Perimeter fencing pasture

[Mudfarmer]

Forget the Donkeys. Use a llama or two as guards for the sheep. Get a gelded halter-broke male. Cost will be about the same. He'll work as a packer as well and can be shorn along with the sheep. Way more efficient on feed than an equine. Also, a llama pastures well with horses once the horse gets over its first impression. I know this since I raised llamas for over twenty years in a former life, kept sheep and had horses.

 

[JRH02]

I built a 1200'+ perimeter fence with 60" Red Brand non-climb many years ago. Plus two rows of 4 prong barbed above that. Zero rust even where the bottom is below ground. About now the box ends are beginning to fail as are the staggered line posts. That project took a whole summer. We live in rocky ground ranging from large stones to boulders. My t-post driver is know as a 'rock diviner' and setting some posts became a really big hole with the backhoe.

But, I love to do fence. At least I used to love it.

 

[drumminj]

But, I love to do fence. At least I used to love it.

Want to take a nice vacation to middle TN?

 

[JRH02]

Want to take a nice vacation to middle TN?

I have family in Nashville but, like Dorothy, there's no place like home for me. If I do go somewhere it is vacation time. Sorry, buddy.

 

[drumminj]

Forget the Donkeys. Use a llama or two as guards for the sheep. Get a gelded halter-broke male. Cost will be about the same. He'll work as a packer as well and can be shorn along with the sheep. Way more efficient on feed than an equine. Also, a llama pastures well with horses once the horse gets over its first impression. I know this since I raised llamas for over twenty years in a former life, kept sheep and had horses.

Thanks for the idea. We had discussed llamas long ago but not sure why it fell off the list. Will look at it again.

Personally I see value in the donkey as an equine as you presumably get some of the personality you would get from a horse. But I've never owned either -- just dated a "horse girl" back in my day.

 

[drumminj]

Randomly on this topic/project, I'm getting quotes for the barn. Morton Buildings wants $138k for a 36x36 barn with two 10' lean-tos. No finishing of the inside - just the shell.

There are some upgrades in how they build things (26ga vs 29ga steel, their foundation/concrete+laminated column solution) but that's $100k more than the local pole barn company (Summertown).

I was mentally prepared to pay a premium for what they offer, but don't see how anyone can justify that! Permacolumns would be a $200/post upgrade with the local (so about $5k more). Aside from the thicker steel I'm not sure where the extra 95k is going...

I do like they offer sliding barn door options with windows in them....

 

[JRH02]

The 6' system I spoke of was put in place to discourage bear and big and medium kitties from visiting. We are in deep forest on the side of a canyon with very irregular ground. It has mostly worked along with three Catahoula working dogs. Last year we had a bear climb over box ends to feast on the feed cans he toppled and of course the cats could care less about the fence. But what the fence DOES do successfully is to cause the forest creatures to go somewhere easier - and especially where there aren't 3ea 90# fast++, noisy dogs which obviously alert us too. Those dogs can hear a branch snap 1/4 mile away and smell them too.

So whatever you end up building for fence and use for guardian animals, sooner or later you will probably end up with some guard dogs. I'd recommend it sooner than later since you are probably going to end up doing that anyway. We stumbled upon Catahoula dogs by accident. Extremely smart, protective of THEIR place but really stubborn and bull headed. And they are relatively good around people who are not suspicious. Did I mention they are fast?

 

[TxSteveS]

For post driver's, look around for a rental.

Near me HD rents a professional 4 stroke post pounder. $100/day $400/week. Up to 2 7/8 pipe.

Local equipment rental rents big pounders for $150/day that will do up to 8" posts if you have access to a skid steer or your tractor hydraulics.

You can pound a whole lot of post in one day if it's all laid out.

 

[EddieWalker]

Randomly on this topic/project, I'm getting quotes for the barn. Morton Buildings wants $138k for a 36x36 barn with two 10' lean-tos. No finishing of the inside - just the shell.

There are some upgrades in how they build things (26ga vs 29ga steel, their foundation/concrete+laminated column solution) but that's $100k more than the local pole barn company (Summertown).

I was mentally prepared to pay a premium for what they offer, but don't see how anyone can justify that! Permacolumns would be a $200/post upgrade with the local (so about $5k more). Aside from the thicker steel I'm not sure where the extra 95k is going...

I do like they offer sliding barn door options with windows in them....

If my math is right, that's $106 a square foot for that building. It's been a while since I built spec homes, but when I did, I could sell a fully finished house for $70 a square foot and make a profit. Most of the time I could seal in a house for $25 a square foot. The real money was in the finishing touches.

According to one of the trade magazines that I used to get, the breakdown for building a track home was 1/3 materials, 2/3'rds labor and government fees.

From what I've seen on here, and watching videos about barns being built, I think a lot of money is added to the cost on things that are not needed but make you feel better about the building. Sales gimmicks that sound like you are getting a better structure, but don't actually do anything.

For me, treated posts set in the ground with concrete is still the best way to build a pole barn. With proper drainage so the posts never get wet, it will be there for 100 years without any issues. Creative Marketing has led to a large variety of ways to spend more money accomplishing the same thing without actually making the building stronger or last longer.

 

[JRH02]

The solution: