Fencing 60 acres

[David72645]

Hi; I'm still shopping for my first tractor but want to figure out what attachments I need to pick the right sized tractor. I have the option of paying someone to fence the perimeter of my 60 acre property or taking that money and buying the tractor and attachments to do the job myself. As I'm starting from scratch, but I'm still on a budget (based on the cost of paying someone), what attachments would be best to put up all the fencing? If it matters, its woven wire (sheep) fencing.

So far, my research suggests an auger, either PTO or loader mount would be at the top of the list to install Hs. Alternatively there are post pounders.

I don't see a great way to put in T-Posts with the tractor other than a T-Post driver https://www.homedepot.com/p/Striker-Tools-Air-Operated-Post-Driver-43000/202074470 which runs off an air compressor. I could carry a generator and air compressor in the FEL to power the post pounder. Anything better than that using the tractor? I've seen T-posts pushed in with the loader but I expect they would bend unless the soil is just right.

I'll have to clear the perimeter path for the fencing. I'll use a chainsaw or push down small trees with the FEL. Perhaps a stump remover? A bush hog would then further clear the path for the fence. I could get a PTO chipper for the 6" or so trees. I have not moved there yet and don't know the size of the trees exactly.

I can carry T-Posts and cement for Hs in the FEL.

There are several ways to use the tractor to stretch fence. I've seen the tractor as an anchor for a come-along; the tractor can drive and stretch; the tractor would be parked and the fence pulled with a winch; I've seen very expensive devices that carry the fence and stretch it. GFF2 - Hydraulic Fencing Machine - YouTube What do you find to be the best way to leverage the tractor to stretch fence?

What else should I consider in trying to justify buying this tractor to make fence installation as easy as possible?

 

[quicksandfarmer]

What I find the tractor most useful for is just moving the fence materials around, that stuff is heavy, your fence will probably weigh thousands of pounds.

You don't say what the shape or dimensions of your land is, or what kind of fence you are thinking of. If it's just a rectangle and you only want wooden posts at corners and gates, you probably would have under 20 posts. For that number an auger is a reasonable tool.

The pneumatic driver from Home Depot looks interesting, but the reviews are pretty mixed, with a couple of people saying it's no less work than a manual pounder. One reviewer said he drove 100 posts in 16 hours, that's about ten minutes a post!

I find a wagon is indispensable when fence building, put all the tools, supplies and equipment in it. You don't want to use the bucket because you'll want it for moving posts and things around. I like to have forks on the bucket, the auger on the back of the tractor and pull the wagon with the rider mower.

Even with all the right tools it's hard work.

 

[David72645]

quicksandfarmer Thanks. Its 60 acres rectangular. It will be sheep fencing (woven wire). I've done a lot of fencing where I live now with my neighbors small tractor and auger, but was hoping to spend my way out of hard work on my new place.

 

[leonz]

quicksandfarmer Thanks. Its 60 acres rectangular. It will be sheep fencing (woven wire). I've done a lot of fencing where I live now with my neighbors small tractor and auger, but was hoping to spend my way out of hard work on my new place.

================================================================================================


It will be less expensive for you to have a pasture fence contractor do the work for you as they have the machinery to drive the posts or drill the post holes and set the posts and stretch the fence as they work with one complete machine that does every thing in one pass.
You still need to clear fence line and renting a small dozer to peel back the fence line row with a six way blade wide enough to have double the mower width to let you turn around and mow in the opposite direction to keep the brush down in two passes and it will help you get rid of all the weed trees that are obviously second growth trees.

Are you intent on making sheep milk or sheep butter or raising them for meat or kosher or Halal meat sales? How much feed are you planning on providing in the non pasture months? Will you be buying hay?

Are you going to have border collies for herding or are you intent on herding by horseback?
Are you going to have guard llamas, guard donkeys, guard steers used as guard animals, Great Pyranees, Akbash Marema, Kangal, Anatolian Shepard, Kuvasz,Tibetan Mastiff, Pyrenean Mastiff or Polish Tatra? you need to have more than one pup to do this as there is safety in numbers for the sheep and the guard dogs.

You also have to keep in mind that the dogs will have to live inside the fencing and they will want to get out as they are nomadic dogs in the scheme of things as there was no such thing as fences when these dogs were bred for the guarding and herding work they do.

The ground has to be clear of brush and weed trees to allow the fence to be set at ground level as much as possible to protect the live stock if you are not intent on using 6-8 foot woven fencing? regardless of the fence type you will need to have a several guard dogs that will live with the sheep from puppy age to become part of the flock to instinctually assure they protect "their" family.

Using a fencing contractor for this job will be faster and cost less per foot to do and they can obtain fencing at a lower cost per foot as they buy tens of thousands of feet of fencing and supplies from vey large fencing suppliers that sell to vineyards or from the steel mills where it is made.

