That is not something I would ever admit to!
Beef Calf 2024
- Thread starter Peanut
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The growing season here is about 8 months. Add 5ft of yearly rain and brush can get out of control in a blink. In a couple years they'll cover everything.
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- Mar 29, 2013
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We all have excell at something. For me it's fencing and making hot sauce.
2 afternoons to clear the vines and brush off 180ft of fence. Have 2 big piles of brush I’ve cut and pulled out. All that brush was the only thing holding up the old wire and posts.
Now I can finally start building a new fence. Don’t know if I’ll be able tomorrow, probably have to rest a day. But it should only take another 4 hours to finish and I can get the calf back on good grass.
Now I can finally start building a new fence. Don’t know if I’ll be able tomorrow, probably have to rest a day. But it should only take another 4 hours to finish and I can get the calf back on good grass.
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Butthead will be happy to be out grazing again 😋
Where's Sam???🤔😮
Another day on the fence. Got the double H-posts built, center post is set in QuiKrete. After it sets 24hrs the tension wires go on. I’ll trim the post heights too.
Was gonna use the same setup for the corner posts but had to change my plans. But I did get the big corner post set in QuicKrete also. The bracing will be a bit different, no problem.
I needed a couple more small posts, $10 ea at Tsc in town. There is a farm and lumber store just down the road where I could get them for $12. Turns out the store sold out to a new owner. This guy want $25 ea for small posts. He can keep them at that price! And I’m not gonna make a special trip to town for a couple of posts.
Anyway, I got all the old posts pulled up and the old barbwire rolled up. Ready to string new wire as soon as I brace the corner post in the morning.
Was gonna use the same setup for the corner posts but had to change my plans. But I did get the big corner post set in QuicKrete also. The bracing will be a bit different, no problem.
I needed a couple more small posts, $10 ea at Tsc in town. There is a farm and lumber store just down the road where I could get them for $12. Turns out the store sold out to a new owner. This guy want $25 ea for small posts. He can keep them at that price! And I’m not gonna make a special trip to town for a couple of posts.
Anyway, I got all the old posts pulled up and the old barbwire rolled up. Ready to string new wire as soon as I brace the corner post in the morning.
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My back injury is acting up today so I don't know if I'm gonna do any fencing. So, I needed a few groceries in town. I also stopped by the ag services company and got 5 small posts. $5 each! Not $25 like the guy down the road tried to charge me yesterday!
The new owner of that little farm and lumber store is in the middle of hobby farm heaven. Generally they are folks with more money than brains but I don't like seeing anyone get ripped off. I can't say I'll never shop at that store again, farm emergencies do happen. But I'll have to be desperate to buy anything from that guy.
TSC has high prices but I stop there for convenience sometimes. They charge $12ea for these same posts. I stopped and priced them this morning. (they also wanted $100 for a small gate, they can keep it at that price.)
The new owner of that little farm and lumber store is in the middle of hobby farm heaven. Generally they are folks with more money than brains but I don't like seeing anyone get ripped off. I can't say I'll never shop at that store again, farm emergencies do happen. But I'll have to be desperate to buy anything from that guy.
TSC has high prices but I stop there for convenience sometimes. They charge $12ea for these same posts. I stopped and priced them this morning. (they also wanted $100 for a small gate, they can keep it at that price.)
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That's similar to the way I do most of my corners and inline braces. On the corners where I have long runs I'll use rail road ties.
Finally got the corner posts done, bracing is up. Digging holes here was tough! They are about 28 inches deep. Seems every 3 or 4 inches I’d hit another tree root and have to cut through it with the post hole diggers.
The big sweet gum tree used to be part of the fence. That corner was always a problem when separating cows and calves. There was always one that didn’t want to go with the program. They’d invariably run to this corner of the holding pen, feel trapped because of the big tree, then run through the barbwire. You can see the wire in the second pic just to the left of the big tree.
Instead of a 90 degree corner I’m changing it into two 45 degree angles. I wish the big tree was cut but neither of my saws will reach the center.
These photos are an optical illusion. Both the horizontal braces are perfectly level. In fact I used a line level when marking the positions then used a framing level when nailing them in place. In the 1st pic the near braces looks slanted. In the second pic the far brace looks slanted.
Anyway, the hard parts are over. Just have to sink a few T-posts and string wire.
Hey @Pearl Sam says hi!
The big sweet gum tree used to be part of the fence. That corner was always a problem when separating cows and calves. There was always one that didn’t want to go with the program. They’d invariably run to this corner of the holding pen, feel trapped because of the big tree, then run through the barbwire. You can see the wire in the second pic just to the left of the big tree.
Instead of a 90 degree corner I’m changing it into two 45 degree angles. I wish the big tree was cut but neither of my saws will reach the center.
These photos are an optical illusion. Both the horizontal braces are perfectly level. In fact I used a line level when marking the positions then used a framing level when nailing them in place. In the 1st pic the near braces looks slanted. In the second pic the far brace looks slanted.
Anyway, the hard parts are over. Just have to sink a few T-posts and string wire.
Hey @Pearl Sam says hi!
Well, I’ll turn the calf out in the morning. The new fence is done, mostly, lol. I fudged on the last 24ft. 180ft of the wire is banjo tight. Those last few feet are out of tune! Tight but not stretched fully.
I want to put a small gate in there but I don’t have a gate or time to build one. Have all the materials but it’s more important to get the calf back on good grass in the morning. The wire is tight enough to hold him til I get time for a gate.
Oh, please don’t laugh at my fence. It’s been 15yrs since I built one. 🙄
Also, I bought one of these wire stretchers years ago but never used it until today. If you’re working alone this thing is great! I’m happy with the purchase. It’s simple to use and will stretch wire to the breaking point. It sort of works like an old fashioned bumper jack for a car. Just hook up the self locking clamps and crank the handle. When the wire is tight it’ll hold until released.
I want to put a small gate in there but I don’t have a gate or time to build one. Have all the materials but it’s more important to get the calf back on good grass in the morning. The wire is tight enough to hold him til I get time for a gate.
Oh, please don’t laugh at my fence. It’s been 15yrs since I built one. 🙄
Also, I bought one of these wire stretchers years ago but never used it until today. If you’re working alone this thing is great! I’m happy with the purchase. It’s simple to use and will stretch wire to the breaking point. It sort of works like an old fashioned bumper jack for a car. Just hook up the self locking clamps and crank the handle. When the wire is tight it’ll hold until released.
Fence looks good to me. Those stretchers work well
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I've got several of those wire stretchers. They are great tools to have around. Something else I use a lot of are Jake's wire tighteners. Check them out at jakeswiretightners.com or something like that. I've used hundreds of these on my fence and never once had one break a wire.
I've built a lot of my gates around here, out of wood and barb wire.
I also use a lot of tube gates, like the one in the picture below. This is one of two electric opening gates on our driveway.
