Building my Fence

   / Building my Fence #1  

EddieWalker

Epic Contributor
Joined
May 26, 2003
Messages
25,137
Location
Tyler, Texas
Tractor
Several, all used and abused.
I've spent years clearing my fence line, and I'm still a long ways from being done, but I'm finally at a place where I can start building it. Since I have horses and goats, I'm going to do it all in 2x4 horse fence that's 4 feet tall. I'm running a strand of barbwire at the bottom for my straight line, and also to discourage animals from digging under it. I'm also running barb wire at the top of the fence to discourage animals from leaning over the fence, and maybe slow some down from climbing over it.

I do not like H bracing. Welded seems to hold up OK for short runs, but I've never seen a wood H brace that was doing much of anything that's been there awhile. After doing a lot of reading online, watching YouTube videos, visiting different farms and ranches, and thinking about what works and why it works, I decided to go with a simple brace against my corner posts. I did this with my dog yard and I've been very happy with the results. Now I'm doing it for my pastures.

I have 68 acres. I'm dividing up the land into 4 grazing pastures that are around 12 to 14 acres. Then there will be a male goat pasture that's about 2 acres to separate them out from the girls. I have a gazebo that I started years ago, but lost interest in, that will be converted to the boy barn. I'll have to run power and water to the gazebo, but it's already close to there, so it's not going to be an issue. That will happen after I finish the first pasture. And the original pasture is 5 acres that has my barn and small pond. This will remain our feeding area. It also has the barn, which is going to become 3 times bigger. We will also create our handling area there, along with a holding area for goats that we are selling.

I currently have a couple types of fencing in place that I hate. The new pasture is outlined in red in the first picture. Green shows where the gates will be. I'm still taking out trees, but most of it is ready to go. The Google picture is several years old and it doesn't show how much that I've cleared since then.

The second picture shows what I want it to look like when it's all done. My plan is to be able to rotate the animals from one pasture to the other every week. They will have one week in a pasture, while the other 3 pastures will have 3 weeks of rest and growth. Then in the Fall, when growing season ends, I'll open all the gates between the pastures and they can go where they want until Spring. This will also allow me to spray for weeks and not have anybody in that pasture for several weeks. If a tree falls on a fence, I can keep that pasture closed until it's fixed. Hopefully I will remove all the trees that might do this, but I also know this is impossible and eventually I'll have to deal with a tree taking out my fence.

GoogleEarthofLand - first pasture.png


GoogleEarthofLand - all pastures.png
 
   / Building my Fence #2  
I have a gazebo that I started years ago, but lost interest in, that will be converted to the boy barn. I'll have to run power and water to the gazebo, but it's already close to there, so it's not going to be an issue. That will happen after I finish the first pasture. And the original pasture is 5 acres that has my barn and small pond. This will remain our feeding area. It also has the barn, which is going to become 3 times bigger. We will also create our handling area there, along with a holding area for goats that we are selling.
Is that the gazebo with the "one of a kind" crooked roof? That's a neat building.
 
   / Building my Fence
  • Thread Starter
#3  
I'm buying 8ft x 6in treated posts for my corners. I'm also putting them in every 50 feet. The 6 foot T posts are 10 feet apart or less, never more.

I'm using 10 ft x 2 inch conduit for my bracing. I cut it in half at 45 degrees and bury the square end in the hole with a couple sacks of concrete to lock it into position.

The line posts are set in packed clay, except where I think I need more strength, and then they get concrete.

One of the hardest things about this horse wire is unrolling it. I watched a bunch of YouTube videos on how they do it, and got the idea to use my hay spears on the ends of my pallet forks. I cut a piece of 3/4 plywood to allow it to spin easily, and it works better then I had hoped. My plywood needs to be bigger, but otherwise, it's been a huge success!!!

I bought a fence stretcher from Kencove that works great. I tried screwing 2x6's together, over the wire, which works, but it's not ideal. This was money well spent. I use two come-a-long's to get it tight and then staple it to the wood posts. I'm able to do this by myself, which is how I prefer to work.

