# talk fencing to me please probably too long and wordy.



## horselovinguy (Oct 1, 2013)

My choice of fencing is plank top-rail and horse-wire or just board/plank fencing.
You say though that pounding of posts is difficult...
So... barb wire _*is*_ used by thousands to fence their livestock every day, the animals and fence coincide in peace with little issue.
Woven wire, whether livestock, goat or horse fence would probably be my go to, along with a top strand of electric so the animals not test or bend the fence over for the greener morsel on the other side. :icon_rolleyes:
If you aren't electrifying then I would be top railing but that again puts you back to pounding posts...
I like the fence being a fence as here coyotes are a issue and if I can make it a bit more difficult I will for them to wander across the property...however, fence does not keep animals out as they go over or under as needed, remember that.

So, barb wire comes 2 barb or four...
Go look at them if you decide to use this cause one will tear your horse up easier than the other...you will know what I refer to as soon as you see it.
Horses are not dumb nor stupid.
They will learn their boundaries of fence-line and may challenge once but after "bit" they seldom do it again with regularity...
Make sure the horses are UTD and kept that way on vaccinations so if hurt, better chance of no complications.

Personally, I would do woven wire of some kind and top wire electric for perimeter, then you can do electric cross-fenced but knowing you have placed a safety barrier strong is one I would choose to live with.
Remember to post "Electric Fence" signs and check local code about any type of fencing for perimeter use before purchasing.
:runninghorse2:....


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## Acadianartist (Apr 21, 2015)

I am a fan of Electrobraid. We did our entire property with it, 3 strands with the middle one being the ground, at a 5' height for the top. We used rough round cedar posts. In some cases, they are as far as 40-50 feet apart. Digging for posts is a pain, and sinking in a ground rod isn't easy (they have to go down like 6 feet - we had to try a couple of different locations before finding one where we could go down that far). But once you have the posts in, it's so easy to fence with Electrobraid. I strung the fence lines with my 11 year old and it took about a day to fence in two pastures of about 2 acres each. 

We do have a paddock with a top solid board. Not sure where you live, but here, we have a lot of snow and frequent power outages that can last a long time. It was important to me that we have one fenced-in area that would have a secure top board for this, so we did a 90 x 120' area with posts 10' apart , three strands of Electrobraid, and a solid top rail. I have seen the snow and ice drag down Electrobraid so it's peace of mind for me to know that will not happen in the smaller area. 

I have heard bad stories about high-tensile wire, so it would not be my preference. And to get the correct tension, you will need to brace your posts and get them in pretty deep whereas Electrobraid is more forgiving. I'd even add a line of Electrobraid on the inside of your fence where it meets your neighbor's high-tensile wire. You can get extenders to put the Electrobraid slightly off existing posts (with neighbor's permission of course). This will also prevent curious animals from interacting too much. Furthermore, if you do decide to run Electrobraid, it has to be a continuous line. 

The thing about fencing is that if you do it right the first time, you'll have peace of mind, and won't have to keep fixing it when it inevitably fails. Otherwise, you are setting yourself up to do a lot more work moving forward.


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## Avna (Jul 11, 2015)

Another vote for electrobraid. We have five hilly acres in snow country, and rocks are what we grow here. Inexpensive compared to most others, easy to put up, easy to repair, fairly permanent. We used T-posts with plastic caps on top. Wood posts are somewhat safer but harder to get into the ground. Three strands is enough for horses. You will have to get the electric power right, and monitor that. I suggest you read the write up on it on the Premier One website. 

I wouldn't use wood myself -- it is expensive and requires constant labor to keep it up and horses enjoy destroying it. There is a long run of it here along the road, that we inherited, and we hung the electric braid on it once we'd shored up the rotting posts and replaced the rotting boards. Even so, the pony who was here for two months this winter chewed on the tops of every post and board she could reach.


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## boots (Jan 16, 2012)

I did an electrobraid on t-posts set far apart work a floating post in between for horses two years ago. The owner bought covers for the t-posts for asthetics, but they weren't necessary. 

Easily seen. Wildlife passing didn't break or stretch the braid, which if needed was easily tightened on a roller at the ends. Fewer posts to pound.

The top was a electric tape. The lower the braid.


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## weeedlady (Jul 19, 2014)

Thanks to everyone for your input.

UP North = the Upper Peninsula of Michigan, just a few miles south of Lake Superior. So as @Acadianartist mentions, lots of snow to deal with in winter and rocks rocks and more rocks in the ground.

Keep the ideas coming please.


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## rambo99 (Nov 29, 2016)

We have woven wire for perimeter fence,corrals we have are divided with a strand of hot wire & twisted wire below it. The woven wire has a strand of hot wire on top also a second stand half way down keeps horses away from it. We are set up so horses can be kept off Pasture, there's a gate that closes off pasture and keeps horses in barnyard area. 

