Need to re-fence my paddock - advice needed please

Snowy Celandine

Snowy Celandine

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I know this should probably be in one of the equine sections of the forum, but I rarely go into those because the sum total of my knowledge re horses would leave at least three quarters of a postage stamp completely bare šŸ«£ I need to re-fence my field this year, so I'm just checking to see if any new fencing options have become available before I splurge on really expensive wooden fencing. I doubt there are, but I'd hate to find out after I've finished that there was a simpler or cheaper solution out there!

Currently the entire field is bordered by something that I think is called Lincolnshire post and rail, where the rails go through the uprights rather than being nailed onto them. I suppose this makes them self supporting to a degree. Not sure how old the current fencing is, but sections of it have begun to rot away and I can't hold it together with bailer twine any longer!

Any advice welcome, thank you :)
 
If the posts are good to be reused, then maybe look at Tornado wire to fix to it? Will mean that fields are secure from top to bottom for dogs, small ponies and other animals. 4ft wire worked well on my boundary.
You could always top this with a rail, or something like Fieldguard tape (yes, its back on sale in the UK as of last month).

Traditional wooden fencing, post and rail or as you have, is blooming pricey to replace with like for like these days, definitely get quotes from agricultural folk, and maybe gardening firms (but I've found the latter pretty expensive in comparison much of the time)
 
The Fuzzy Furry said:
If the posts are good to be reused, then maybe look at Tornado wire to fix to it? Will mean that fields are secure from top to bottom for dogs, small ponies and other animals. 4ft wire worked well on my boundary.
You could always top this with a rail, or something like Fieldguard tape (yes, its back on sale in the UK as of last month).

Traditional wooden fencing, post and rail or as you have, is blooming pricey to replace with like for like these days, definitely get quotes from agricultural folk, and maybe gardening firms (but I've found the latter pretty expensive in comparison much of the time)
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Thanks šŸ˜Š Iā€™m going to have a walk round with my son-in-law to see how many posts are going rotten because I think that we can save some sections but will need to replace others. Weā€™ve already got stock fencing in place but itā€™s attached to the posts, so itā€™ll all have to be pulled down and put up again which is annoying. Iā€™ve looked at that sort of electric tape before but always stuck with rope which gets horribly tangled up when Iā€™m trying to make mini paddocks for the tinies. Iā€™ll investigate further thanks!
 
I have tornado wire on mine with one wooden rail across the top (for looks really, I didn't bother with that on the hedgerow sides) - and it really is excellent, zero maintenance apart from the posts and I got pre treated octoposts which are fab. You can put a strand of electric wire across he top too if needs be. Suitable for all animals too.
 
Mine needs doing as well (currently just have electric wire on those plastic poly posts). The tornado wire with a top rail is very popular around here over the last 3 years.

Iā€™ve been watching it to see how it preforms for others before spending and itā€™s holding up really well. A stud down the road have little arms coming off the vertical posts to hold electric wire to keep the yearlings off the fencing and it looks very neat!
 
Yes its super tidy and the electric wire on the top of the rail or inside of it means they can't nibble on it. Luckily the one annoying thing that my horses don't do is nibbling on wood but it does mean it lasts really well if they are predisposed to that.
 
I think the Tornado wire with a top rail looks neat, but the men of the household are fighting against me because they both want to replace the post and rails šŸ˜© Maybe one of them has secretly won the lottery?!!!
 
tda said:
I think the tornado fencing will be more expensive than post
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Ah, I wondered if it would be really expensive šŸ„ŗ Iā€™ve not looked it up because the chaps want to replace the post and rails. The Tornado fencing looks as though it would outlast the post and rails though, so might be worth considering despite the expense šŸ¤” Weā€™re forever replacing fence posts on an ad hoc basis and I just want to get something that will last longer and not require constant maintenance.
 
We did our a few years ago with 4 inch round posts and 12 foot 1/2 rails from Phillips in Horncastle (not too far from you i dont think SC). They also did free delivery so might be worth having a look at their website. It took us quite a while as there was only me, OH and my daughter, but we got there in the end.

Fencing, Gates & Electric Fencing | Phillips Animal Health

Phillips Animal Health has supplied local livestock farmers with a high quality range of animal health products and equipment since 1973.
www.pahltd.co.uk www.pahltd.co.uk
 
Chonkers said:
Mine needs doing as well (currently just have electric wire on those plastic poly posts). The tornado wire with a top rail is very popular around here over the last 3 years.

