Non-Climb 2"x4" Horse Wire Fence

[Southern by choice]

@greybeard

I:
1. Tie to start point, unroll down ffirst leg of the run to the corner. Pul tension on the first leg. Staple good to the cornor anchor post and first vertical brace post.
2. Release tension from my stretcher, Cut the wire, leaving enough to wrap around the corner and tie the strand(s) back into the tightened wire.
3. Wrap the wire around the same corner anchor we just tied to, Unroll down the 2nd leg, pull that leg tension, staple good to the end point, release tension, cut wire-again long enough to wrap around end post and tie strands back into the tightened wire.

that is how we do it too. We were told that and so we did.
Glad to know it wasn't a waste of time.

We have had trees fall and the fence held... we also had the LGD's break a T-post and rip the fence going after a coyote (or something they didn't like) fortunately the fence held tight.

I see lots of corner posts and their 2 braces around here leaning because of them basically making that corner part of one fence.

We have seen that on a few of our friends fencing. Within a few years their fence was falling over. I thought it might have been them not pulling it tight... we see that alot.

Thanks

 

[Southern by choice]

@Baymule

one thing we learned was gate latches! Oh how I wish I would have had someone tell me about these....

When we move all our gates will have these! I hate the chains and clips they are a PITA!

http://surelatch.com/6-gate-latches

 

[greybeard]

@Baymule

one thing we learned was gate latches! Oh how I wish I would have had someone tell me about these....

When we move all our gates will have these! I hate the chains and clips they are a PITA!

http://surelatch.com/6-gate-latches

A word those latches... They are good latches, and I use them but they can use some tweaking if they are going to be under any stress by large animals, including anything that might run into the gate. I've seen 200-300lb calves hit the gate and spring those latches that have the round barstock on the gate. I've had them move just by repeated swinging the gate closed and when the pin hits the latch, the bracket twists a little bit each time, and then one day, I noticed the bracket on the gate was barely being captured by the swinging metal part of the post.

Here's the fix--bear with me, because I don't have access to my photobucket account right now to post an image of the tweaked latch...

The below latches are installed correctly, but the 2 bolts that pinch the gate side portion of the latch to the gate will never tighten enough to ensure that part won't twist on the tube if the gate gets hit hard. Most times, you can just push real hard on the gate and that bracket will twist around on the gate tube. This can't happen if you have a pin or lock in the holes provided for a padlock, but having to lock it each time kinda defeats the purpose of an easy latch gate.

option1: Install both parts of the latch in such a position, that the 2 bolts are positioned one above, and one below the horizontal tube of the gate. In the below pic, you would just move the entire latch assembly up about 4 inches to the next horizontal tube or down about 2 inches to the next lower horizontal tube.
option2: Look close at the portion of the latch that is on the gate itself. You will see a 5/16" hole already in that bracket mid way between the 2 bolts. Install your latch assy just as is shown, then take a drill and drill a 5/16" hole straight thru the hole in the bracket, thru the vertical tube on your gate and put a 5/16" bolt and nut thru latch and gate. The bracket can then no longer twist no matter what.
option3: Take a short self tapping sheet metal screw, and install one thru the latch bracket and let it thread itself into the gate tube. Repeat on the other side, but run that screw in at an angle so the 2nd screw doesn't hit the end of the 1st screw.

IF you have already installed your tube gate and didn't make allowances for this type latch (the opening between the posts is too great), you may still be able to use this type latch. The round bar stock that goes into the post portion of the latch assy is 1" diameter bar stock. You can weld an extension onto that round bar stock to make it long enough to reach the post. You won't be able to use the lock holes they provided, but you will still be able to just swing the gate closed and it latch itself.

Crappy photo edit job but you get the idea:

 

[Southern by choice]

Thanks @greybeard we do that now on our other gate latches because the LGD's hit it hard and yep they will turn and pop... they have all been reinforced with drilling through the bracket and pipe.

Leaving the field for long periods of time we still have to "clip" the gate because the goats can open anything just from watching and one of the LGD's thinks it can go to whatever field he needs to be in if a goat is unattended... nice how we learn these things. LOL

 

[Devonviolet]

Don't know cuz we never did it the other way.
We use a stretcher - we made this one.. easier and more stable than a bar... easy to make... in the woods we don't have the ability to do a tractor pull so we use the straps and come-a-longs.
View attachment 16837

We have a metal stretcher bar like yours, that we bought at Tractor Supply. It was a bit spendy. But, in the long run, we feel it was worth the money. We still have quite a bit of fencing to do. So we are confident we will get our money's worth out of it.

With all the rain we have been getting, there is no way we can get traction, using the truck - and don't have a strong enough tractor to do the job.

Last year we used straps around a tree, with chain attached to the stretcher & come along. That worked really well for us.