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   / Building my Fence
  • Thread Starter
#4  
Is that the gazebo with the "one of a kind" crooked roof? That's a neat building.
927102398.JPG IMG_0827.JPG

No, the boy boat barn gazebo was my first attempt at a gazebo with logs from my place. My original thought was that it would be a nice sitting area that was close to the house. Reality is that I'm not a sitting person and there really is no use for it.

For the last couple of years, I was planning on tearing it down. If I had some spare time, it would be gone by now.

It wasn't until we figured out where to put the fences, that we realized this could be converted into a boy barn. I'm going to close off 5 sides to keep the wind out. Two sides will keep the metal railing and that's where we will feed the boys. I'll built a trough of some kind on the other side. The remaining side will be where the hay bale is placed so it remains dry. I expect it to pretty much block the opening with just enough room for the boys to get in and out of there.
 
   / Building my Fence
  • Thread Starter
#5  
This is the gazebo with the crooked roof. We call it our Wedding Gazebo. If you look at the satellite picture, it's at the end of the peninsula at the big pond.

IMG_6940.JPG
 
   / Building my Fence #6  
I've spent years clearing my fence line, and I'm still a long ways from being done, but I'm finally at a place where I can start building it. Since I have horses and goats, I'm going to do it all in 2x4 horse fence that's 4 feet tall. I'm running a strand of barbwire at the bottom for my straight line, and also to discourage animals from digging under it. I'm also running barb wire at the top of the fence to discourage animals from leaning over the fence, and maybe slow some down from climbing over it.

I do not like H bracing. Welded seems to hold up OK for short runs, but I've never seen a wood H brace that was doing much of anything that's been there awhile. After doing a lot of reading online, watching YouTube videos, visiting different farms and ranches, and thinking about what works and why it works, I decided to go with a simple brace against my corner posts. I did this with my dog yard and I've been very happy with the results. Now I'm doing it for my pastures.

I have 68 acres. I'm dividing up the land into 4 grazing pastures that are around 12 to 14 acres. Then there will be a male goat pasture that's about 2 acres to separate them out from the girls. I have a gazebo that I started years ago, but lost interest in, that will be converted to the boy barn. I'll have to run power and water to the gazebo, but it's already close to there, so it's not going to be an issue. That will happen after I finish the first pasture. And the original pasture is 5 acres that has my barn and small pond. This will remain our feeding area. It also has the barn, which is going to become 3 times bigger. We will also create our handling area there, along with a holding area for goats that we are selling.

I currently have a couple types of fencing in place that I hate. The new pasture is outlined in red in the first picture. Green shows where the gates will be. I'm still taking out trees, but most of it is ready to go. The Google picture is several years old and it doesn't show how much that I've cleared since then.

The second picture shows what I want it to look like when it's all done. My plan is to be able to rotate the animals from one pasture to the other every week. They will have one week in a pasture, while the other 3 pastures will have 3 weeks of rest and growth. Then in the Fall, when growing season ends, I'll open all the gates between the pastures and they can go where they want until Spring. This will also allow me to spray for weeks and not have anybody in that pasture for several weeks. If a tree falls on a fence, I can keep that pasture closed until it's fixed. Hopefully I will remove all the trees that might do this, but I also know this is impossible and eventually I'll have to deal with a tree taking out my fence.

View attachment 729155


View attachment 729156
Consider using steel drill stem pipe for corners and braces. You can now buy brackets to make strong H braces with steel pipe. I agree that wood H braces don’t seem to last too long. Also consider that the longer the cross bar, the stronger the brace.
 
   / Building my Fence #8  
I made my own unroller, saved loads of time.

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   / Building my Fence #9  
I made my own unroller, saved loads of time.
I love what you are doing on your land. How many people do you have working with you to complete your project?
 
   / Building my Fence
  • Thread Starter
#10  
I'm doing everything by myself. You might say that I don't get along with people!!!
 
 
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