All our gates have chains with clips horses can't open,my boy is the Houdini and can open gates if not horse proof. 

I keep my horses in corral/ barnyard come firearms deer hunting in November for there safety.

We have done boards over the top of woven wire only to have horses destroy them. Only wooden fence is the front of corrals other wise it's woven wire and hot fence. Woven wire is only on the perimeter fencing,never use it to divide corrals. 

Hot fencer I have shocks through wet weeds so even if brush is touching it doesn't short out. Make sure you get a GOOD hot fencer. Our interior fencing is hot wire and twisted barbless wire,we live right off a busy high way so want the perimeter fence solid. Also with just hot fence if power goes out it doesn't take horse's long to figure out fence isn't hot. So keep that in mind if thinking about just using hot fence,especially if your near a busy highway. 

We also are completely fenced in and have front gates that are kept closed. So if by chance a horse gets out they can't get out on highway. If they get out on the perimeter fence then they can get on the highway. 

With hot fence it needs to be well grounded,if not it won't shock good once ground freezes come winter. Gates the have chain that hooks back into itself I also have another chain with horse proof clip. My horse can open these gates.


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## walkinthewalk (Jul 23, 2008)

My entire 25 acres was perimeter fenced with 4" woven wire for cattle when we bought it. I crossed fenced with woven wire.

Looking at the electrobraid fence pictures on line, the fact you don't need wooden post "stabilizers" (we used creosote) every 20' - 30', and the fact you can use any sort of metal or wood post about every 50 feet, I would use electrobraid, if I had to do the cross fencing all over again.

You won't keep the critters out -- deer will jump (except for the frustrated newborns, and I've see. The neighbors Lab crawl under our fence in places I wouldn't think a Chihuahua could get thru, lol

I also have NEVER been a fan of high tensile fence --- when I lived in PA, a "neighbor" eight miles away had to PTS a horse that sliced it legs up going thru his high tensile wire.

Also, even though you're only fencing four acres for now, don't chintz on gates --- we have 16 or 17 --- on 25 acres --- several are 16' tractor gates in case the power company needs to get on the property to service the transformers, and of course our big trucks and the farm tractor. DH was not at all happy about that ----- until HE needed to used them --- then it was alright that extra money and time got spent, lollol

Anyway, Logically and aesthetically, I see the advantages of somebody's brand of electrobraid. Don't know whose, you'll have to read the on-line reviews --- you know the Internet never lies, lollol

P.S. I am happy that your retirement dream is soon becoming reality. I tip my hat to you and still wonder why you want to move further north than where I'm from and chose to move further south, lollol


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## ClearDonkey (Nov 27, 2016)

weeedlady said:


> Thanks to everyone for your input.
> 
> UP North = the Upper Peninsula of Michigan, just a few miles south of Lake Superior. So as @Acadianartist mentions, lots of snow to deal with in winter and rocks rocks and more rocks in the ground.
> 
> Keep the ideas coming please.


Where abouts are you located? Snow is a big problem up here, and many of our fence lines disappear for December-March. You don't really have to worry about this, as when the snow gets belly-height, horses stick to where is packed down and where the food is located. I am located in the Keweenaw, feel free to message me! I would love to know more horse people up here.


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## egrogan (Jun 1, 2011)

I'm another one in the snow belt using electrobraid. I have generally been pleased with it. I tried to use a solar charger on it at first, but I don't know if the person who helped us install it didn't really know how to do it (we didn't either) or if there was just something defective about the marine battery that we got, but we struggled to keep it holding a charge and I had a belly-crawler who took full advantage to graze on our lawn every morning for about a week last summer. Fortunately the fence is close enough to the house that we could run power out there from the basement, and since then I've had no escapees (*knock on wood*). 

I will say I had one freak accident with it this spring. I think it was a little too loose after being stretched by snow and posts shifting during the winter, and I had a horse get a hind leg fully wrapped in a loop of it. She got it looped around her leg right above her hock, and was struggling with the leg straight out behind her caught up in the top wire for 15-20 minutes before, thank god, I saw her stuck. The poor thing was getting shocked over and over as the wire was still hot while she was hung up. That might have been the most terrifying thing I've experienced with horses, but miraculously she was totally unhurt- she got an "electric burn" from the wire where it had twisted around her leg, and the hair fell out after a couple of weeks. It's all grown back now with no scarring and you'd never know what had happened. I feel so incredibly fortunate. And now know to take the tension of the electrobraid seriously.

Here's how it will sag in a big winter storm (this was ultimately ~2 feet of snow)









How it should look if it's tight enough


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## Acadianartist (Apr 21, 2015)

One tip I would have for you OP, if you end up using Electrobraid. Given that you get snow like we do, wire it so you can disconnect the bottom line. Easy to do if you have it connected at the charger - we have it right by the barn. The reason for this is obvious: it will get buried. It may also get wet if you get a lot of freeze/thaw. I have found that while the current will run through snow, if it gets really wet, like in the spring thaw, and the wire is literally in water, it'll kill your charge. I learned to just disconnect the bottom for the winter and that way, the charge can easily run through the middle (ground) and top (hot) wires. 

