Every ranch needs a good fence. If you don’t have a good fence, you can grow hay instead.
The property I bought is 60 acres, and it has very good 5-strand barbed wire surrounding it.
I want to install electric fencing, both to serve as a backup perimeter fence, as well as power the temporary fencing I’ll use to move the cows, goats and sheep.
I bought several thousand feet of high-tensile wire, 12.5 gauge, 17kPsi. They come in roles of about 4,000 feet. You absolutely need a “Spinning Jenny” to unroll these. Our first roll blew up into a mess. The last roll had the cows get into it and wreck our spinning jenny and the wire.
Barbed wire fencing has corner and gate posts set into the ground and tied together to form an “H” shape. The barbed wire is strung between these posts and put under tension. Along the way, T-posts are put into the ground and the barbed wire is attached with a small piece of wire, to keep the barbed wire at the right height over the ground.
I bought insulators like these: https://kencove.com/fence/Large+Bull+Nose+Insulator_detail_I4LBL.php (I am not affiliated with this company.) If you can attach the wire to the posts, then attach it to the insulator, you can run a wire between the insulators at either end and it will be insulated from the posts.
Along the way, I used T-post insulators, the double-claw variety. These snap on the T-posts and the wire is easily put at the right height.
In the middle of the wire, I cut and put in a tensioner. This is a ratchet that you can use an adjustable wrench to tighten the fence.
I found that crimps work best, and so I splurged on a good crimper. You can splice wires easily using crimps, so I didn’t worry about wires being too short. Just splice in more wire and you’re good to go.
The most difficult parts to do were the lowest wire (I kept it about 6″ off the ground) and the parts where the fence had become overgrown. I invested in a commercial weedwhacker. I tried various types of string, but ended up using the triangular blade attachment. It’s not easy to clear the ground where the wire has to go, but it could be worse.
I started working on the fence in June and now it is mid August and I am almost done. I need to attach the different sections to each other using insulated wire. I also need to dig a trench and bury the insulator wire so it can cross the gates.
I have ten ground rods, 8′ long, and I’ll need to pound those in to the ground in the wetter spots. We’ve tried to do 2 and we were able to get them about 5′ in the ground before the fence post driver stopped working. I guess I’ll have to get good with a sledgehammer if I want them to go deeper, or maybe I’ll soak the ground with water over the course of a week. Once the ground rods are in, they also attach to the ground wire with an insulator.
The charger I got is a fairly expensive on and has 2 outputs and a ground, so you can do bipolar wires (two opposite-charged wires near each other.) But the ground rods should work well.
The lowest wire will be the highest charge. Hopefully that will keep things from growing under the wires. The middle wire is the other charge. And the top wire is the ground. (I figure I’ll be most likely to accidentally touch the top wire.)
My friend who raises goats recommended I put in two more wires, which I’ll do as soon as I get the first three wires working. I already have 32 cows on my property plus my friend’s herd of 20+ cows and calves. I’d like to start moving the cows before I get goats and sheep.