fence post spacing

[TrueCountry]

I am pretty new to TBN and I have a Mahindra 4110 with a FEL. I put that in there so I will have said something about a tractor. My question is I own 25 acres in Louisiana and want to put up a fence. I am going to fence in about 5 acres for horses and about 15 acres for cattle. I dont know how far apart to space the posts. I want to use T-posts and field fence (unless anyone has a better idea). I need to know how far to space the T-posts. Also when you put up a fence you have to put a heavy posts every so often and I dont know how far to put them. Any help or advice would be greatly appreciated. If there is anything yall ned to know that i have left out please ask. I want this fence done as soon as possible.

One more question, do you put a fence up in the winter or summer (remeber Louisiana dont have cold winters).

Thanks,
Beaux

 

[jml755]

Personally, I wouldn't use t-posts & typical square field fence for horses. If you do, use the smaller size grid so they won't get their hooves caught in the openings. Also, they could get some pretty nasty gashes from the tops of the t-posts. I've seen people use field fence and a strand of electric at the top to keep them away from the fence. Lots of people are using vinyl along with an electric strand, but I prefer wooden posts and rough sawn boards myself.

 

[jjmarotz]

My experience with t-posts is they don't stay strait for long. Most cows and horses live by the rule "the grass is always geener on the other side". They will lean over and over and over eventually bending the posts. Also I found it harder to keep the wire tight unless you have some stout corner posts and every 150'-200' another good anchor post down the line. I just did my 4 acre fence this fall with all wood 7" line posts and 9" corners with extra bracing. Spacing was set at 15' apart. Used an post hole auger. As far as what season to build, it will depend on where you live. You should be able to build year-round, not so here in snow country. Good luck with your project.

 

[MikePA]

I'm not familiar with what field fence is.

As others have mentioned, the kind of fence you put in for cattle is usually not appropriate for horses.

T posts are OK for line posts, but you will need sturdy corner posts in order to pull the wire tight.

Install fencing when the ground is soft enough to make getting the posts in easily, but not so wet, you can't use your tractor.

You also might try a search here on TBN for T Posts. There have been a lot of threads on this topic, some very recent. Click Here.

 

[chh]

I use barb wire for cattle, feild fence with a single strand of barb on top works very well and prevents them from reaching thru. Use a brace setup, quickcreted in, on the corner with a single wooden brace in the middle of a quarter mile run or wherever you cross a significant ditch or hump. I will only build fence in the winter in Oklahoma. Ticks, chiggers, poison ivy, and heat stroke is my list of reasons why. Plus the barbs on barb wire "getcha" less the thicker clothes you have on. Don't have much experience with horse fence, the donkeys and mules we have are in barb wire just like the cattle.

 

[TrueCountry]

Thanks for all the input, I greatly appreciate it. jjmarotz I love the way your fence looks. I am leaning towards doing it you way. How much do them posts costs and where do I buy them from. Thanks again friends.

Beaux

 

[kmdigital]

There is nothing wrong with T-posts. I have put hundreds of them in, but they are correct, you should put a top electric strand on it. This way the horses won't test the fence and bend the posts. Once they realize that they get shocked, horses don't like it and will avoid the fence for weeks even when the top strand isn't electrified. Cows, on the otherhand, are a different story, and will discover a fence isn't hot within a day and get through it.

You could just use an electric fence without anything else if you wanted to, and once they know it's there, they will never get out. The advantage is that it is inexpensive to put up, easy to move if needed, and easy to take down if not needed. The disadvantage is that you need to keep it electrifed most of the time.

Personally, for a permenant fence I would use t-posts with individual strands of barbed wire about 12" apart, and electrify every other strand. This provides great visual warning that you don't get with a single strand of non-barbed wire, plus it is much cheaper than a woven wire fence and will work even if the power is out for months.

 

[jjmarotz]

These posts were very expensive @$9.00 each, times 202 posts. OUCH!!!!! But these are full treated to resist rot and such. I have a local guy 40 miles from me that sells these as his side business. Don't know where to get them in LA. Maybe check your local classifieds under the farm and ranch section. The initial cost is more than t-posts, but this is so much stronger. One other thing to keep in mind is I only use barbless wire for horses. If a horse happens to go thru the fence barbed wire will tear their legs to shreds. Cattle I would use barbed. Any other ?'s feel free to ask. Thanks for the coment too.

 

[tony123]

JJ, thanks for the photos!

I was mostly a city boy until the last year. Now I'm finding things like a simple fence beautiful.

 

[jjmarotz]

JJ, thanks for the photos!

I was mostly a city boy until the last year. Now I'm finding things like a simple fence beautiful.

A "simple fence", not such thing, this took counltess hours to install, but then again a little hard work never hurt anyone, right?

 

[tony123]

I didn't mean simple in effort or expense.