It sags a bit when it gets wet or icy, which is another reason I have the top at 5' even though my horses are all very small. Even with a bit of sagging, they won't test it.


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## egrogan (Jun 1, 2011)

Great tip Acadian, I wish I had set mine up that way!


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## Chevaux (Jun 27, 2012)

Some thoughts from me:

1. If you are located near a busy road/highway, you will want a good perimeter fence such that your horses are kept safe without having to rely heavily on electricity. Electricity is only as good as your utility company can provide (where I am, we get outages that while they don’t last long they tend to be unexpected) or your own setup will produce if you’re going off grid.

2. You mentioned a neighbouring boundary already set up that could be utilized — please consider this one carefully. I don’t know if you have one where you are but we have a Line Fence Act which says owners on both sides of the fence, if they get use out of it, are to share the cost of it. That may mean your neighbour could ask for payment of half the cost of initially putting that fence up. As well, cattle tend to be harder on fences than horses so maintaining the fence would be higher than one might expect and the neighbour may expect sharing of those costs.

3. Also on the subject of a boundary fence, if your neighbour has only cattle now it won’t be a problem but if he sells the property to horsey folks or gets horses of his own you may see fighting and resulting injury (this would apply on the other sides of your property as well) so you may want to configure your pasture(s) to avoid this.

Good luck with the project and let us know how it’s going.


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## RMH (Jul 26, 2016)

I have high tensile fences with two lines of this coated wire for visibility. https://kencove.com/fence/Hotcote+(Electric)_detail_WSWH.php My fences are six strand with 3 hot and 3 tied to ground. Even if the power goes out they are a decent barrier although I've had calves get through this type of fence when the power is off. So far no fence related injuries. With the fence owners permission, I'd add a strand or two of this to your side of the shared fence for visibility. At the very least I'd tie ribbons of surveyors tape to the neighbors fence for visibility.


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## weeedlady (Jul 19, 2014)

@walkinthewalk thrilled to hear from you! I've missed your posts.


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## weeedlady (Jul 19, 2014)

Great help and ideas so far! thanks everyone.

I've ruled out woven wire. Husband hates the look of it so that's that. I'm leaning toward white poly coated wire. I'll definitely be tying flags to the neighbors side. 

Now- how much space can I leave between Rails/strands? Top wire will be electric for sure, and maybe another electric strand partway down?

5' high fence. Bottom to be about 8" off the ground? Can i get away with only 3 strands? probably not? how about 4? 

Your thoughts please?


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## walkinthewalk (Jul 23, 2008)

A few years back, we fenced off an extra piece of pasture for Joker from the main pasture. We used three strands of barbless wire. That way the deer could still run thru where they have been running all these years.

Three strands should be good, unless your close to the road. If a road is a worry, anal person that I am, I would put five strands on the side where the horses might be able to get to the road


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## SilverMaple (Jun 24, 2017)

I'd do 4 or 5 strands if you can afford it. Electrify the top and second-from the bottom. Being able to unattach the electric from the lower strand is a good thing, as it will get buried with snow. Some people will recommend electrifying the bottom strand to keep out dogs, but I wouldn't do it--- if a horse were to fall or roll and get caught under the fence, that bottom strand will keep shocking him repeatedly. If it's the second strand from the bottom, it's less likely. 

I would not be comfortable sharing a fence. There are just too many liabilities to it, and if he would move, you'd have to scramble to fence that section of your own fence if the new buyers wished it -- an unplanned expense, and impossible if it's January. If you can, fence that section on your own now, and back far enough to mow between your fence and the neighbor's. If you must share the fence for the time being, run at least a strand or two of wire on your side of the fence to keep your horses away from it, and to help them see it. 

If post-pounding is a concern, it may be worth getting quotes from a couple of area fence companies both for putting in just the posts, and for erecting the complete fence including hanging gates. By the time you figure your investment of time, energy, frustration, and any rental or purchase of equipment like augers, tractors, etc. this may make sense. Doing it yourself might save you money and it might not. Really figure how much your time is worth. Digging post holes in rocky ground will test your determination and bring you to tears. Spending weeks on it yourself, or having a crew get the whole fence done in a day or two is a decision you'll have to weigh yourself. 

