Field Fencing

Oh man, it has been a while since I have posted, but that is because with the end of winter, so too did the farmers hibernation.  It has been non-stop since March. We have added two new species swine and cattle. Both of which involved a fair share of prep work, but hey, the grass was green and the sun was shining. Spring is by far my favorite time of year, a little work outside sounds like a good time.
Material for a 1200’ Run (flat ground)

1. 4 - railroad ties
2. 2 - 4” round fence post
3. Brace wire – You can use the barbed wire, but I like smooth for this
4. 2 – 3ft long pieces of scrap wood
5. 65 T-Post
6. 260 Clips should come with T-Post
7. 4 strands of 12 gauge 4 point barb wire
8. A few fence nails

Equipment

1. Post hole auger and tractor (optional, but will take longer without)
2. Clam shell post hole diggers
3. Spud/tamping bar
4. Fence stretchers
5. Fence Pliers
6. Level

Open country fence building
Fence building out here is a little different than my native Louisiana where we tack the barb wire to trees and call it a day. In Montana you have miles of fence without a single tree. A few items this newbie had to learn was: How do you make it straight, How do you make it tight, what spacing to use on your T-Post, and what spacing to use on your strands.
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Step 1 – Corner post and pop line
Find the corners of your property or pasture and sink in a corner post at each. Then string one strand of wire close to the ground so that you don’t pull the post over.  Use fence stretchers to tighten the strand. After each tightening with the stretchers, walk the line “popping” (lifting it up and letting it fall, lifting it up and down quickly so that there is a standing wave in the line) the strand to make it straight. On a long run this might take 5 or six tightening and on a short it might only take 2. After your line is straight build the rest of the H-Brace at each corner.

The Bracing wire should be double looped from the bottom of the corner post to the top of the brace post. Then tightened with the peice of scrap wood. Do not use an X, meaning do not have two runs of brace wire from the top and bottom of each post. The wire will not tighten evenly and therefore will be loose.

Notice the line is pulled tight before the other side of the H-Brace is completed.

In this picture the fence stretcher is seen in action.

Step 2 T-Post spacing and wire spacing
Up here it was suggested to me to use 20ft spacing. For me that is 4 paces (a pace is when you counts only the left foot. 4 paces would be equivalent to 8 steps). Walk the line dropping a T post every 4 paces. Then walk it back pounding the T-post in.

Step 3 clipping the strands in
The first question is how many strands would you like?
For sheep you will want to run 6 strands (3,3,4,4,5,6 – the numbers indicate  how many T-Post nobs from the ground on the first one and from the previous nob on all the rest.)
For cattle I am using 2 set ups:

1. Starting pasture. This is the pasture that I first put the cows in when I get them. They                                           are new to the area and I want to make sure they stay in the fence. I will also use this pasture for calving in the future. (4,4,4,5,6)
2. The rest of the property (8,4,5,6)

Your done. Don’t forget that you will want some gates. ​

Thanks Charlie with Hollenbeck Ranch for teaching me.