- Thread starter amo
- Start date
mtf
Member
- Location
- Bottom of the Bluegrass State
The last strand is always the tightest, so I always stretch top last.
T.C. in Tx
Member
Well I'm no expert but I have built several miles of barb wire fence here in Texas. An old rancher came by one day when we were building fence and said "always stretch the bottom wire first and them move on up with the top stretched last".
The reasoning is that if you stretch the top first, then each of the other wires will add more tension and end up loosening the top wire. If you start at the bottom then it goes the other way to an extent. At least you don't end up with a loose wire on top doing it that way.
The reasoning is that if you stretch the top first, then each of the other wires will add more tension and end up loosening the top wire. If you start at the bottom then it goes the other way to an extent. At least you don't end up with a loose wire on top doing it that way.
Determined
Well-known Member
No matter how good your braces are, the top of the post will always move in a little.
If you do the bottom first you will loose some tension on it by the time you get the top wires done.
Build it in whatever order works for you, but top to bottom when tightening gives the best results.
I've been racking my brain; I put up a lot of fence in my youth. Sometime we used new wire and sometimes we just moved wire from a different fence that we were relocating.
Logically, we started with the top wire and worked from the top down so the next wire so it didn't hang up as we tightened the wire.
Logically, we started with the top wire and worked from the top down so the next wire so it didn't hang up as we tightened the wire.
Top first. that way it is out of the way for the next. If you put a screw in anchor in the ground and a turn buckle in the angled wire, when you are finished all the wires just tighten the turn buckle and watch the top wire get tight as a fiddle string. If you have room on the outside of the fence that is where I put the screw anchor.
Wheatfarmer
Member
Depends on how strong your end/Base post are set. If you start with the top wire and then move the post 1/4" with the bottom wire then top of the post moves a LOT. The posting that stated tighten the base post later works the best unless the base post is set real tight to start with. This is why the angle brace wire should be at the top of the line post, and bottom of the corner/end post.
I have tryed every way emaginable and allways wind up loosening other wires while stretching the remainder. I have "HELPED" others that knew what they were doing and never had to restretch wires. There was at least 100 miles of 5 strand barbed wire installed on a place near me between 1954 and 1960. As the decades passed it amazed me that the fences remained tight. Some has been removed but the rest is still in good shape. I believe instructions and a scale of sorts between stretcher and anchor point to show tension would alow anyone to build good fence IF THEY SET GOOD H AND CORNERS. Seems like a simple device,why is there not such on the market?
oliver power
Member
We"ve never used a fence stretcher on barbed wire. Wrap one end around corner post. Pull the first wire as straight & tight as you could by hand, between the two corner post. Fasten around opposite corner post. Leave it lay on the ground as a guide for in-between post. Install in-between posts. Starting with the bottom wire, measure up the same distance from the ground on every post, and nail loosely, so that the wire can move. Following the contour of the ground from post to post, starting with the bottom wire. By the time you get to the other end, the wire will be tight. Then roll out the second wire, and repeat. The corner post are important. They were much bigger in diameter. And about 5 feet in the ground. Sometimes we"d use a tree as a corner post. You don"t want the corner posts to move. The in-between posts are fillers. Something to hang the wire on. It"s been a long time. Seems we use to go 5 or 6 strands of barbed wire.
waltdavies
Member
The secret is not which wire you tighten first but to make sure that the corner post is set deep and well propped so that it can't move. I like to use railroad ties they set real good. Build a corner section that has three posts about 6 ft apart and then use a good brace to go from the bottom of the inside post to he top of the corner post. Build it like there is no tomorrow so it will be there forever then use a fence strecter to tighten the wires.if the orner post shifts then start over it ain't set good. Every ten steel posts put in a good wooden post. Every 100 yards or so build a section by using two wood post about 3 to 4 ft apart Then put an X frame in between them now hook the wires to the far post with a slip joint on the near one this will keep the wire tight. If its a real long fence you can vary the distance between strecter post.
Walt
Walt
And then there are Gripples
http://www.waratahfencing.com.au/Product/Tools-and-Accessories/Wire-Joiner-Range.aspx
A bit expensive but magic for short strains that lose tension. They work with barb too.
Not needed if you get to half mile strains and high tensile wire in my experience.
http://www.waratahfencing.com.au/Product/Tools-and-Accessories/Wire-Joiner-Range.aspx
A bit expensive but magic for short strains that lose tension. They work with barb too.
Not needed if you get to half mile strains and high tensile wire in my experience.
I love good looking fencing done well. Someday, I hope to build a really good fence. IME, up here in the frozen north on clay with ledge anywhere from 8 feet down to exposed to the sun, all the talk of fencing this way or that is kind of wishful thinking. The frost will heave the best corner, the snow and ice will stretch any fence and rock corners with "X" posts running on ledge are common. I envy those of you with little rock, deep well drained soils and climates that don't put a ton of ice on your wire. You are blessed.
I got kicked off another site, sheep related, because the nazi lady running it called me every thing she could think of when I maintained that fences need upkeep every year. Her daddy and hubby built fence that never, ever needed work and that was just all there was to it. Some people just don't know what they don't know.
I got kicked off another site, sheep related, because the nazi lady running it called me every thing she could think of when I maintained that fences need upkeep every year. Her daddy and hubby built fence that never, ever needed work and that was just all there was to it. Some people just don't know what they don't know.
Wheatfarmer
Member
We have trouble with this fence because of the soft ground, but Elk and deer don't help.
Yep, some places are more difficult than others. I settled on
single stand of hot high tensile wire. Drop it on the ground in
the fall and put it back up in the spring. Had an old phone co.
Truck to drill holes. Only found one spot I couldn't drill into the
shale. Pushed a big rock over there for the corner.
single stand of hot high tensile wire. Drop it on the ground in
the fall and put it back up in the spring. Had an old phone co.
Truck to drill holes. Only found one spot I couldn't drill into the
shale. Pushed a big rock over there for the corner.
redforlife
Well-known Member
well I tighten top first and work my way down. I use a pipe for a brace between corner and brace post. i position it level at about waste high. Use number 9 wire for brace wire and go around twice. I will use a stick to twist the brace wire. Now here are some tricks. Fence must be straight. Unroll one strand and tighten to use for a guide to put post in straight line. When done, move that wire to top and use for first wire. I always put up 5 wires. I only twist the brace wire twice, then tighten the top 2 wires, and then finish twisting the brace wire before tightening the lower 3. Ussually snap the wire in the middle a time or two while tightening. You got to have good corners, good braces, and a straight fence or it will never stay tight.
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