I agree with really considering where you want gates now, and where you may want them in the future as with a wire fence under tension, adding gates is more more of an issue than with a post and rail fence. You will save money and angst to put them in now. Make sure each pasture has a large gate wide enough to get a truck or tractor through. Two 8' gates are easier to manage in snow than 1- 16' gate. A small walk-through gate is handy in areas you will be accessing several times per day, plus it is MUCH easier to shovel out a small walk gate than a large gate. A walk-through gate that swings both ways is safer than one that only swings one way, as you can then push it away from you when leading a horse through either direction. If you will be adding more paddocks/pasture or building a barn, arena, or hay shed in the future, figure out where that will go NOW and put in the gates. You will want two for each field, and at least one gate connecting the areas-- preferably two, especially if you will ever have young horses (who are more likely to go through a fence to get back to mom/herd-mates rather than go down to the end of the field and around). You want your gates down by a road or out of sight of the house to be strong and easily chained/padlocked, and the gates you will be using regularly to be strong, non-sagging, and easy to operate with one hand. 

As you are finalizing your plans, really consider where snow will drift and where mud will collect. Don't put your gates where there will be an 8-foot snow drift every time the wind blows from November to March if you can move it fifty feet away and escape the problem. Also avoid putting gates in low spots, or the invitable mud/frozen mud rut problem will be even worse than usual. Having a couple of options for accessing your winter paddocks/sacrifice areas/turnout/arena are important. Where will your manure pile be? Will you be feeding easily-moved square bales, or do you need to plan for storage and movement of large round bales that require a tractor? If in doubt, plan for more gates than you need. The worst that happens is you don't use them. A small 'sacrifice area' for winter/spring where the horses can be and not ruin your pastures is essential, and this area needs your strongest fence. Many people who fence with wire will make the sacrifice area with pipe panels or at least add extra wires as horses in a smaller area are much harder on fence than horses in a larger pasture with plenty of grass. An easy-to-use gate is essential here, as is a larger one so you can get in with a loader to scrape and level it, remove manure, etc.


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## weeedlady (Jul 19, 2014)

Update on my progress. Husband and I walked the pasture areas and decided exactly where phase one of my fencing will go and where we need to put gates. I was quite please to find out that husband is willing to fence in a larger area than I expected! 
Tomorrow morning I'm heading to the local fence installers to get a quote to just have the fence installed. If we do it ourselves, we'd have to buy a post hole digger for the tractor and all the tools for running the wire. 
Husband and I agree ( a rare occurence!) that it may be worth it just to have phase 1 installed.
We shall see......


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## walkinthewalk (Jul 23, 2008)

Get ready for sticker shock on the installation cost --- unless labor cost is a lot lower than where I live

I spent 11K on cross-fencing and didn't get everything fenced. DH ended up doing a few sections over time. He hired a couple of the young men at his work, who are from a farm environment and actually work.

You can rent bobcat type equipment that have post hole diggers attached. The company will deliver and pick up. Smartist thing we ever did. 

The second smartest thing was letting the kids pound in all those T-posts -- we have are own T-post pounder as you can always use one of those. Any farm store, TSC, Lowes Home Depot sell those and they are cheap.

The third smartest thing DH did was to make his own woven wire fence stretcher so we could hook the fence to the John Deer and stretch it. The fence stretchers to stretch single wire fence are also pretty cheap and mighty handy to have around 

Just sayin' there are options that aren't expensive, if it comes to that, and you will have the smaller hand held equipment for when you need them down the road.

The biggest deal is to hunt down an equipment rental place in your area and look at those little Bobcat type "things" with the attached post hole diggers. You could easily run it, if you wanted to arm wrestle your DH for the seat


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## AtokaGhosthorse (Oct 17, 2016)

We have mostly 5 strand, 2 barb barbed wire fences. Most people in this area do. It's not ideal for horses, but we, and a lot of other people alternate pastures with cattle, or the horses share the same pastures with cattle. Let me tell ya. A cow can go right between horse wire strands like a deer or a goat can. I know this because the fence runs right along the back of our pool and after two years of barbed wire popping pool floaties that got blown out, I had Hubs replace it with horse wire on that stretch of fence. I've watched full grown black angus cows duck right between the strands, raise up the head, pop the wire clips and walk right through it.

What cows DON'T go through is an electric fence. So on that stretch of horse wire, we also have electric fencing now.

I've rarely seen any injury caused by the barbed wire to our horses. But. We don't let them run out of grass or put the winter's stored hay bales close enough to the fence for them to try to reach for it - that's when the trouble starts. I have seen other horses injured, greatly, by wire that was discarded and left on the ground + the horse being in a place they weren't supposed to be; loose goat wire from a neighbor's pasture getting in my friend's pasture. In both instances, both horses almost had their hoof cut completely off. In the first instance, that horse came to live in our pen through the healing process and I am still shocked to this day he didn't need to be put down. In the later case, my friend had to drop some big bucks for the vet to reattach his hoof, he had to have lacings in it that had to be tightened as the hoof grew back together, and he still needs special farrier care, but is sound... now.

