greybeard
Herd Master
The trick to a good fence is the tightness of the wires. I can't emphasize that enough.
For line posts, there is (unless you have frost upheaval problems ) there is absolultely no reason to plant the posts more than 2' in the ground. I have many hundreds of wooden and steel line posts in the ground here (over 900 for sure) and very very few of them are more than 6 1/2" total length, meaning for the most part, I have 50-55" sticking out of the ground.
There is nothing wrong with using staples even on a hot wire. There are insulated tubes you can put around the wire where the staple goes in. The staple is only used to hold the wire up...not hold it laterally.
In the last 5 years, I've had exactly 2 young calves get thru a fence and that was in low spots where a feral hog had broken the bottom wire.
What diameter wire are you using?
I'm going to caution you about something now.
In most states (and counties) the law says something to the effect of"
"No one may knowingly allow stock to roam freely"
What that means in legalese, is that if you 'know' you have either a cow that is prone to escape or know you have fence problems, and that cow gets out and causes any kind of damage to persons or an automobile, you are both financially liable and legally liable (fines, civil suit damages, and/or confiscation of the animals by the authorities.
It is the "knowingly" part that gets folks in trouble.
States and courts recognize the old axiom of Neither man nor God ever built a fence strong enough or high enough to keep a determined cow in or a determined lawyer out but if you are aware you have fence problems and those problems cause damage to the public, the 1st part of that axiom is thrown out the window of the courtroom.
Fix the problem fence or get rid of the problem animal.
Why?
Nothing posted on the internet, especially if posted from an iPhone, ever really goes away.
For line posts, there is (unless you have frost upheaval problems ) there is absolultely no reason to plant the posts more than 2' in the ground. I have many hundreds of wooden and steel line posts in the ground here (over 900 for sure) and very very few of them are more than 6 1/2" total length, meaning for the most part, I have 50-55" sticking out of the ground.
There is nothing wrong with using staples even on a hot wire. There are insulated tubes you can put around the wire where the staple goes in. The staple is only used to hold the wire up...not hold it laterally.
In the last 5 years, I've had exactly 2 young calves get thru a fence and that was in low spots where a feral hog had broken the bottom wire.
What diameter wire are you using?
I'm going to caution you about something now.
In most states (and counties) the law says something to the effect of"
"No one may knowingly allow stock to roam freely"
What that means in legalese, is that if you 'know' you have either a cow that is prone to escape or know you have fence problems, and that cow gets out and causes any kind of damage to persons or an automobile, you are both financially liable and legally liable (fines, civil suit damages, and/or confiscation of the animals by the authorities.
It is the "knowingly" part that gets folks in trouble.
States and courts recognize the old axiom of Neither man nor God ever built a fence strong enough or high enough to keep a determined cow in or a determined lawyer out but if you are aware you have fence problems and those problems cause damage to the public, the 1st part of that axiom is thrown out the window of the courtroom.
Fix the problem fence or get rid of the problem animal.
Why?
Nothing posted on the internet, especially if posted from an iPhone, ever really goes away.
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