SHARE YOUR FENCE SRETCHING TECHNIQUES

[orangebluegreen]

A guy loaned this stretcher to my brother. The design looked so good I took some pics and may make one.

That’s looks very well thought out, would save a lot of labor rolling out fence on the ground then trying to pick it up. I usually do fencing by myself which can be challenging, that idea is like having another person. I assume the only way to stretch the fence with that is by pulling with the tractor.


My local Tractor Supply Store sells two types of fence stretchers already built which I’ve considered buying, but that idea looks more interesting and an easy way to move left over rolls.


I do fencing several times a year and most recently stretched several 330’ rolls of field fence in one pull and 200’ no climb horse fence. I’ve used the bolted 2x4’s (kinda time consuming) nailed fence on to a post and pulled the post (time consuming and wasteful) and most recently used a heavy gauge 1.5” pipe weaved through the fencing then wrapped the cut ends (about 12”) back around the pipe and a few turns wrapped back on the strand itself, then hooking a chain around the middle of the pipe and placing the chain hooks on the top lip of the loader and backing the tractor to stretch (while hoping nothing breaks and comes flying back at you). Having a tractor with loader has made things much easier since you always have an anchor point anywhere and can raise or lower the loader if you need to adjust the height of the fence. I am finding it a bit hard to get a good feel for how tight to stretch with the tractor, I’m finding keeping in 2WD avoids over pulling as the wheels will start to spin, in 4wd I’ve torn the fence loose pulling too tight. I’ll be using the cumalong hooked to the loader in the future for better control of tension. Also can see the need for a brake pedal on the left side to control tension while you hit the brake and set the parking brake. My Kubota having the brake on the right along with the hydro pedal has me with two feet on the right side of the machine. I may have a look under the machine and see if there is enough room to run a connection shaft over to a left side brake pedal.



On the same theme....

Everyone has a little different twist on how to build strong corners that won’t pull over while stretching the fence. Would be interesting to see pics of how others build corners. On long runs I use 8’ long corner posts (7-9” or so dia) with 54-56” out of the ground, then a smaller second but heavy duty (4-5”) post with a horizontal post at 48-50” nailed between the two with 60-80d nails. I had been using standard 6’8” posts for the horizontal but will be using 8’ horizontal posts in the future (less angle on the diagonal 9ga wire should be stronger). I also reinforce that with 9 gauge wire wrapped around the corner post and nailed to the horizontal post to keep it from twisting. Then run a loop of 9ga. Wire on a diagonal from a point about 9-12” off the ground at the corner to about 6” down from the top of the post in the direction of the fencing....the diagonal has to be lower at the outside and slope upward in the direction of the pull....I have actually seen this done in the reverse which adds little or no triangulation pull out strength. I’ve experimented slightly over the past 16 years with different approaches, this works pretty well. I can still get over enthusiastic on occasion and stretch too hard and it will lift the end post out of the ground, but that is VERY tight fencing. Suppose using two 8’ corners would be best for long runs. Have also seen mobile home type anchors used mid way between the two corner posts used to tie off the diagonal 9ga wire. That approach seems to work well also.

My most recent corner was built with a 45 degree angle at the corner to make mowing into the corner easier, it was time consuming and used extra posts but I like the result so much I am going to do them all this way in the future on interior fencing. It also keeps my dogs from stopping at the corner and turning back which causes a wear hole in the ground, with an angled corner they run around the corner vs. stopping and turning.

 

[schiker]

Lets see a few more posts on how to stretch. I have used 2x4's bolted together both with 1 chain and 1 come-a-long hooked to looped chain. And 1 come-a-longs one top one bottom. Usually hook to tractor.

I have been told you should really only pull top wire and bottom wire and let middle strands tighten themselves???? Opinions on this please.

So I saw a Tuf-Tug wire clamp TTWC-1000 at tractor supply store and tried to use it but I can't get it to clamp and grip it well enough to pull hard. The clamp slips.

Look at Tuf-tug.com for pics.

I am not real happy with it right now anyone else tried it?

For corner braces I use a horizontal post about 48-54 inches high about 6 foot lenght and then run diagonal loop of heavy barbwire. I twist it tight with a piece of rebar and pin rebar behind one of the posts. I use a crowbar to pretighten the barbwire diagonal (staple it then twist ends together) and if need be put a couple of twist at one end then go to other. The barbs grip each other and help it stay twisted. The size of the corner posts and braces depend on length of pull and how tight I want it. 6-7" diameter post minimum. 10-12" preferred. I like to put several staples on each wire at corners and small posts may split.

I try to keep pulls straight as possibe and every 150-200 feet or so put a horizontal post brace with "X" of barbwire on long staight pulls. I use bungee cords to hold fence up working alone. It takes several trips of tightening come-a-long then walking fence and getting it to settle correctly.

 

[wroughtn_harv]

http://www.tractorbynet.com/forums/rural-living/39723-stretching-farm-fence.html?highlight=Mesh

 

[zzvyb6]

Last week I started a few 300' rolls of cattle wire. The problem I ran into was that the fellow at TSC gave me the wrong wire. It was a much heavier gage of cattle fence. At least 200 - 250 lbs per roll. To help get the roll unwound, I bolted a 4' length of 2" pipe to the side of my bucket loader. I maneuvered the spike into the wire roll and tipped the bucket up. Then I marched out to the field and stapled the start end of the wire to the first post. All I had to do then was to back up the tractor and weave the wire around the wood posts using the loader. I was all done and stapled up in about an hour. Ordinarily, with the lighter horse wire, I would have to unroll the wire by dog paddling it along the fence row and stand it up. That's too hard for me now to do all by myself. The toilet paper unroller method got some laughs but made the job a breeze. I use a mechanical come-along stretcher made with wire grips. Top first then bottom. I've begun using garage door like springs on the ends to keep the wire tight in Summer while also maintaining tension in Winter. You need to leave the staples loose so the wire can float in tension. My fence sections are about 1200' by 800' and I used to dread repairing or replacing the wire. Now, kinda fun. BTW: The very first time I ran a wire fence, I pulled the wire tight wth some chains, a board and my new tractor. When the corner fence post broke, the post, wire and my sanity flew by me fast enought to take my head off. This was only a short section but was just right for killing someone.