Round Pen Material for Horses

cowboydoc · Jan 22, 2005

I wouldn't use 1". We had some 1" oak and the horses just break it. You really need 1.5 or 2". You can get roughsawn boards that are just fine for a roundpen around here for $130/bundle. It has lengths from 8-16' in it. The bundle size is quite large. 2 bundles was enough oak to do 8 12x12 stalls in our barn.

NoTrespassing · Mar 28, 2005

Found rough sawn white oak for 80 cents/bdft. Will be buying 1000 bf. I guess I better get those plans drawn up.

Kevin

DaveNay · Mar 28, 2005

</font><font color="blue" class="small">( A few more sources No Tresspassing, is places that supply scaffolding to construction companys and construction companys that do underground work/digging and one more is pipe yards! We have a ole man that goes to these pipe yard and gets what they call cribbin, he sales it for barn material,etc! Its rough 2x6's! I built a stall out of it and it's jam up & cheap. Anyway places like that are good cheap sources and I'm sure U'r area has them too! I had to drive almost an hour to this place that sells used scaffold boards but got them cheap to! After they have been used a certain amount of time the companies can't use them for scaffolding anymore so they sell them to a dealer that sells them cheap too! I've had cribbin up 10 years and looks as good as when I "DRILLED HAMMMERED W/BIG HAMMER" in barn! )</font>

This is a great deal, if you can get it. /forums/images/graemlins/grin.gif The scaffolding planks actually have an expected lifespan, and it should be discarded and not used for scaffolding any more. If you can get on the good side of a contractor that follows this practice, you could end up with some fantastic wood. There's only a couple of problems...scaffold planking is usually made from Douglas Fir, and is full sized 12" width by 1 1/2" thickness, 12'-15' in length. This means they are HEAVY...heavier than you ever expect for the size they are. The other problem is, there are always people that already have dibs on them, and they are almost impossible to obtain.

Dave

bullet202 · Feb 3, 2011

If you have a "wild" horse......try training him in a larger arena with a long line before corraling it in a round pen......it can be done

SandburRanch · Feb 3, 2011

Black Locust poles make a darn good round pen. Either horizontal stacked or set in a trench vertical which ever method you prefer.

WM75Guy · Feb 3, 2011

I am assuming you are going to plant posts and attach the rails. I just priced a Preifert 60' round pen with 6' bow gate for $1400. The panels are the middle grade brown utility panels that attach to each other with chains. After you price the lumber, consider the labor, and the ease of moving panels they are a good choice. We have warmbloods, our 16 y/o Holsteiner mare is 17 hands and 1350 pounds, the 26 y/o Danish Warmblood gelding is 16-2 and 1400 pounds. Every round pen they have been in has been made of panels without any problems.

I do not like wood for several reasons. One is maintenance, two is risk of injury from nails and splinters and three is that if you turn out a horse that cribs in the round pen for just a little while they quickly learn what the fence is made of. If you decide you don't need a round pen later you can use the panels for fencing or sell them. Wood does not have as much utility.