Best fence options

[pitt_md]

Fence for a dog depends on the dog. I owned a black lab that would climb anything you put in front of it. I worked several days to put up an 8' chain link fence and thought - finally my dog will be safe and not run off. I shut the dog in the yard with the 8' tall fence and walked out into the field and she was at my side in a matter of minutes. My wife laughed long and hard about that. She simply climbed the fence and jumped. With her it had to have a lid on it.

On the horse issue, DON'T USE BARBED WIRE! ALL horses will spook from time to time and you just don't need the after effects of horse-barbed wire encounter. JMHO

 

[Soundguy]

Yep.. 2x4 with the 'V' no climb is about the only thing that will keep climbing dogs and goats in..

soundguy

 

[jmfox]

I will be leasing the land to dog owner's so there will be a variety.

jmf

 

[Negligence]

What are some of the tricks to eliminate post wiggle?

I've always jammed rocks or wood down the hole to eliminate any play in the post. Anything solid will do. Scrap pieces of wood are good for this.

 

[ponytug]

You might want to check out Premier 1 fencing. They have a variety of fences illustrated.

If you don't know the dogs, then you will probably want to count on high jumpers, climbers and diggers. That means mesh, and low, and high electric lines.

I recommend grounding the electric fence to ground rods and to the non-electrified wire. If you use wood posts exclusively, add metal ground posts around the perimeter to help get a good zap. I would also recommend buying a good, modern, variable impeadance charger; it will make a world of difference.

I believe in fencing once, and then not revisiting it. The first fence that I built is still going strong 35 years later, but different soils, weather, and fence materials will have different lifetimes. Of course, cash on hand makes one settle for interim solutions sometimes.

Another poster mentioned wiggly posts. These shouldn't happen. Either tamp harder, more often, or set your post deeper. If you are setting posts in something really soft like peat, you may have to drive it a long way down. If the posts wiggle, the fence won't last.

Fence types are a bit like religion; it is hard to convince someone that to have a rational discussion about it. (Rather like pickups and tractors, too...)

Having said that, I don't think that any particular fence is intrinsically safe or unsafe. How it is installed, maintained, and used makes all the difference. You may see barbed wire cattle fence where there isn't much pressure on it, out in the pasture, but in a feedlot, you'll see alot more railroad ties and guard rails. One of our horses had a leg tied up to be shod at his trainer's(at a cattle feedlot), and deftly hopped up, hit a cattle fence made of railroad ties and a five foot high wall of solid 3x12" and went through it sideways. A dumb action rendered a great fence a problem. YMMV. He still doesn't like to have his hind feet handled for some reason...

All the best,

Peter

I will be leasing the land to dog owner's so there will be a variety.

jmf

 

[Rara Avis]

Is it too late to rein this thread in a little and focus on canines? I may preserve my options to contain horses, but my primary goal is the dog world. Are there any issues that I should be aware of regarding pooch running about? Fence height, buried portion, posts, weave, etc.?

jmf

What exactly are you planning to do with these dogs?
How many?
What types?
Under supervision?
Have you determined if your land has plants dangerous to dogs?

What is you plan for manure control?

We're not talking another Michael Vick operation?...are we?

How are you planning on protecting yourself from a liabilities arising from said lease?

 

[jmfox]

I'm leasing my property to dog owners who want to exercise their animals. The lessee will be responsibile for their dog (insurance, supervision, etc.). As to manure I will till it into the soil. Narcissist and sociopaths need not apply.

jmf

 

[daTeacha]

Think of hogs, not dogs, and they probably won't get out. Use woven wired and bury about 6 inches of it along the line with the rest above. Unless you have a jumper or climber, that is. You could take care of them by having some of the fence angled back into your contained area, kind of like the fencing that keeps urban types from throwing rocks off bridges onto passing cars.

Around here, the guys who build fences use a hydraulic post(pile?) driver to simply hammer treated wooden posts into the ground. I had one run a 9 wire high tensile fence with alternating hot and grounded wires to contain sheep and keep out dogs and coyotes. He had an Allis D-17 with a big post driver mounted on the front. He drove that not too small tractor/driver backwards down a wooded hillside on rocky ground, driving 8 foot posts 3 feet into the ground about every 20 feet. I asked him what happened if it hit a solid rock and he said it either shattered the rock (mostly sandstone, but occasionally pretty thick) or mushroomed the post bottom. Either way, the posts don't move. A maple tree fell on one and the post snapped about 6 inches below the surface, but the "stump" was very solid in the hole. He said he could drill them, but it takes a lot longer and doesn't work as well.

 

[jmfox]

What do the use to make the 6" cut below the fence?

jmf

 

[Rara Avis]

You could use your tractor's FEL...push it into the dirt and the roll the bucket a little...
or you could use a walk behind trencher to create a slot on the ground to drop the fence material into...but if the dogs will be supervised......it may not be necessary.