Really novice electric fence question

[milliepops]

Many of us use electric fencing but do we really give much thought to what we use & why we use it?

I have always been an advocate of rope, it is sturdy, it looks neat & tidy, easy to work with, carries a charge well & doesn't flap about in windswept paddocks. All this is true but I have now done a complete U Turn due to a horrific accident.

We turned out one of our horses in a paddock surrounded by electric rope fence, the power was off at the time. He pawed the ground & decided to role but he was too close to the fence. He rolled over, caught the rope fencing, spooked himself, & charged off across the paddock. He caught the rope around his hind leg & ripped out the fencing, plastic posts & a couple of wooden posts as he went. Fortunately he didn't receive much of an injury, a couple of grazes was about all.

Biggest problem was my wife was in the paddock, the fencing rope got yanked around the back of her legs, dragging her to the ground. The injuries to her legs are horrendous. She has cuts, bruising & a large amount of skin removed behind her knees. She can hardly walk & is on pain killers & a nurse is dressing her wounds daily.

I made enquiries about the breaking strain of the rope, it's 383kg, bloody hell. I have now replaced the rope with tape, still with 6 conductor wires but this has a breaking strain of around 75kg.

I appreciate this is a long post but I thought it would warn people of the dangers that may not have been considered.

At the present time we are using green fence tape because it isn't such an eyesore as the white. The horses have no issues seeing it, we've experienced no problems so go for the green.

horrendous. I have known several horses have accidents with rope including one of my own, she pulled out a lot of posts too. the strength of that rope is something else. I hope your wife makes a good recovery, it must be incredibly painful. When tape breaks it's annoying but that's about it.

 

[milliepops]

My main question though, is how do you get your plastic post fence lines straight? I cannot see straight to save my life when putting them in but from a distance I am obsessive about them being straight and it drives me mad so any tips gratefully received! Thanks ?

stretch your tape from end to end, or corner to corner first with just a post at each end. Then put all the other posts in and put tape on, and tighten tape as necessary. ta-da!

 

[dorsetladette]

stretch your tape from end to end, or corner to corner first with just a post at each end. Then put all the other posts in and put tape on, and tighten tape as necessary. ta-da!

This is exactly how I do it as a bit obsessed with straight lines too

 

[jnb]

Interesting post. I’ve just bought a whole heap of green 5ft posts and the wider green tape to internal fence our large fields so we can strip graze them. I did have rope but was unhappy about using it with plastic posts and I’m glad I went with my instincts on this having read the above! That said I do use rope with extenders on the top of our post and rail fencing to give a little more height for my 18hh Irish Draught. So far it’s not been an issue.

My main question though, is how do you get your plastic post fence lines straight? I cannot see straight to save my life when putting them in but from a distance I am obsessive about them being straight and it drives me mad so any tips gratefully received! Thanks ?

.

I don't use wide tape for fencing using only plastic posts, I use the 12mm as you can tighten it on each post.
However, I have just had to fence some areas using wooden posts at each end and used the wide tape, I have discovered this genius invention (I bet everyone else already knows about them) - Wide tape tensioners! Game changer

https://www.ukcountrystore.co.uk/acatalog/TapeTensioner.html

 

[Nudibranch]

Polywire breaks under strain, just don't use the thick stuff, i.e. rope. Tape is as good as useless if you live anywhere windy or near sheep.
Any fence, whether polywire, tape or rope, should have regular breaks (connectors) to avoid accidents happening.

 

[milliepops]

a few permanent stakes dotted in helps with tape in windy spots. we aren't on top of a mountain windy but get the wind whooshing up the hill so i get OH to whack a few posts in strategic areas for me. My horses are numpties so i also like the visibility of tape particularly on fencelines that i move about a bit.

 

[Charlotte R]

Blim

[QUOTE="
B) Electric rope not as bad as tape because its thinner and doesn't flap about as much, so you don't notice it as much as tape

Many of us use electric fencing but do we really give much thought to what we use & why we use it?

I have always been an advocate of rope, it is sturdy, it looks neat & tidy, easy to work with, carries a charge well & doesn't flap about in windswept paddocks. All this is true but I have now done a complete U Turn due to a horrific accident.