For any wire fence, be vigilant. Any broken strands or loose places must be fixed immediately or you run the risk of entanglement and/or serious injury. Don't store delicious things near enough they are tempted to try to reach it, make sure they don't start to run out of grass during a dry summer or near autumn or they'll try to reach through the strands to the grass that is, indeed, greener on the other side of the fence.


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## weeedlady (Jul 19, 2014)

Well I guess the question of having someone put up our fence for us is a moot point. I talked with them a week ago tomorrow and still have not even had a call back to ask me what kind of fence I want or to come look at where I want to run it.
This is soooooo frustrating. It's what I run into UP hear quite often. Just like the "honey dipper". I've also been waiting for a week to hear back from her as to when she can come and pump out my port-a-potty. Hope it's soon. We are getting pretty full.
Anyway, dear husband and I are going to have to do this ourselves I guess.
We have 20 acres of cedar swamp here, so we've been hauling logs out of the woods to make fence posts. I've got all my anchor posts and braces cut to length and the bark stripped. It's a start.
Now to find a post hole digger.....


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## 4horses (Nov 26, 2012)

I'm not a big fan of electric fencing for permanent fencing. My horses tend to go through it on occasion and pull the entire fence down. My perimeter fence is no climb wire with a single top rail. It looks nice and hasn't needed any maintenance. The horses haven't messed with it at all. The top rails may eventually need replacing but they've been up for 15 years so far and look great. 

You may find electric fencing is not as effective as you had hoped. I've had a horse roll next to it, catch a back leg and take the fence down. I've had a horse run through it in the dark- i don't think he saw it. Unless you go with 3 inch polytape, it is hard to see in the dark. 

For interior fencing for paddocks, i prefer a two rail fence, no wire. Wire is very dangerous, even the no climb fencing, if they happen to kick a leg through it.

In my area, if your horse gets out, they are likely to be hit by traffic. Having a safe and secure fence is a necessity.


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## walkinthewalk (Jul 23, 2008)

*Weed,*. That's distressing news, I am so sorry

1. Here's the bobcat post hole digger I was talking about but we rented locally.

https://fourstarrental.com/bobcat-front-loader-with-post-hole-digger

You really want to splurge and rent one of these for the weekend -- I think it was only a couple hundred dollars. The rental company delivers and picks up. The bobcat is full of fuel but you do need to have extra fuel so you don't run out ahead of finishing the job.

2. While its true horses can run thru single strand wire, years ago something scared the absolute begeezus out of one of my horses in the sick Bay Area and he went tail end over tin cups over the woven wire. Imagine the look on my face when I got home from work and he was on the wrong side of the woven wire --- three days before he was supposed to go back to pasture.

3. I have three strands of barbLESS wire in the newest piece of fence, when we fenced a couple of extra acres for Joker. It went up fast, the deer can still get thru, I put enough orange tape on it to make it look like a landing strip from the air, until the horses got used to it, and they have been fine. It's NOT electric. Fence stretchers for single wire should be easy to come by at any farm store.

3.1. IF you decide on small square woven wire, I can give you pics of the fence stretcher DH made. But you need a tractor or 4-wheeler to hook one end to, in order to pull the fence tight.

4. For now, if you can do it easily, I would only fence 6-7 acres. UP there that should be plenty for two horses for now. Just be sure to plan gates accordingly for when you expand to include the entire 20 acres.

5. Lastly, I almost forgot -- one or both horses may develop a very buddy sour attitude, once it's just the two of them, so that's something else to consider when putting up fence --- how stupid is the one left behind going to be when the other one goes down the road?

Rusty can't stand it, if he can't see Joker somewhere --- Joker could care less, lol. Joker might occasionally look for Rusty but he doesn't get bent out of shape if he can't see Rusty, like Rusty does with him.

***
Hopefully you can find someone that's good at putting up fence and willing to work. Maybe check with the equipment rental place, the co-op, boarding & training barns? Any big cattle or horse farms in the area? Maybe they have employees they could spare for a small job. The farm vets may even know someone. 

My philosophy is if you don't call me back you must not need the money and I will either find someone else or, do the job myself, like you are considering. And I've also been known to call these lazy people back, to let them know the job is done, probably done better


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## horselovinguy (Oct 1, 2013)

If you already own a farm tractor with a rear PTO...*do not rent, buy a post-hole digger and auger attachment.*
What you will be charged for a 2-day rental will cover the cost of purchase and then you own it for life..
Fence posts put in properly and over a acre take more than a day to dig holes and place post in...it is back-breaking work and exhausting.
I'm not even referring to stringing wire of any type yet either, just placing the posts takes more hours than any realize.

