[KnowingYouNow]

Has anyone else put one up lately, any suggestions or tips???

 

[stevegee58]

You mean T posts or wooden posts? I've done T posts by myself - no fun but not too bad.

If it's a real fence, do yourself a favor and hire someone with an auger and a tractor to get all the post holes drilled first.

 

[letsgetreal]

Yep, me and the DW are putting up fencing.......we put up 50 yds of chain link and 50 yds of 4X4 field fence.........the chain link, we secure the end and then roll out the fence and use a ratchet come along to tighten it. We used a device, a 5' length of rebar with 3 hooks welded to it, to grab the fence. The secure one end of the come along to a post and the other end to that device. Tighten it up and secure it off.....with the 4x4, we nail the end and roll the fence out and then stand it up, pull it tight and nail it off with staples....... I second having all the posts set first.....

 

[KnowingYouNow]

No its T post and wooden post at the corners. We already have all the post in..

7 wooden post dug put in with concrete. and 84 t post. Thats actually done. Now we are putting up the fence itself, and having hell trying to get it even slightly tight. And those tpost clips seem absolutely useless!!! the wire just slides beneath them so they are helping none in the tightening.

 

[letsgetreal]

What kind of fencing is it? how much of a span? how big is the roll? I mean, how long? I wouldn't set the t posts yet,,,,,,,,I'd secure the fencing to the wood posts, so you can hook a come along to it and rig something to grab the fencing and pull it tight.......if I had to do it, Id secure it to a wood post, roll the fence out and put a wood post at the end of that, then i could hook a come along to it and get it tight.......then secure the next roll to that post and roll it out and put another wood post there, and so on....then put the t posts in.....I'm pretty sure the T posts aren't designed to tighten the fence. The fence needs to already be tight.

 

[stevegee58]

Like letsgetreal said, get yourself a come-along and pull her tight, then clip the fencing up. Then release the tension.

 

[Genevieve]

LOL I feel your pain. We switched to cattle panels. Still have to pound in the T posts, but the panels are rigid and they stand up and you wire them to the posts. Very sturdy
Years back we put up some chain link and used a pick up to help tighten it. Still, after some years it was loosened and the staples we used in the wooden posts all popped out thanks to our male dog ramming it to get at people and things. Big dope LOL

 

[KnowingYouNow]

All together we have to put up 3 rolls of 47"x330' regular wire field fence, with the squares that are smaller at the bottom then gradually get larger up top.

We did that with pulling it, but thats what I mean, the clips dont do ANYTHING to keep it tight, the wire just slides beneath it???????

 

[letsgetreal]

Yeah, I'm pretty sure the tightening should be done and held at the wood posts. The T posts are merely designed to provide vertical and lateral support, not linear support.

 

[KnowingYouNow]

Yeh thats what Im thinking, the only thing is, its such a large area, the wooden post are really far apart. If we cant figure out a better way, I might just add some more wooden post mid way. I never realized this would be as hard as it has been. Believe me, I almost gave up when I about knocked myself out with that T Post slamming thing! LOL I still have a huge goose egg on my head!

 

[letsgetreal]

Is it welded fencing or wrapped? AFAIK, you can only get it so tight and it will pull apart. we have goats so we had to get rid of the welded fencing and go with wrapped. I doubt if you can get it as tight as chain link........another thing I did was stretch the fence out as tight as could and secure it to the wooden posts, then took the T posts and pushed it against the fence, to tighten it more and drove it in there........the fence isn't straight, but it's tight and it's only the goat pen. If you want it straight, you'll likely have to put in more wood posts.....btw, I's using one of those post drivers last weekend. I didn't hit myself, but I did have to watch not lifting it completely off the post, once I got a rythm going, driving it in.

 

[oldandfedup1]

I agree with the come-along fix. I've put several types of fence up but the chain link always had to be tightened with a come-along. Still a lot of sweat equity involved though. Since my heart surgery my family treats as if I'm made of glass. I always loved hard, sweat bustin' work on our property and it's tough to not be able to do it. I say enjoy the work every day you are out there and thank the Good Lord you have the health and strength to do it. I promise you will miss it when you can't do it anymore. Hope the fence comes out perfect for you good folks. Bob.

 

[stevegee58]

You'll have to put a few extra wooden posts in so that each roll of fencing has at least 2 attachment points.

 

[Ulf]

If your corner posts are sturdy enough, and you have the room, lace a piece of pipe into the weave and pull it guitar string tight with a vehicle.
Never, never, never terminate the end of a roll at the corner posts. If a splice is required do it in the middle of a stretch. That helps tremendously in maintaining tension.

 

[Kalifornia Guy]

Are you bracing your corner posts?
Heres some info that may help
http://www.backwoodshome.com/articles2/sanders103.html

 

[Jax]

All together we have to put up 3 rolls of 47"x330' regular wire field fence, with the squares that are smaller at the bottom then gradually get larger up top.

