Fencing questions

[EJB]

Hi Guys...I put up my first hi-tensile fencing last year, did about 6 acres (or 25%) of what needs to be fenced...I have had good luck with it, not a single escape or coyote attack so far....

Now I need to tackle the bigger pastures, and the question is.....the pastures that are next to be done, all have natural boundaries, i.e. the tree lined road on one side, rock walls along two sides and then the long driveway on the fourth side (keeping it simple)...on the on hand, common sense tells me to fence everthing it right up to the rock wall, right up close to the driveway and right upto the trees that border the road...in which case I can use trees in a lot of cases instead of posts that need to be purchased, and it maximizes the amount of pasture to be grazed....the other part of me tells me I should leave a 15-20' path around the entire outside of the pasture, enough so that I can mow the "other" side of the fence to keep the woods from creeping back in, quickly view the entire fence and make repairs without having parts hidden by the woods etc and be able to see predators better as they approach the fence....the downside: no trees to use for posts (cost $$$) and I end up loosing a percentage of my pasture (almost 10% of my 10 acre pasture)....what to do?

[wingnut]

Well ... I can offer a little advice. I've got about 16 acres fenced with high tensile. Currently I have the area broken into 5 pastures, with 3 of them having one side along a treeline (and one having 2 sides on brush). I spent 4 hours last weekend with the limb loppers cutting down branches and saplings that have grown too close to the fence ... in one of the 4 stretches I need to clean. Since I tried to use as much of the grass available, I ended up with this problem that requires and hour or two every week during the growing season - trimming the fenceline - because I can't get anything in there.
I've made an attchment point for the ATV to hold the weekwacker in place so I can drive and clean under most of the fence ... but that does nothing for the saplings and brush ... that I do by hand.
I'm not sure I'd want to give up any grass ... but I'd asure be happy to be able to brush without doing it all by hand!

[twstanley]

I wouldn't use any trees for fence posts, there are several places on our property where folks did that and then the tree dies and makes a mess of the fence.

Your idea about leaving a strip on the outside of the fence is a good idea, maybe leave the width of your brush hog so you don't lose so much pasture but still have enough room to mow along it?

Leaving a bit of stand-off room between your fence and the property line isn't a bad idea, just be sure that current and future adjoining property owners don't assume that fence is the property line.

I have a stretch where I double fenced as the old fence was down and buried in gnarly brush and the adjoining property was in foreclosure, I haven't taken out the old fence as it marks the property line and provides a couple feet of standoff between any future neighbors and our cows, horses and also our electric fence. Besides, I am hoping somebody will buy that place and clean their side of the fenceline up so I don't have to, haha.

[wingnut]

Good point on the double-fencing .... it's something I'm thinking about right now since my wife seems to have a hard time parting with any of her herd. I did a LOT of repairing and patching this winter ... in case you weren't aware, snow provides a lot of insulation and makes an electric fence MUCH less effective ... with the two studs in adjourning pastures squealing and kicking at each other. Anyway, if they get back at it again (they're a little more respectful of the fence now that the snow's all gone) I'll be adding a second line inside the first to keep them from getting within a few feet of each other .... and then I'll have ANOTHER stretch to hand-clean ....

[Pat]

Trees for fence posts is a common sight in these parts and is a poor idea. You may kill the tree. Trees will drop limbs on your fence. All repairs to a fence with trees and brush in the fence line are much harder. Any savings are short lived. In the long run you'd be ahead to build a REAL fence and remove trees and brush in the fence row.

I don't always practice what I preach. I have some trees in fence rows but try to trim the branches up 10-12 feet. I use one of the electric chainsaws on a pole while standing on a ladder in the back of my Dakota. The saw runs great on my portable generator and cuts very aggressively.

[img]/forums/images/icons/smile.gif[/img] Pat [img]/forums/images/icons/smile.gif[/img]

[wingnut]

Using trees in place of posts is indeed a bad idea, in my estimation (although I've frequently sen it done). On my place back in Alberta, the previous owner had used trees on the property line wherever he could ... caused me no end of trouble. The trees grew around the wire - which frequently caused problems to the tree. Trees grow .... up .... as well as out. Trees lose branches and leaves which fall on the fence. The sap in coniferous trees , especially as the wire is becoming embedded, causes the wire to rust much quicker.

[mfaley]

How tall is your fence and how many strands do you run? Are you running straight wire or the plastic coated?

Thanks,
Mark

[wingnut]

Mark, our minis don't jump, so I actually moved the top wire down (being small, they can sneak between the wires at the 1ft and 2ft marks.) Most of the fences are 3 strand with strands at the 1ft, 2ft and 3ft marks. (uncoated wire)
The fence between the 2 studs has additional strands at 1.5 and 2.5 feet. (The 1.5 ft strand is connected to ground instead of power .... helped in the winter)

[EJB]

When I attached fencing to a tree, I never do it directly...usually I nail a PT 2x4, about 4-5 feet tall against the tree (usually just 1-2 nails since the pressure of the wire fence tends to keep it in place)...and then attached the wire/insulators to the board, not the tree...in that way as the tree grows it pushes the board away, instead of growing around the wire.

For this next pasture I am leaning towards notusing trees however and leaving a 10-12 foot buffer around the fencline for brishhogging; and possibly I will use temp fencing on the "outside" of the pasture and throw in a few low-value goats to cleanup...and little by little rotate them around the outside.