Iā€™ve been watching it to see how it preforms for others before spending and itā€™s holding up really well. A stud down the road have little arms coming off the vertical posts to hold electric wire to keep the yearlings off the fencing and it looks very neat!
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If it helps, I put mine up in autumn 2012, railed on the top on 2 sides of 1 paddock and wide tape along the other 2 paddocks, still going strong.

The only damaging things are very small ponies that think the tornado wire is a brilliant thing to rub coats out on! Just like little bears dancing and scrubbing on it.
A judicious line of tape on temp posts stopped that šŸ¤£
 
You can now get posts and rails in the same recycled material as the Mud Control Mats, I haven't seriously looked at the costs.
Wood is nice but it does not have a long life. Having said that we still have the remnants of some Coal Board fencing (circa 1970?) which is as you described, rails that slip through slots in the posts, I think the posts must be oak, not sure about the rails
 
We have given up using tanalised timber for anything. The gate posts rot off at ground level in 4-5 years. I have paid extra for creosoted posts and got a goodly amount of telegraph posts to use as gateposts.

There are two gateposts that need replacing down the fields so far this year and a goodly amount of fence posts as well. At least the stock netting stapled to them stop the posts from falling over.
 
rabatsa said:
We have given up using tanalised timber for anything. The gate posts rot off at ground level in 4-5 years. I have paid extra for creosoted posts and got a goodly amount of telegraph posts to use as gateposts.

There are two gateposts that need replacing down the fields so far this year and a goodly amount of fence posts as well. At least the stock netting stapled to them stop the posts from falling over.
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Agree
 
tda said:
I think the tornado fencing will be more expensive than post and rail!
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We have had tornado type fencing on treated wooden posts put in, with a run of electric rope inside the top so that the horses can't rub or chew. We were advised to choose that over p&r inside our drystone walls but that was partly because we had problems with dogs getting in. It certainly wasn't cheap but we paid someone to do it, no SILs here.
 
Hollychops said:
We did our a few years ago with 4 inch round posts and 12 foot 1/2 rails from Phillips in Horncastle (not too far from you i dont think SC). They also did free delivery so might be worth having a look at their website. It took us quite a while as there was only me, OH and my daughter, but we got there in the end.

Fencing, Gates & Electric Fencing | Phillips Animal Health

Phillips Animal Health has supplied local livestock farmers with a high quality range of animal health products and equipment since 1973.
www.pahltd.co.uk www.pahltd.co.uk
Click to expand...
I had round posts and half rounds for rails for some years. Sadly, the posts were only 12ft apart and the rails were not strong enough to be self supporting on the very ends that could be nailed onto the round posts.

I've just had the lot re-fenced and have still used round posts, 12 ft apart, but have gone for the square rails and my BF has designed a Post-Sit to bolt securely to the post and provide a good seat for the rail. I only have one wooden rail and electric tape on top.506605463_10230075563817124_7345859805683770251_n.jpg506615245_10230075559057005_928186210198192004_n.jpg

It was quite economical to do and looks smart enough as well as (so far) being horse proof.
 
Thanks again everyone for helping me make a decision Iā€™ve been putting off for a couple of years šŸ˜³ The farmer has been round today and recommended a local company that he uses. He said that heā€™ll liaise with us to make sure his cows are moved to another field when our fencing work is being done. Heā€™s also happy for the contractors to do the work from his side which is great. Weā€™ve asked for a quote and weā€™ll see what options they offer when they come round. I think weā€™ll probably go for Tornado style wire and creosoted posts because they have a 25 year guarantee which will ā€œsee us outā€ as they say. Son-in-law would happily do the work himself if we chose to replace the existing post and rails, but even he admits that it would take him a long time and it would definitely require a lot more maintenance.
 
Happy to discuss options if needed... As a contractor I generally won't use tanalised timber for paddocks - unfortunately can't use creo in domestic settings.

Lots of different types of Tornado wire out there also - make sure the corner strainers are up to the job (6" MINUMUM) as you can literally pull them out the ground tensioning the high tensile stuff!

Oh and ALWAYS, make provision to run electric current - either through poly rope or single strand high tensile wire!
 
Thanks oitf88 šŸ˜€ Iā€™ll PM you if thatā€™s ok? I think youā€™re the opposite end of the county to me perhaps, but letā€™s see!
 
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