We did that with pulling it, but thats what I mean, the clips dont do ANYTHING to keep it tight, the wire just slides beneath it???????

If your attaching to a wooden post the staples go in the verticals not the horizontals...won't slide that way. :thumb:

 

[KnowingYouNow]

Ok this is what we ended up doing.....

We took two pieces of 2x4 the height of the fence, and drilled three holes in the boards, sandwiched the fence between them, then ran bolts with washers and nuts through the holes, and tightened them VERY WELL. We then hooked a chain around that to the truck, and pulled VERY gently until tight.

We then, instead of just clipping the clips onto the T- post, we actually wrapped the wire around the fence wire so tight that it would not slip back again when the tension was released. We did this about every third post. It was a huge pain in the behind, but my goodness, it looks great!!!!!!! Nice and tight, and straight :

We only made it to just before our first corner, but decided tomorrow, to use the lawn mower instead, around the corner, just in case. Thanks for the advice , on how to handle the seaming of the two rolls. We will end up facing that challenge later on tomorrow.

And Bob, thank you for your story. I will take on the challenge tomorrow with a smile on my face.

I sometimes get aggravated with the hubby. I have always been willing to step up and take on any challenge with him. Because of that, I think he sometimes forgets that Im a woman, and some things are twice as hard for me. And this fence had me just about at my wits end. I see it all differently now. Thanks all!

 

[greenhorn]

Using 12 gauge field fence 48 inches high in 330 foot roles is a PITA..I only string 150 feet max..I cut off the excess over 150 feet then start a new run. Use a crow bar or a claw hammer at your wooden posts stretch it it tight, with a hammer/crowbar then Hold the tension while a second person grabs the fence and pulls it away from the t-post to relieve any tension or binding. Restretch with the hammer or crow bar around the wooden fence post. wrap each wire around the wood post back to it sel,f this will require trimming off the vertical wires tying into the Horizonal wires so they will wrap around the wood post. All you need to stretch is the top bottom and 2 even spaced wires in the middle. Then clamp the wire to the t post starting in the middle the go to the next middle post and do it again this keeps tension even. upon fastening all clips take the claw from the crow bar or hammer and place it over the Horizonal fence wire where it is loose twist a kink into the wire to tighten the wire you may need to do this on every wire in 4-5 places to make it super tight, be careful because over tightening will casue the wire to break in the cold wether.

...As for getting the wire out,.. roll it out on the ground and cut it to length, stand it up, secure it to one end, and go the the opposite end to start the streching process....hope this shines a little lite on making a better fence, and a easier job for you.

 

[Hick Industries]

Ok this is what we ended up doing.....

We took two pieces of 2x4 the height of the fence, and drilled three holes in the boards, sandwiched the fence between them, then ran bolts with washers and nuts through the holes, and tightened them VERY WELL. We then hooked a chain around that to the truck, and pulled VERY gently until tight.

We then, instead of just clipping the clips onto the T- post, we actually wrapped the wire around the fence wire so tight that it would not slip back again when the tension was released. We did this about every third post. It was a huge pain in the behind, but my goodness, it looks great!!!!!!! Nice and tight, and straight :

We only made it to just before our first corner, but decided tomorrow, to use the lawn mower instead, around the corner, just in case. Thanks for the advice , on how to handle the seaming of the two rolls. We will end up facing that challenge later on tomorrow.

And Bob, thank you for your story. I will take on the challenge tomorrow with a smile on my face.

I sometimes get aggravated with the hubby. I have always been willing to step up and take on any challenge with him. Because of that, I think he sometimes forgets that Im a woman, and some things are twice as hard for me. And this fence had me just about at my wits end. I see it all differently now. Thanks all!

You have it pretty well figgured out. I usually pull tension on the fence fabric with a tractor or a cable hoist, since new fencing in rather brittle.

I always wrap each wire around the corner posts and wrap them several turns.

I do not know of any books that show the proper way to string up a fence. I learned it from my father, and he from his.

 

[mightyoak]

Why do you want to keep constant tension on the fence?

I'm working on about 2500' myself and don't see a need for constant tension.

If the animals start putting pressure on the fence then I'll be running an electric wire around the inside to keep them off of it.

I'm not putting in corners. Sweeping turns ensure that any animals inside can't get pushed into a corner and damage the fence.

For constant tension you'll have to X brace the corners and pull tension in both directions. Field fence isn't intended for constant tension though as once it's in place you will have a hard time keeping tension as things settle.

If you need to take out a little slack; I use pliers and on each horizontal wire I put a Z twist next to a vertical wire untill the slack is taken up.

To do this you just figure out where you want to take up the slack and then grab the horizontal wires with the pliers. Then turn/twist the pliers/wire 90 degrees.

It'll take up the slack a distance of however wide your pliers are. So if you need to pull 2" of slack out and your pliers are 1/2" wide then you'll need to do 4 twists.

Periodically you'll need to go back and do it again.