We turned out one of our horses in a paddock surrounded by electric rope fence, the power was off at the time. He pawed the ground & decided to role but he was too close to the fence. He rolled over, caught the rope fencing, spooked himself, & charged off across the paddock. He caught the rope around his hind leg & ripped out the fencing, plastic posts & a couple of wooden posts as he went. Fortunately he didn't receive much of an injury, a couple of grazes was about all.

Biggest problem was my wife was in the paddock, the fencing rope got yanked around the back of her legs, dragging her to the ground. The injuries to her legs are horrendous. She has cuts, bruising & a large amount of skin removed behind her knees. She can hardly walk & is on pain killers & a nurse is dressing her wounds daily.

I made enquiries about the breaking strain of the rope, it's 383kg, bloody hell. I have now replaced the rope with tape, still with 6 conductor wires but this has a breaking strain of around 75kg.

I appreciate this is a long post but I thought it would warn people of the dangers that may not have been considered.

At the present time we are using green fence tape because it isn't such an eyesore as the white. The horses have no issues seeing it, we've experienced no problems so go for the green.[/QUOTE]
Blimey, I hope your Wife makes recovers OK, that sounds absolutely horrific. It was something that went through my mind. Sometimes you need the fence to break. I'm thinking about equiguard tape and solar energiser.
The other thing I'm wondering about is Deer. At the moment deer go through what will be the horses field. I like to see deer but don't know how they'll do cope with an electric fence. Does anyone have experience of this??

 

[ponynutz]

We have green tape and black pegs/pole thingies - looks great, barely noticeable and when it is it looks much smarter!

 

[Bikerchickone]

stretch your tape from end to end, or corner to corner first with just a post at each end. Then put all the other posts in and put tape on, and tighten tape as necessary. ta-da!

Lightbulb moment! Thank you, we will be doing this when it all arrives tomorrow!

 

[Bikerchickone]

I don't use wide tape for fencing using only plastic posts, I use the 12mm as you can tighten it on each post.
However, I have just had to fence some areas using wooden posts at each end and used the wide tape, I have discovered this genius invention (I bet everyone else already knows about them) - Wide tape tensioners! Game changer

https://www.ukcountrystore.co.uk/acatalog/TapeTensioner.html

Yes, we’re planning to have the majority with wooden posts and the tape and just attach the plastic posts to strip graze iyswim? Definitely onto the gadgets as well, thank you!

 

[Sussexbythesea]

Blimey, I hope your Wife makes recovers OK, that sounds absolutely horrific. It was something that went through my mind. Sometimes you need the fence to break. I'm thinking about equiguard tape and solar energiser.
The other thing I'm wondering about is Deer. At the moment deer go through what will be the horses field. I like to see deer but don't know how they'll do cope with an electric fence. Does anyone have experience of this??

We’ve had several deer caught in our fixed (wooden posts) electric fencing over the 12 years I’ve been at the yard. At least two had to be dispatched by the gamekeeper as fencing plus wooden fence posts caught around the antlers and couldn’t get near them. One stag we managed to cut the tape but it got away with a fairly long section of tape caught around its antlers as it was throwing itself around violently and we couldn’t get closer. Meanwhile my friends horse was losing the plot. Often when we’ve come across them they’ve been lying quietly so we don’t see them until we turn up to turn a horse out and they suddenly panic.

They also break the tape or pull it out of the fixings fairly regularly.

 

[rextherobber]

I have deer coming and going without issue, including stags. With regard to the footpath, I would fence it off, keep walkers and horses seperate, just be sure to put lots of electric fence warning signs up.

 

[onemoretime]

horrendous. I have known several horses have accidents with rope including one of my own, she pulled out a lot of posts too. the strength of that rope is something else. I hope your wife makes a good recovery, it must be incredibly painful. When tape breaks it's annoying but that's about it.

Its a bit like nylon headcollars, they dont break but your horse's neck will!

 

[Charlotte R]

I don't use wide tape for fencing using only plastic posts, I use the 12mm as you can tighten it on each post.
However, I have just had to fence some areas using wooden posts at each end and used the wide tape, I have discovered this genius invention (I bet everyone else already knows about them) - Wide tape tensioners! Game changer

https://www.ukcountrystore.co.uk/acatalog/TapeTensioner.html

Look Good!!

 

[Toby_Zaphod]

To ensure your tape fences are straight put a post in at the start of your run. Then walk to the end of your run & put in another post. Put a piece of tape between the first & end post & you will have a straight line. Now you have a straight line just push your posts in along side the fence tape & you will have a straight fence line.