "t" posts. one every 15' or so 1 post hammer. wire clips (sold with the posts) a ton of wire 5 strand fence. then you need end posts. the best are made from drill pipe or hedge posts. concrete for the posts and a post hole digger. |
I don't need barbed, just didn't think about smooth wire. I'm not trying to stop anyone or anything coming on my property as it would be impossible to do so, just looking for a barrier from cars and trucks so they don't keep driving on it. |
Oh noooooooooo.....
Go ahead and use barbed wire, and make sure you put the wire on the correct side of the posts!!! |
Pipe rail fence, barbed wire can be driven through, parts of the fence can be rode down, and held down allowing other vehicles to cross.... |
No. Hell no. Hell fucking no! |
A pipe rail fence will cost ALOT more, but it will be a alot stronger and last alot longer. A barbed wire fence is more affordable, BUT needs more upkeep. If you go with a wire fence, try to place your T posts 10ft apart, if you go 15ft apart, use a couple fence stays between each post. A "stay" will wind around the strands of wire, adding strength, it is equal to having another T post in place. |
But barbed wire leaves those nice deep scratches in paint finishes on cars when they run through it.  fullclip
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| Steel prices are at an all time high. Pipe fence, the last time that I checked would cost about $10 per foot. That's with me doing all the welding myself. Mine was going to be 6' high and the runners were going to be 12" apart. You could get by cheaper but have a lot less fence. Chain link fence is about $2.50 per foot installed with material included. |
Yes, BUT your coner posts for your wire fence should also have cement, at least 2 80lb sacks. Your T posts are driven into the ground with a T post driver. |
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On a wire fence the load of the fence will be pulling on the corner post. Usually people will set two post with a cross brace to spread the load. They should be anchored deep in the ground, usually with a hole 3x the size of the pipe, a 6" pipe will have at least a 18"diameter hole and so on. Set them as deep as you can, I prefer 3' on short runs, 4' if possible. Cement solid, DO NOT PACK WITH DIRT!!!!! You can also hire someone with a post driver to drive corners at a reasonable rate. They can drive up to 12" pipe and usually up to 6' deep if there is no rock. People at farm stores can find them for you.. As far as the t-post to hang wire, the only load they carry is the weight of the wire, no strain. Drive them with a post driver you can buy where you buy the wire and the post. Streach the wire with a come-along and the wire streacher pictured by Pangea above. When streaching in cool weather, streach a little tighter, as the wire will expand and loosen up in warmer weather. Beware of kinks in the wire as it will break, and could cut you plenty deep if it hits you. Trust me on this, I have the scars for proof.  The life of your fence will depend on the corner post. Do not cut corners here. Over time if they are too shallow or weak, your fence will sag, as the wire will pull them out of the ground in wet weather. Good luck.. fullclip |
Great info, the corners hold the tension. I was thinking it was from t-post to t-post. |
Thank God this isn't about tattoos.  The above advice is right--braced corner posts, stretch the TOP wire first, secure it the full length, work your way down--3,4,5 strands depending on need. Flat ground is MUCH easier to fence. Hilly terrain needs more "corner posts" (they are called that even if in the middle of the run) in order to stretch upward or downward. Anyone who has ever worked with the stuff will NEVER have a "barbed wire" tattoo on their upper arm.
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My land is flat. 
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Get anything but Gaucho wire. that crap sucks. Make good corner posts with supports and a good 8x8 wood post is fine. Get a fence wire stretcher and wire pliers. If it isn;t around tress it will last a LONG time. If it is around trees they will fall on it and that sucks. Especcially in the woods. |
I have the barb wire tattoos, but they were not put there by ink. They were put there the old fashioned way, with barbs!  farmboy..fullclip
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For that distance use 2 posts at each corner, with a vrticle post connecting the two, about 6ft to 8ft between the 2 posts. Use at least 2 80lbs sacks of cement, ready mix, for each post. I would then go to the half way point between the 2 corners and repeat with 2 posts and a verticle post. |
Ok, stupid question now. What kind of post are we talking about for the corners? 4x4? 8x8? |
I have used anythig from cut up 4 1/2 " drill pipe or 4 1/2" casing to wooden railroad crossties. I prefer thickwall (3/8 to 1/2" thick) pipe. Cut up telephone poles also come to mind as a good possibility, but the metal has a much longer life. They also paint up real nice with the purple paint, the no trespassing mark here in Texas. I also have streached the legnth of a roll of wire from well secured corners with no problem, I think that's about 1300 feet. I never splice wire tro streach longer, only to patch. fullclip |
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Go to your local farm supply and buy treated 8" wooden fence posts. Three for each corner and 2 treated 4" wooden fence post for the cross braces. Brace wire should be used to twist tight the corner assembly. Drive out into the country and look at a farmers fence. that will be easier than us trying to describe it. |
Wood posts, either 6in x 8ft or 8in x 8ft. You want round posts. your holes should be about 3 1/2ft deep |
