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Most cost effective cattle/horse fence

Posted By: Donnersurvivor

Most cost effective cattle/horse fence - 07/06/22 10:37 PM

Title sums it up. I want a fence I won't have to work on until my unborn kids are old enough to help. Need to do a considerable amount, what do you guys recommend?
Posted By: TraderVic

Re: Most cost effective cattle/horse fence - 07/06/22 11:05 PM

High tensile wire fence. Easiest of all fences to build and maintain. What livestock are you considering ?
Posted By: Trappercass

Re: Most cost effective cattle/horse fence - 07/06/22 11:06 PM

New posts are just awful these days. The big fence company and post dealer around this part of the country sells treated posts and puts hedge posts in on his own ranch. That should tell a guy something. Steel is too expensive for any “considerable amount”. Those hedge posts sure are ugly though! We also have untreated Eastern red cedar posts on the family ranch that have been in the ground longer than a lot of the newer treated cca and creasote posts that we have already been replacing. We have a considerable amount of cedar around here that need cleared and those are easy to come by if you are willing to put in the time and labor for them
Posted By: Feedinggrounds

Re: Most cost effective cattle/horse fence - 07/06/22 11:16 PM

Originally Posted by Trappercass
New posts are just awful these days. The big fence company and post dealer around this part of the country sells treated posts and puts hedge posts in on his own ranch. That should tell a guy something. Steel is too expensive for any “considerable amount”. Those hedge posts sure are ugly though! We also have untreated Eastern red cedar posts on the family ranch that have been in the ground longer than a lot of the newer treated cca and creasote posts that we have already been replacing. We have a considerable amount of cedar around here that need cleared and those are easy to come by if you are willing to put in the time and labor for them

We make pressure treat and sell fence post by the many hundreds of thousands, If not in not millions by now. Custumers sure keep buying them "awful" posts. Matter of fact every un milled log on my 30 acre stock yard is sold or spoke for by brokers. Our posts are perfect dowel shape end to end.
Posted By: Gene Dziza

Re: Most cost effective cattle/horse fence - 07/06/22 11:16 PM

Maybe smooth wire, since horses and barbed wire don't mix well, IMO. But I'm a firm believer in some electric wire to keep them off the fence. The fencing guys are doing steel braces now, which seems like the ticket to me. For cost effective, I think I would look at steel braces, pounded wood posts, smooth wire and a couple of strands of electric wire to keep them off the fence. I've done wood rail, barbed wire, smooth wire, vinyl rail, and all electric. That's my .02. I don't have a lot of experience with steel T-posts, other than to remove them.
Posted By: Yes sir

Re: Most cost effective cattle/horse fence - 07/06/22 11:48 PM

Horses and barb wire don't mix??? I wish someone would have told me that 40 years ago and a couple of hundred horses ago..... It might have saved me some horses ...... wait I never lost one or crippled one to barb wire.... nevermind.
Posted By: Yes sir

Re: Most cost effective cattle/horse fence - 07/06/22 11:51 PM

Originally Posted by Feedinggrounds
Originally Posted by Trappercass
New posts are just awful these days. The big fence company and post dealer around this part of the country sells treated posts and puts hedge posts in on his own ranch. That should tell a guy something. Steel is too expensive for any “considerable amount”. Those hedge posts sure are ugly though! We also have untreated Eastern red cedar posts on the family ranch that have been in the ground longer than a lot of the newer treated cca and creasote posts that we have already been replacing. We have a considerable amount of cedar around here that need cleared and those are easy to come by if you are willing to put in the time and labor for them

We make pressure treat and sell fence post by the many hundreds of thousands, If not in not millions by now. Custumers sure keep buying them "awful" posts. Matter of fact every un milled log on my 30 acre stock yard is sold or spoke for by brokers. Our posts are perfect dowel shape end to end.

We get enough moisture here your post would be doing good to last 20 years a good hedge post maybe 80 to a 100. But yes a lot of people who move out to the country buy them.
Posted By: Donnersurvivor

Re: Most cost effective cattle/horse fence - 07/07/22 12:21 AM

We don't have hedge here, it would be expensive to have a truckload of them shipped up. Whatever I end up doing I'm for sure running hot wire to keep stock off it. Currently doing my yard in cattle panels, they've gotten to expensive to do much more than the yard though.
Posted By: TraderVic

Re: Most cost effective cattle/horse fence - 07/07/22 12:47 AM

If you have any black locust trees around, they make excellent long term, low rot fence posts.
Posted By: TurkeyTime

Re: Most cost effective cattle/horse fence - 07/07/22 12:52 AM

Cattle or horses or both?
Posted By: Range

Re: Most cost effective cattle/horse fence - 07/07/22 01:17 AM

What is a considerable amount? A 1/2 mile? Twenty miles? It makes a difference. I’ve put up galvanized panels with wood posts that have been maintenance free for over 15 years now in deep snow country. The initial output is high but the low maintenance is nice. It’s just under a 1/2 mile. It had to be sheep tight so the panels worked well. We have been trying braces made of drill pipe lately but they have not been in long enough to know how they will last. They like them on the desert because they are fire proof.
Posted By: Donnersurvivor

Re: Most cost effective cattle/horse fence - 07/07/22 01:25 AM

Need to do a couple miles.


Originally Posted by TraderVic
If you have any black locust trees around, they make excellent long term, low rot fence posts.


Very few

Originally Posted by TurkeyTime
Cattle or horses or both?


Both, mainly cattle though, just a pair of horses.
Posted By: Michael Lippold

Re: Most cost effective cattle/horse fence - 07/07/22 01:33 AM

I use hedge post, heavy gauge woven wire with a strand of barbed wire on the bottom and either 1 or 2 strands on top. I usually do 4 steel post to 1 line post
Posted By: K91773

Re: Most cost effective cattle/horse fence - 07/07/22 01:46 AM

5 strand high tensile electric is what you seek, the initial cost is more than barbed wire but less than field fencing and it will last a long time with limited maintenance, if I had it to do over it is certainly how I would have went on my place.
Posted By: TurkeyTime

Re: Most cost effective cattle/horse fence - 07/07/22 02:31 AM

Well for mainly cattle I would do hedge and barbed wire. That is easy for us Missourians to say as I can cut all I would ever need across the road. It maybe worth researching how close the nearest person with hedge is and what they would charge to deliver a load. I have used black locust in a pinch. I would take the bark off of black locust before setting. I heard about that later and did notice some initial rot under the bark. I have also used some treated for looks close to a building. I did not, but I have heard of people painting/treating the part that will be in the ground with something extra. Four strand is plenty. We have some five which I think is overkill but I wasn't making the decision.
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