 

[greybeard]

We have a metal stretcher bar like yours, that we bought at Tractor Supply. It was a bit spendy. But, in the long run, we feel it was worth the money. We still have quite a bit of fencing to do. So we are confident we will get our money's worth out of it.

With all the rain we have been getting, there is no way we can get traction, using the truck - and don't have a strong enough tractor to do the job.

Last year we used straps around a tree, with chain attached to the stretcher & come along. That worked really well for us.

You count those kind of one time expenses against the # of years and times you will use them and the amt of time and work they save you. It's rarely a frivolous expense.

 

[Devonviolet]

I:
1. Tie to start point, unroll down ffirst leg of the run to the corner. Pul tension on the first leg. Staple good to the cornor anchor post and first vertical brace post.
2. Release tension from my stretcher, Cut the wire, leaving enough to wrap around the corner and tie the strand(s) back into the tightened wire.
3. Wrap the wire around the same corner anchor we just tied to, Unroll down the 2nd leg, pull that leg tension, staple good to the end point, release tension, cut wire-again long enough to wrap around end post and tie strands back into the tightened wire.

Why go to the extra work?? This means that corner never "sees" anything but 2 separate straight pulls--90 deg apart, nor will that corner post ever as feel much tension pushing it inwards. I see lots of corner posts and their 2 braces around here leaning because of them basically making that corner part of one fence.

Thanks for that great explanation, greybeard! That will really help us when we stretch fence this Summer.

Last year, we stretched fence around our goat paddock, and did the corner like @Baymule suggested - because we didn't know any better.

We are pretty much just the two of us, doing all the work ourselves. So, will be doing it in stages. We are going to work to get fence posts in the ground this Spring, while the ground is still soft, from the rain. It's a two-edged sword. We have 8 inches of Sandy Loam over several feet of clay (not sure exactly how deep it goes), that holds water. Our 3 foot post holes get 2 feet of water. But, at least it's digable. We bought a gas powered post hole anger (4" to 6"). So, hopefully, digging post holes won't be so physically taxing. Although, it is a huge PITA to clean sticky clay off the auger!

If we wait 'til Summer, the clay will dry out & be like digging a post hole in concrete! The plus side of that, is putting post in soft clay, that dries around the post, makes them solid, for stretching fence.

This has been a huge learning curve for us. We are so grateful to @Southern by choice and @Baymule for their helpful suggestions. They both saved us from making mistakes along the way, that would make for weak fencing.

 

[Devonviolet]

@Baymule

one thing we learned was gate latches! Oh how I wish I would have had someone tell me about these....

When we move all our gates will have these! I hate the chains and clips they are a PITA!

http://surelatch.com/6-gate-latches

These look interesting. However, they won't work for our gates. Y'all may not agree with this. But, we are building our gates out of 2X4s, to save money.

We figure the steel pole gates, that we would need would cost $2000+ and we could build strong, reinforced 2X4 gates for a few 100 dollars, in lumber, screws & fencing. I know it may not be ideal, but we need to keep our costs down, as much as possible.

We are currently using a simple bar into a lever clasp type latch, with a slide bolt at the bottom (of the gate), to prevent the animals from pushing the bottom out. Again not ideal, but I am working on a way to make it adjustable, to allow for seasonal shifting due to wet/dry conditions.

 

[nab]

We just attempted to instal a 50' square no climb 5' fence. It was so much harder than I expected.
The fence rolls were very difficult to handle. I think we unfurled it incorrectly. Our unfurled counter clockwise against the fence....I think it would have been easier clockwise.
Our other mistake was to not build braces for the corners. The guy at tractor supply said we only had to sink the wood post into the found so 5' was exposed then surround by concrete. The corners appear to be lifting right along with the concrete. Very frustrating. We have a lot to do over.

 

[babsbag]

We made our own fence stretcher. We used 2 2x4 and some deck screws. Sandwiched the fence in between the boards and put in 4 screws. I have a battery drill that goes with me so no power needed. I then put a ratchet strap at the top of the stretcher and another at the bottom and bring them together to a toe strap attached to a come-along. Since ALL of our fences on hills (or cliffs) this allows me to stretch the top or bottom of the fence more to adjust for the inclines. The fences arent gorgeous but that are as tight as I can get them without putting in new sections of fence every 50'. I also can't dig holes so it is trees and t-posts all the way; too many rocks, too many ravines. Great goat country though.

We tried putting in 4x4 posts for a fence we were going to do around our yard. We sunk the posts 2', took us all weekend with some help to get them dug. We put the post in, set in concrete. Two weeks later we started the fence. We got three sections done and that night had the "storm of the century". Next morning the fence and the posts were laying on the ground. Our soil is so rocky and sandy that there is just no gripping power. So we never built that fence. After living in the country we determined we didn't need a solid wood fence like city folks anyways.