We do *not* have a _"large_" farm tractor, but one adequate to work my size property.
We bought our PHD and 9" auger at our local Tractor Supply store..._*https://www.tractorsupply.com/tsc/product/countyline-post-hole-digger?cm_vc=-10005#,  https://www.tractorsupply.com/tsc/product/countyline-auger-for-post-hole-digger-9-in?cm_vc=IOPDP1*_
Do shop around, check various stores for prices as they are different and check competition as TSC _*will*_ meet, beat prices with proof...
Take a picture of a better price and store location to your local store and speak to a store manager.
{I just did this with a hay spear and was sold a comparable spear for $150 less, yes less because the competitor had a similar item on sale...}
Do that comparison on whatever fencing you purchase with all stores, they fight for your business as a customer, _use that to your advantage!_

If you do not own a farm tractor or something with a class 1 or 2 PTO then consider buying a 2 person auger such as this..._*https://www.harborfreight.com/search?q=gas powered auger*_
It is a lot more work than a tractor but is far better than hand digging 100+ post-holes.
Again, look around and compare prices...
If you purchase from Harborfreight tools they often have coupons you can use for 20% off and if you have more than one person with you, each person buys a large expenditure product and can save quite a bit with multiple coupons...
Today, because of the holiday there is a 25% off coupon available...that racks up $$$$ saved!!

Oh...if you do the farm tractor one...
*Tip we found, only use the auger at tractor idle speed for digging or you will bury the auger and be doing a ton of hand digging to free it and the tractor from the ground.*
I found that tip on a farm site discussing setting fence posts and it works.
We had excellent control, plenty of power digging and no damages to tractor, PHD itself or the auger...and I can sink posts all by myself when I need to... 

Enjoy the project..
:runninghorse2:...


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## weeedlady (Jul 19, 2014)

walkinthewalk said:


> *Weed,*.
> **
> Hopefully you can find someone that's good at putting up fence and willing to work. Maybe check with the equipment rental place, the co-op, boarding & training barns? Any big cattle or horse farms in the area? Maybe they have employees they could spare for a small job. The farm vets may even know someone.
> 
> My philosophy is if you don't call me back you must not need the money and I will either find someone else or, do the job myself, like you are considering. And I've also been known to call these lazy people back, to let them know the job is done, probably done better



^^my feelings exactly. I'll be able to get the neighbor to help, or at least pick his brain. He's fenced acres and acres and acres so he must be pretty good at it..

We do already have a small tractor with PTO so we will be buying the post hole digger rather than renting. We will find plenty of use for it in the future.

Kind of having fun making my own fence posts although it is hard work! I feel like a pioneer woman. lol


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## QtrBel (May 31, 2012)

We "rent" ours out now. Bought it when we moved in 20 years ago and had husband's family give us 20 kinds of grief over the purchase and over the 20 years we have had it they have used it more than we have.


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## walkinthewalk (Jul 23, 2008)

Just an FYI on why we rented a bobcat instead of using our farm tractor or the sub-compact:

We have steep/short hills where some the posts needed to go. No doubt we could have easily tipped the old 2-WD farm tractor with lousy brakes over and I was not risking the John Deer either, lollol

When the guy delivered the bobcat, we showed him where we would be using it. In true rural fashion, he studied the terrain with his head down, gave a tsk of the Timothy stem he had in his mouth and quietly said "--yep, long as ya know what yer doin' with this thing, y'all should be ok---, lollol

I took that to mean the bobcat would hold steady on the edge, long as neither of us did something stupid ---- so I let DH do the driving and I did the supervising, lollol

When we put the three-strand up to give Joker more pasture, we did borrow a post hole digger for the farm tractor --- that was pretty much on "non-tippable" terrain, lollol

When we first moved here, 16 years ago, the electric company had their bucket truck a little further along the prospective fence row-to-be, to run cable and put a transformer pole in. Naturally they set the brakes on it. The ground was very dry. Next thing ya know, that big ole bucket truck starts creeping down the hill all by itself, lol

I didn't know power company line,en could run that fast:gallop::gallop: the truck was moving pretty good by the time they got all the pedestals dig into the ground and stopped the truck, lollollol. Neither the truck nor the linemen were hurt so it was pretty funny, in the end:smile:

Gosh, thinking back on all of that reminds me the third week of September IS our 16 year anniversary of arriving here. The water company was still hooking up water to the barn we had just had built.

My three horses had one huge run-in area and a 24 x100 paddock for starters.

We slept in a crummy 1980's era travel trailer. 30' from the barn. My washer was on a pallet in the barn, hooked up to cold water and I had a clothesline, just like when we were kids, lollol

I had Christmas lights strung around the awning of the camper --- Gretchen Wilson would have been really proud of me, lollol

We lived that way until mid-November, before the house was finished ---- lollollol

I was in absolute Hog Heaven but I was sure I might wake up some morning to find DH's dully gone --- headed back to SoCal, :rofl::rofl:


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## SilverMaple (Jun 24, 2017)

Yes, since you have the tractor, buy the auger. Then you can work when you want and not have to do it all in a weekend, especially if it's raining, or your neighbor had something come up, or what have you. You could also fence a smaller area for now so the horses have somewhere to be, then fence the remainder as you have time.