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Check with your local power company. Used wood power poles can be had cheap in many places. The base of the poles is from 10 to 14 inches in diameter, and the poles usually have 30 foot or more of usable post material. The power poles (cut to proper length) make excellent corner posts (still should double up with a regular pole and cross bracing) and gate posts. For an easy to install, maintain and very inexpensive wire fence, look into high tensile 12ga wire. For a 6 strand fence, the fence costs about 7 cents a running foot once the posts are in. An added advantage of the HT fencing is you can put one or more strands on insulators and hook a fence charger to it. Most folks won't mess with a wire fence installed on insulators, charger or not. |
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Hell, one thing is for sure... when you are done with this project you will be a damned expert in fence building. I've always used Rope Blocks to stretch barb wire, but Im not sure if they are easy to get a hold off... Stretchers made specifically for barb wire probably work a little better. Never used cement for brace posts either. We run 3' deep on all our holes and just tamp them in. Really, the trick is to backfill the hole slowly and tamp often, and try to get the air out as opposed to mashing the shit out of the dirt. The only time I've used concrete in holes is when Im going through a swamp, then its about half a sack to a hole. It makes really shitty concrete, but damn fine dirt for holding a post. I think 120 or so feet is an okay distance between brace posts. Its a short enough span you can get them nice and tight. Usually go about 6 feet between the two posts, then put the brace post ( For H style braces) about 1/2 way up the post, maybe a little higher. |
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Oh and call for locates if you may be near utilities. Im not sure if Nevada has a UNCC equivilent, but in Colorado you have to call for locates before digging. If you strike a utility line, you can be fined, up to 30,000 dollars, and the price of the repair above that. |
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On your corner posts another brace that can be used will start at the top of one post and angle down to the foot of the other post. You would hold it in place with plain wire and heavy nails on wood, weld it up on steel. The pull would start at the top where the brace is located and work your way down. On heavy pulls, three posts can be joined together . Around here it not uncommon to have telephone poles every 300 ft, with the wire heavily stapled, sometimes a section will break, but the post will not let the whole fence sag. When stapling the fence nail, place them at a 45 degree to the wire, spreads the force into more of the post, does not encourage "popping". Gaucho sucks, it tends to break, red brand or some other AMERICAN made wire should work better. As far as stopping vehicles, driving a t post one foot in, cut it off with the victor harris at an angle leaving six inches above ground.. Keep doing this till you have to drive the last section with a sledge. This works in problem areas, makes it more likely a tresspasser will suffer serious vehicles damage. Place them between the t posts right about where the wheel track would be to avoid hitting the posts....... |
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I'm surprised no one has mentioned 9-gauge wire for the corner posts. You can use a brace that goes from the ground on one to the top of the other (or just pound a pole barn nail in both posts about a foot from the top and then put an "X" of nine wire to brace), then you use "nine wire" to run the opposite direction--forming an "X." Use a piece of pipe, rebar or stout stick to twist the nine wire until it's tight, and then wedge the pipe against the brace rod. It's much easier to visualize than describe, but the bottom line is the supports use the ground to keep the post upright when stretching force is applied to it. It takes a helluva pull to stretch a length of wire tight--and you want it good and tight. In farm country you can get 8" or 9" treated (you may not need that in the desert) posts for about $15-20 each. They come in 8' or 9' lengths. You may not need to go three foot deep if the ground never freezes--the brace keeps it upright, not the depth in the ground. The easiest way, as mentioned above, is to go look at someone's existing fence. ETA: The mention of calling the utilities locating service is VERY important! In most states it's required by law, but even if it's not, you want to do it. Cutting gas or electric lines can kill you and cutting a fiber optic cable will cost you over a million bucks--might as well die.  Be sure to call in advance and follow their instructions exactly. |
Still surprised? |
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Nailed the wire to a corner post. Unrolled the wire to another corner. Parked truck at said corner post. Hooked the end of the wire to a come-along attached to the bumper and started cranking until there was good tention in the line. Went along and nailed it to the rest of the posts. |
| We are you at in NV. I sold my old Post Driver to a guy there. I drive all my post.( Its my full time job) I can drive a 10" X9' cornor post in under 30 sec. and you can't pull it out with a 2950 JD tractor. Like all of said ask 100 people and get 100 different ways. Cornors are the key . Double brace all ends. You can fix broken line post but when the cornors fail so does the fence. Use the best cornors you can find. |
"victor harris"? 
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Well my advise may differ from others but this is what I do on my farm and it has worked for years. 8x8 corners, placed in the form of an H, with wire crossed and tightened. We don't use concrete. 6 1/2ft Heavy T's for line posts, we put three T's and then one 4x6 wood, the three T's and so forth. We us OK Brand 4pt Barbwire Golden rod for fence stretchers. We have always started with the bottom wire and work up. 4 wire fence for standard pasture, 5 wire if calves are going to be in there. May not be the way some of you do it, but it has worked well on our 39,000 acres of grass in Ks and Co. |