Dog hit, need fence from Tractor supply??

12pack · Mar 14, 2012

My dog got hit by a car chasing a critter (he's ok after 4 grand in vet bill) so now my wife wants to fence the property.(another couple grand) Free pound puppy is costing alot of dough.

I have 3 acres. I have been looking at the woven wire 4' fencing material sold at the local tractor supply.

My question is which one to get, there seems to be many choices in what appears to be just about the same fence. I want to buy the 330' rolls that cost about $160.00 or so.

I am figuring the heavy duty T-posts every 10-15' or so and wooden posts at change of direction and gates etc...

Any help appreciated

MMagis · Mar 14, 2012

What sort of dog? The fence you mention has fairy large openings. Smaller to medium dogs will go through.

RoyJackson · Mar 14, 2012

You'll want a bar (to wiretie the woven wire to) between each post...and I suggest you put a bar both top and bottom of the wire.

foreman Etexas · Mar 14, 2012

MMagis said:
What sort of dog? The fence you mention has fairy large openings. Smaller to medium dogs will go through.

They have a 4" or 6"square field fence. but I would be more worried about the dog digging under. They have a under ground electric fences,that may be an option

Western · Mar 15, 2012

The 2"x4" horse fence or the "Keep safe" horse fence will hold most any dog but maybe a chihuahua, tall jumpers or some Blue heelers will crawl over a fence. The 330' roll of goat fence may do just fine. Some of the rolls have smaller gaps at the bottom, so look them over in person.

Use something like this for the ones that want to "dig under". Mine will dig in the pen, but wont get near the wire to dig and it's been off for year. This one is similar to mine.

Fido Shock charger

wedge40 · Mar 15, 2012

Its always easy to spend other peoples money,but I've always thought the best would be a woven fence AND a dog fence with a shock collar. Dog can't get close to the fence without getting shocked, hence he can't dig under.
Pricey yes, but effective.

Wedge

Heavy Metal Doctor · Mar 15, 2012

We have the same situation as the OP describes. No way we would spend the cash on fencing our whole place with it being nearly 7 acres. We decided that the dogs chasing a bunny out though the back of the property is no real danger, but we don't want them running into the road. We used the 2x4 Keep Safe fence Western mentioned and t-posts to fence off the front of the property just to keep them from getting to the road. I don't remember the exact specifics, but cost was reasonable and it looks decent enough....Biggest problem I had was trying to get the posts set in a straight row with all the rocks in our ground.

MotorSeven · Mar 15, 2012

You have to stretch woven wire or it's not going to look good at all. So your corners need to be properly done because stretching puts a big strain on them. If you can afford it, wooden posts w/3 rails will look much better than T posts, so you might consider that for the front.

Later if you dog starts to dig, a cheap electric fence controller and one wire around the inside perimeter about 6" off the ground will take care of that.

2LaneCruzer · Mar 15, 2012

I train all my dogs to stay in the yard. It works most of the time, except when they are in hot pursuit of a squirrel or a turkey. A female in heat will cause the males to stray, but all we've had for the last 30 years are females. Don't know if it would work for you, but it's better and cheaper than a doggie maximum security prison, at least for me.

RJD2516 · Mar 15, 2012

We had the same problem recently. I went with the no climb wire in 100 foot rolls. Used t=posts every 8 feet (which were on sale luckily). I put Regular chain link posts at the ends set in concrete. Looks nice, pretty easy to stretch, and no more dog issues, for now. My dog is to dumb to know that she can just jump over it. But I still love her, and would not want her to get hurt. Total project cost was around $600. That was for 420 feet.

jonnyc1999 · Mar 15, 2012

I bought 4" woven goat fence for the 2 acres that I fenced in for my dogs. My corners are 6/7" round fence posts, attached to three rail wooden fencing at ten foot intervals. If I had to do it over again I would set my posts at 8 foot intervals rather than 10, and stagger the joints with 16ft. rail boards. It was definitely worth it to add the wooden fencing..... it gives it a much more finished look and the wire blends into the fence.

I can't really remember, but I think I spent ~$2500 for goat wire and the wood, and installed it myself.

Its a big project but looks great, adds value to my property, and I feel much better knowig my dogs can run free but not escape.:thumbsup:

buckle97 · Mar 15, 2012

We fenced the immediate 3 acres around our house for our dogs back in 2006 after the highway department moved our road 300' closer to our house. I used 47" tall woven "field fence" that is smaller rectangles at the bottom getting bigger towards the top. I didn't know it existed back in 2006, but if I had to do it over now I would use the woven goat wire that is the same height but has uniform 4"x4" squares. We have medium sized dogs and have no problem with our dogs digging out because they have no desire to leave this fenced area unless something catches their attention. By they time they think about digging the attraction is gone. If your dog is a digger by nature this might be an issue.

12pack · Mar 17, 2012

Thanks for the replies.

The dog is a Black Mouth Cur about 65 pounds. He is not a digger but likes to chase critters. He will chase and kill anything that comes near our yard except other dogs, just critters and deer.

I guess the fencing that is smaller at the bottom makes sense in case we get a smaller dog in the future and also keep the smaller critters out of the yard (maybe).

When I started looking at all the different types of field fencing it all looks the same at first glance but they are obviously not.

I will be doing a split rail w/the green or black vinyl wire type fence stapled to the split rail at the front road with a driveway gate. The wire Field fencing at the sides and rear.

I will assume T posts every 10' with the wooden posts at change of direction will be sufficient. If anyone has pics or other suggestions I welcome them.

Never installed a wire fence before.

OH one other question........ Pros and cons of Welded wire vs. woven wire?????? I don't know much about this stuff.

Thanks

KYErik · Mar 17, 2012

In my opinion, the woven wire is tougher. Eventually the welded wire spot welds will fail and the bottom wire will rust in two where it sits on moist soil. The woven wire has a thicker bottom wire that lasts much longer.

foreman Etexas · Mar 17, 2012

Click on picture and behind shredder you can see the fence

I built around house,I wasnt finished when taken but there is also a barebed center wirer. But this is to keep cows out so,for you just keeping dog in wouldnt need line wood post but just corners but you can add some were it comes out even(example one for every 10 t-post) but I do not know how far your fence is.

My field fence starts off small then goes to 4in.then is 6in on top
My t-post are every 12ft,or 11ft I just step it off first and see whats going to even out,to make it look uniform.

Western · Mar 17, 2012

I think woven wire is more durable, if it is "hit" by your mower or something else, it will give as the wire twist slide on the opposing wire, welded will break. Woven wire usually has a much better finish on it, also easier to put up IMO. As mentioned , it generally has a heavy wire at top and bottom.

The whole finished fence will probably be reflected in the corner bracing you use, the bracing will be the "heart" of your fence and it's strength and appearance. If you go with wood corner bracing, look at this below for a good way of bracing, I prefer to weld my corners out of pipe, but everyone has their preference.

Install a High Tensile Fence : Tractor Supply Company

buckle97 · Mar 19, 2012

Keeping other critters out of our yard is definitely a great benefit of having the fence.
I like welded wire for smaller areas, but it just doesn't work over a big area of varying terrain. Woven wire will give where welded wire is rigid. I spaced my t posts every ten feet.