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## weeedlady (Jul 19, 2014)

@walkinthewalk I loved hearing about your move 16 years ago. We are staying here in my 30 foot camper for the summer. This is the first time we've both been retired and able to be here together for any length of time. 

It's really difficult to live in such close quarters. It's me, DH, a 1 year old German Shepherd and 5 indoor cats!!!! 

We built a pole building several years so we could leave stuff here in the winters. It's full of tools and fishing tackle and the tractor. No room for horses- I'll need a separate small barn just for me!
We got electricity about 4 years ago, and dug a well 2 years ago. We have a lovely outhouse and a very nice outdoor shower.
All the comforts of home- almost.

My horses are still in Ohio- I plan to bring them UP in the spring. I miss having them with me, but I've got to be here to crack the whip and make sure we keep making progress.

Rain expected tomorrow so maybe we'll take a road trip to Tractor Supply (it's about an hour away) to buy a post hole digger.


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## weeedlady (Jul 19, 2014)

We've made a bit of progress. Dear Husband found a used post hole digger and auger and we bought that. It works pretty well.

We've got 3 posts set and pulled 4 more out of the woods. Now we are looking for a source to buy posts. It's takes too long to pick a tree, cut it, pull it out of the woods, cut to length and peel it. We need to make progress more quickly.

here's what we've accomplished so far. Don't laugh. this is hard work for two old people. I think I'll move my thread to the Krones section. Where the others will understand. lol.[/ATTACH]
and of course, my pictures are sideways again.


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## walkinthewalk (Jul 23, 2008)

Mercy, my fingers have blisters just reading this ---oi, I was too old for all that when I was thirty, lollol

Can you find other lumber mills that are cutting, even if it means a long drive?

Surely your big farm neighbor has some sources in his hip pocket?

Put your black t-shirt on, leave the new car home, get in the beater, go to the local road house, buy the bar a few beers, and ask around. I'm almost not kidding -- that's something I would do but I would do it during the day, if I were in unfamiliar territory, lollol


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## SilverMaple (Jun 24, 2017)

Is there a farm store anywhere near you? Any of them should have some nice, treated fence post bundles ready for sale. Some lumberyards will, but make sure they are fence posts, not landscape timbers. 



Walkin's suggestion of heading for the local watering hole and asking around is also not a bad idea. If you're on Facebook, find the local swap page for your community and put out a query for materials and/or a recommendation on labor.


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## weeedlady (Jul 19, 2014)

found cedar posts 3 hours away. Will pick them up Monday. Local mill is waiting for a shipment, can't tell me when they will arrive. Tried the local Facebook group- no luck. Neighbor's source has none. 
Cedar is everywhere, but fence posts are probably made from the scraps left over from logging operations? Not sure why no one has any now- probably cuz I need them! lol.

Progress was made today anyway. 2 more posts and a cross braces installed and wire strainers on the corner. 

I've got enough posts cut to set the next anchor post and brace, so that will keep us busy for tomorrow.


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## weeedlady (Jul 19, 2014)

just updating.
We managed to find enough posts to finish.
51 posts set by two old people, lol.

"wire" will wait til spring.


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## Acadianartist (Apr 21, 2015)

Progress is progress! 51 posts, wow! That's the hardest part of the job, and hopefully, one you won't have to redo for a very long time except perhaps to replace the odd post.


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## Hondo (Sep 29, 2014)

I have learned the hard way that 90% of the fence quality is in the corner post. Also learned that if the post hole is not large enough to get dirt packed around the bottom of the post, it can kick sideways.


I absolutely HATE barbed wire. My horse has been fenced within it but I would choose barbless when going that route. Only saw barbless mentioned once in the thread.


I like cattle fencing to keep the coyotes out and the dogs in but it's not recommended for horses as a hoof can go through it. The no climb is recommended but expensive. The welded no climb is not recommended as the welds do not seem to be consistently strong.



I have used electric fence with five strands and have successfully kept both the dogs and horses in. I've worried when seeing the horse rolling near it but horses (and cattle) seem to figure out to not touch pretty soon.


I have used T-posts at 50 foot spacing successfully with only two strands between the cows and horses. I do have a quality volt tester for electric fences and test fairly often. Also have light designed to flash if the power goes off or the voltage drops from a short somewhere.


I agree about not using only electric between a horse and a road.


When using multiple strands of electric, I do also run the bottom as a ground as somebody already mentioned. But I also ground the bottom run to the T-post. That makes a very effective ground even at the short depth. And in dry weather, if placed at the correct spacing, if anything tries to crawl through, they make contact with both the hot and ground. Very effective.