The pasture fence contractor will do the entire job in one pass and tension the woven fence as well as set the mid line anchor posts
and the corner tensioner posts in concrete to keep everything in line for you. adding a single string of electrified fence can be done
at this time too with smooth wire.

Are you in intent on blocking up the rectangular pasture for rotation grazing? Do you know what size pasture blocks you want for the sixty acres whether it is in 5, 10 acres or 5 acres blocks?

Will you be using electrified movable tape fence with car wheels to hold the posts in each fence block??

Rotating grazing pastures keeps pasture land healthy as long as its taken care of with seeding and mowing when the grazing season is over.

With the entire fence line you need to be able to enter entire outside perimeter to mow the fence line to keep the brush back and you will need to keep the flock far enough away from the fence line while mowing to prevent a panic and eliminate the chance of the sheep suffocating each other trying to escape the noise and vibration from the mowing.

What if any provision have you made for watering the livestock? are you planning on running a seasonal water line to small water troughs or Ritchie waterers at mid points in the pasture along with mineral and salt feeders.

Will you be building seasonal shelters in the pasture or pastures to protect the sheep from bad weather and also have a place where you can feed them and examine them making sure all the animals are in one place to allow any sick animals to be cut out of the heard and diverted to sick pens?

Do you intend on doing all your own hoof trimming and hoof dipping on a seasonal basis or hiring a large animal veterinarian to do this?

You have to be able to check on the sheep often during grazing season as bloat will be an issue in rich grasses and plan on having a piece of smooth hose with you to stuff down their throats to relieve the animal of the gas in its gut.


You will find that keeping your sheep in smaller dry lots with the guard animals will be easier and safer for the you and animals and allow you
check on them frequently during the lambing season and at other times and to also have an area to take care of the sheep with a squeeze chute and also have safe housing for them and the dry lots will let you have numerous waterers for them and salt and mineral feeders.

Do you have a ready market for wool in this area? Are you planning on a brood herd environment to sell breeding animals?

Animals are a lot of work and worry for the owner so the closer they are to you the less time you need to work them and to oversee their care and provide food and summer shelter and a winter barn to protect them and feed them as well.

 

[Egon]

The fence wire you are planing on might be best installed by two to three men.

Clearing the fence line and setting posts you can easily do yourself. For T post holes make a sturdy spike that can be driven in with the loader for the hole and then insert the T post.

 

[MH8675309]

Leonz - lots a questions - you'll scare this fella off before he gets started.

David72645 Fencing is not really that hard but is time consuming. Quicksand is right about the wagon - mine is indispensable and I use it year round for all sorts of stuff. Post pounding with a hand pounder is not that bad either.

 

[Rmart30]

Leonz - lots a questions - you'll scare this fella off before he gets started.

David72645 Fencing is not really that hard but is time consuming. Quicksand is right about the wagon - mine is indispensable and I use it year round for all sorts of stuff. Post pounding with a hand pounder is not that bad either.

Unless ya have arthritis and tendonitis.

If you are using steel posts not counting your corners id buy one of these and sell it when done. https://www.homedepot.com/p/TITAN-P...VkorICh1MiANwEAQYAiABEgJJe_D_BwE&gclsrc=aw.ds


Video showing quick work Titan PGD3875 Gas-Powered Post Driver - YouTube

 

[joeu235]

What type of soil do you have?

I have a bunch of equipment but still paid a guy just to drive the t posts on a 1600' fence I built a while back. I set all the H brace and ran the bottom wire. He drove all the t posts in a couple hours with a hand held gas powered driver. One of the best $400 spent.

 

[grsthegreat]

All you need is a 3 point auger. With 8 tip for 4x4 post or a 12 bit for 6x6. Ive fenced and cross fenced my 30 acre property and was not an issue. As for the wire unrolled, I built my own for about $60.00 in parts and an hours time. If you can't fab one, a welding shop can or plan on spending at least $600 for a factory unit. You can use the tractors pull strength and a chain to tighten fence. I use a manual post pounder and wait until after spring thaw to set t posts. Those hydraulic units are very heavy and awkward to lift over posts and to remove in my opinion. Ive used them to set posts in past, and in my humble opinion wasn't worth the effort. A fence grabber to hook fence to tractor was made with 2 pieces of angle iron, 3 grade 8 bolts and some scrap rebar.

 

[David72645]

Leonz Thanks for taking the time and interest for your reply. I've been sheep farming for about four years; goats for several years before that. Steep learning curve, but learned from experience. Adapting to the new state's environment and a bigger property may be challenging. I have my own style involving llama guards and will move to a better system of rotational grazing.

They question is how to put up fencing with the tractor. So far, what I'm getting is I have to clear the trees for a path, use an auger for the corners and Hs and a T-post pounder, perhaps not manual. It seems a fence stretcher is better than using the tractor to pull the fence. Again, all I'm trying to do is figure out what implements I may need which in turn will tell me what sized tractor to buy. I have lots of questions about fencing, but I'm tryin to stay on topic. Thanks all.