polywire fencing questions

I have only fenced with real wire in the past. I would like to try polywire fencing for the first time (for both pigs and cattle...separate areas of course), and I have a few questions that I am hoping can be answered...

1) What is the best polywire to buy? I see there are many different brands, colors, and strand numbers. Would I need different kinds of wire for pigs and cattle?

2) What are the best posts and insulators to use? I was thinking of just using 3/8" rebar posts with yellow, "Zareba" insulators that screw to tighten on the post. I thought of using t-posts at corners and certain intervals for stability. Has anyone tried this system? Is there a better one?

3) How is polywire spliced? Real wire is very straight-forward of course!

4) When you tighten the polywire, how do you secure the wire on the insulator to maintain the tension? I don't think the insulators grip the polywire do they? Does the polywire need to be occasionally tied to an insulator?

5) What is the best way to tie the polywire into an electric fence that has regular wire?

Thanks in advance for any help!

Sorry, I would like to add a 6th question...

6) What kind of polywire wheel should I get? There are so many different kinds! What are "geared" polywire wheels? I definitly want something that will lock to keep the wire tight while I secure it to posts.

All I have is a phone and don't know how to post a link with it, but there is an article about it on beefmagazine.com and polywire on google is listed as a temporary fence, so it doesn't sound like it is meant to withstand the wear of continual use. One thing to keep in mind, an electric fence is only as good as the supply of electricity is and a full size boar and bull will go thru an unstable fence rather easily. I wish you luck in your search, but I am a bit "Old School" and don't have any faith in the new fangdangled stuff.

http://www.beefmagazine.com/pasture-range/choose-appropriate-electric-fence-wire

That one?

I would have a perimeter fence of something else... I dont trust any electric as the only security but that's me and we have power issues here and solar doesn't work great for half the year (the cold half lol)

That's it! NH thanks a lot for helping. It didn't sound like anything I would trust here either. In fact I'd never heard of it before and had to Google it. But, unless it is carrying some serious voltage a boar or bull wouldn't pay any attention to it if there is something In the Air.

@babsbag uses poly, she can probably add useful information. And @greybeard has a ton of experience with fencing of multiple types. Until then ...

• You are going to need solid corners no matter what kind of fencing you put up. I tried Wedge-loc (for T-posts) for a VERY small piece of fencing that included a corner and am not impressed. I wouldn't use them again and certainly not for anything considered even semi-permanent.
• I've read that with an all hotwire fence, you don't want it too tight. It is the pain of touching it, not 'structural integrity' that keeps animals from coming back a second time. If it is too tight and an animal hits it hard, the fence is likely to suffer. Better to have a bit of 'give'.
• My GUESS would be that the rebar posts would be OK for the pigs since they don't need a very high fence but wouldn't be suitable for cattle.

My experience is quite limited but don't plan for plastic or fiberglass posts to last very long. The sun degrades them. They are OK for temporary fencing but I wouldn't use them on any fence you hope to not mess with for years and years. I have quite a number that were put in by prior owners that just snap under not too much pressure now.

I haves used poly wire with goats (and LGD's) and I do like it.
This is the wire we used:


They make splices, you can buy them from most feed/farm stores. We did use a splice or two when needed but for the most part I just tied it together

We used just about 100% T posts, I did use some step-in posts only were there was a dip in the ground. I also pull it reasonably tight, probably a bit overkill but I found that if the wire is tight the are more likely to bounce off the fence and stay where they are supposed too. When it's loose the goat has a much greater chance at getting caught in it. I wouldn't worry as much if it were galvanized wire, but it's easy to get caught in polywire. I feel safer with keeping it tight.

The poly wire I used did break down pretty fast though. Doesn't have anywhere near the life of galvanized wire. Plan to replace the poly wire every few years.

ETA: are you planning on moving the fence? I'd more ours every month or so. That's the reason why we used the poly wire- easy to take down and move.

3/8" dia rebar posts for cattle would be futile, unless they are already conditioned to that type fence, and even then the unintentional bumping and jostling around they do will bend them right over. The other thing I have noticed, is cattle will always scratch heads against anything they can find. And..ever notice on any fence just how many hairs you see hanging off the fence from their tail swatches?

I have not used polywire/polyrope. Have used polytape for horses, but found it to be a pita because it caught so much wind and was forever getting loose even with the spring loaded spools.