I have used mostly the twisted electric rope rather than the electrobraid because of the cost. It does sag more with moisture or snow and even with temperature changes. It seems to get longer/looser in cool weather than in hot weather which is the opposite I would have expected. In any case, I've found that using a coil spring at the end of the runs keeps it tight in all conditions, except for tree falls or perhaps in areas with heavier and wetter snow falls than I've experienced.


Being able to disconnect the power from a strand is important as mentioned.


Agree to get the hottest charger available.


All of my electric fencing has been on solar. I now have AC so will be using AC for fencing which I will be doing soon. But I will use the solar panels and battery I have for back up if needed. But to be honest, I have left the electricity off for days and even weeks without the horse knowing it. Just like me, they don't like touching it just to see if it's working.


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## angelica13 (Oct 1, 2019)

*here's my advice*



weeedlady said:


> It's finally time to get my UP North property ready to move my horses in the spring. We are going to put up the fencing in a month or two and I need to make decisions. I need help please!
> 
> Where to start? 2 horses right now,maybe 3 or 4 in the future. Area where we will be fencing is open, currently a hay field so no trees or brush to contend with, but the terrain dips and slopes. I am guessing at dimensions, but the area we will initially fence is perhaps 4 acres. I plan to add extra grazing at some point with simple 1 strand of electric, but what I am building now will be my permanent, secure pasture.
> Most importantly, my neighbor runs cattle on the adjacent 40 acres and has a 1/4 mile of 5 strand high tensile wire on that property line. He is quite happy to allow me to use his fencing on that side, so needless to say I plan to do so.
> ...


So the first thing that I noticed in this is that you are doing four acres. Now if this is just for two horses then I would give them less grazing as with grazing you really want to be careful that you don't give them to much grazing. I would give them two acres if it was me I normally do acre a horse but most of the time I even do less than that for them. I would say that wood plank is out of the equation but I don't know much about fencing as my boyfriend normally sorts all that on my yard. I will ask him and see if he knows but hope I have helped some way


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## WildestDandelion (Apr 4, 2019)

angelica13 said:


> So the first thing that I noticed in this is that you are doing four acres. Now if this is just for two horses then I would give them less grazing as with grazing you really want to be careful that you don't give them to much grazing. I would give them two acres if it was me I normally do acre a horse but most of the time I even do less than that for them. I would say that wood plank is out of the equation but I don't know much about fencing as my boyfriend normally sorts all that on my yard. I will ask him and see if he knows but hope I have helped some way


I feel that with just an acre per horse they would turn that to dirt pretty quick.


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## weeedlady (Jul 19, 2014)

Here are some pictures of my posts and pasture to be. I bet they come out sideways.






















I'm pretty proud of the work we did. I'll run 3 strands of something (haven't decided yet, other than not barbed wire).


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## weeedlady (Jul 19, 2014)

sideways and upside down!

My estimate of the area we are fencing was WAYYYYYY overstated. When I actually did the measurements, it's just under 2 acres. I would have liked more but this will do for starters. I'll use this as my permanent paddock and I'll do movable electric fencing when I'm going to be home to keep an eye on things. We are on an dirt road with very little traffic and nowhere for them to go except to visit the neighbors cows and horses, so I'm not too worried about escapes. Perhaps I'm mistaken. Time will tell.

Anyway, I'm pretty pleased with myself and dear husband. I can't wait to bring my horses UP in the spring.


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## Acadianartist (Apr 21, 2015)

weeedlady said:


> sideways and upside down!
> 
> My estimate of the area we are fencing was WAYYYYYY overstated. When I actually did the measurements, it's just under 2 acres. I would have liked more but this will do for starters. I'll use this as my permanent paddock and I'll do movable electric fencing when I'm going to be home to keep an eye on things. We are on an dirt road with very little traffic and nowhere for them to go except to visit the neighbors cows and horses, so I'm not too worried about escapes. Perhaps I'm mistaken. Time will tell.
> 
> Anyway, I'm pretty pleased with myself and dear husband. I can't wait to bring my horses UP in the spring.


I use electric fencing (but on solid posts like yours) and have never had a horse escape. Well, not without me leaving a gate or stall door open so that's on me. You'll love having your horses home!


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## QtrBel (May 31, 2012)

I would not recommend one strand along a road. Any road. Don't have issue with the use of electric - just not one strand. That is asking for trouble. I have used one strand for saddle horses on 100 acres that was fenced with stone and hedging so if they got out (and they did) there was no where for them to go except up to the house or down below to visit the cows that never strayed far from the tank. 



I have had horses perfectly content in electric unless they were forced through by another and those that have made a mockery out of electric. 7 strand that would take down anything that came in contact with it. He walks through it. Doesn't disturb it. Doesn't tear it down - just walks through. I have another that can hear it and knows when it is on or off and a few that don't mind testing to find out. Now my baby jumps it. Cleanly.


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