 

[jjmarotz]

I didn't mean simple in effort or expense.

I know, I just had to throw that one in for fun.

 

[RobJ]

Well you have to decide on the horse/cow fence thing. Hosres are soft, cows are not.

Around here a good T-post fence if a 5 or even a 6 wire fence. Posts put in about every 7-8 feet. Then those little spiral fence ties in the middle of the post. Except for that fence busting bull, most cows will not test it 2 much if they can't get over it to much, under or in the middle.

 

[mlauk]

I put the t-posts 10 feet apart with a fence stay in between posts. I would use 4 wires minimum. Unless you are putting pressure on the cows, they usually won't go through it, but might jump it depending on the cow. If you have a bull or a neighbor with a bull, anything can happen.

 

[texasjohn]

Fencing in central texas is done in winter.... and you still work up a sweat
Use great corners, sunk 4 feet deep in the ground. T posts on about 15' spacing with an electric wire to keep stock from pressuring the fence. Drive T posts with FEL.

Topic has been discussed on TBN recently... do search to get the threads.

 

[Rowdius]

Yup, winter if fencing season in Texas. I'm in the middle of building some right now.

Wood posts are $$$ here. T posts can be had starting at around $3 a post. Most of the fences around here have drill pipe for the corners, and are great corners... but right now pipe is even more $$$$ than wood posts.

Another option, though some do not agree, are used telephone poles. Some electric companies and Coops will give them away if you ask. Personally, I use the butt end of the pole as the end of my corner. Little over eight feet long, four feet in the ground. I also do not use concrete, just water and tamping the crap out of the soil until I get the hole backfilled will all the dirt that came out of it. The next eight feet of the pole is the next post in the H brace, and the skinniest top part is the cross brace.

Right now I am spacing my T posts twelve feet apart, with a wood line post every 100ft. When I have a good supply of telephone poles I might put them more often.

As for field fence or woven wire... Buy the best wire you can afford, with the largest top and bottom wires your money can buy. I really like the stuff that is 9ga, but I cannot afford it right now. I agree with at least one strand of electric. Right now 1/4 mile of 14ga wire runs about $35.

This is a corner I built for high tensile electric that I built a year or so ago. With today's prices it would cost about $55 with concrete and buying the posts and stuff from Tractor Supply.

 

[texasjohn]

Rowdius, your wood corners are a lot like mine, particularly the cross brace being high... that's the only way to go to keep corner from pulling out. I actually use two braces each way down the line.... also, use rachets to tighten them instead of wood twists.... I found that the wood rots over time and is hard to tighten when the whole fence is up.... rachets can always be tightened.

 

[weldingisfun]

TrueCountry, these Websites may be of help:
http://www.bekaert.com/na/uploads/P... GUIDES/INSTALLATION GUIDES/BarbedInstall.pdf

Tractor Supply Company - Install a High Tensile Fence

For your horses, try using what is called "no-climb" fencing. Red Brand Fence - Large Animal Control & Confinement - Non-Climb Horse Fence It is costly, but could save lots of $ in vet bills.

Hope this helps and good luck to you.

Finally I'll pass on some words of wisdom given to me by an Old Timer as he watched me fencing my place the first time. He asked if I knew what was the best thing about building a fence?
When I answered that I didn't know, he smiled and said, "The last post". Then he drove off still smiling.

 

[Rowdius]

Rowdius, your wood corners are a lot like mine, particularly the cross brace being high... that's the only way to go to keep corner from pulling out. I actually use two braces each way down the line.... also, use rachets to tighten them instead of wood twists.... I found that the wood rots over time and is hard to tighten when the whole fence is up.... rachets can always be tightened.

For my braces that are holding more than electric fencing I like to use the two H brace method too, or at least one full H, then diagonal down to a shorter post on the end. Though I have to admit I have been doing single H braces where I have been using the larger telephone poles.

As for the twitch stick, I usually just a bit of ground rod, small pipe, just whatever metal is handy, but that corner was the first high tensile electric I had installed, and was trying to stay away from possible grounding issues until I got a feel for it. I do love those metal ratches though... I had never used them until I started playing with the high tensile electric, now I keep half a dozen on hand for fencing, trellis work in the garden, etc, etc, etc.

 

[chh]

I built some fence a couple of years ago and put the crossbraces lower. I'm back up higher now since some of those corners gave on me. I have to use quickcrete in the types of soil that I have. Many times I just can't get the holes as deep as I would like in the rocks. Generally also use 2 sets of cross wires in an X. Thats just what seems to work best for me. I generally set post 12 to 15 ft apart. Some of the old fences we tore out up here last year where 4 wires and posts 25 to 30 ft apart and sometimes more with 2 stays in between. Wouldn't reccomend it or do it but some of the old timers made it work. (Well sort of anyway)