Lets take a step by step journey through building a high tensile fence. Fencing is an important aspect of animal keeping. Having a good fence is essential to keeping your animals safe and where they belong. It is also something that can be a large and expensive investment, particularly if you have to hire the job out to a fencing company.
If you wish to skip straight to the how to section click below, otherwise keep reading for more background information regarding fence design and construction.
Why high tensile fence?
At Snowdrop Farm, we have chosen to use 6 strand high tensile electric fence to contain our poultry and livestock, and also to protect them from predators. High tensile fence is one of the least expensive, highest quality, longest lasting fence types available. It is low maintenance and should last you for the next 50 years. We are huge fans of electrifying high tensile fence, and will talk about why in our next post where we discuss how to properly electrify the fence we built today.
Unfortunately, many people think that building a good fence is out of their skill level to DIY install, and out of their budget to hire out. This however probably isn’t true. Most homesteaders that have basic tools, and the ability to do small construction projects are probably perfectly capable of installing a high tensile fence. It is not actually all that difficult or complicated, and it only requires a few specialized tools, time and determination.
We will note that high tensile fence is probably easier to install with two people. It is much easier to do things like run wires and install braces if you have a partner to help you. That doesn’t mean you should give up on the idea if you do not have someone to help you with the install. I am living proof that one person can do it alone.
Before we jump into the how to section
We need to talk a minute about fence design. High tensile fences are permanent and not so easy to change after the fact. Thus it is important to plan carefully before starting to build the fence.
The design of your fence will vary and might be slightly different than mine depending on the animal species you are keeping, your soil conditions, and whether you will be electrifying the fence or not. Also keep in mind, a fence with a lot of corners and gates will be significantly more expensive per square foot of pasture than a square area with one gate. Fence posts and gates are by far the most expensive components of a high tensile fence.
Our fence design
For our purposes, we opted to fence the perimeter of our 5 acres with high tensile, and to use electric netting inside the outer fence for our pasture rotation. This kept our fencing costs down, left a lot of flexibility for rotational grazing, and ensured that even if the animals got out of the temporary electric netting they would still be safely located on our property. It also allows us to free range our poultry inside a large area that is safe from ground predators like raccoons and foxes.
We have sheep, and wanted the fence to be effective for predator protection, so we opted to go with a 6 strand fence. The strands are closer together nearer to the ground. If you are keeping larger animals like cattle or horses, you could probably use 4 or fewer strands to contain them. Do some research on what is ideal for the animals you are keeping and adapt the number of wires and spacing to meet your farm’s needs.
For the fence we built here, the first strand is placed 6” from the ground, and the next 2 strands are also 6” apart. This is to keep the sheep from crawling under, and also to keep out smaller predators like raccoons or foxes. The next two strands are 8” apart. The top two strands are 10” apart since a sheep is unlikely to be trying to crawl tor jump through the fence up that high. The fence still needs to look taller than them so they don’t get ideas about jumping over it.
One more thing to consider
Another option you need to consider is the type of braces and number of wooden line posts you will be using. More posts = a stronger fence, but it means the fence will be more expensive to build, and also more labor to install if you are hand digging holes. If you have large animals like cows and are not planning to electrify the fence we would highly recommend using more posts.
For our purposes, we are only housing sheep, the fence is electrified, and we were hand digging holes. We opted to go with wider post spacing with fiberglass fence post battens in between our line posts. You can space your wooden line posts up to 100’ apart with battens between them. We took the distances between corners and divided them evenly into whatever number of posts would come out to less than 100’ apart.
Now on to the fun part!
Here is a list of the basic tools and materials needed.
Tools:
Shovel
Tape Measure
Digging Bar (or some other tool to firmly tamp soil around your posts)
Level
Hammer
Drill
Chisel or Large Screwdriver
Hand Saw or Sawzall
Permanent Marker
String Line or Long Rope (Optional)
Plus you will also need these 3 specialized tools. Fortunately none of them are very expensive.
Spinning Jenny
High Tensile Crimping Tool
Ratchet tool for whatever brand of strainers you purchased
Materials:
8’ long pressure treated wooden fence posts. We use the 4-5” ones. If you have a very long run of fencing, it is advisable to use larger posts for the end and corner posts.
High Tensile Wire
Ratchet Strainers
Brace Pins
Fence Staples
Crimps
Insulators if you are making an electric fence. You will need short ones (5”) for line posts, and long ones (20”) for wrapping around corners and end posts.
Pavers (not needed if you decide to make H braces)
4′ Fiberglass Fence Posts
Spring Grip Clips (to fit the fiberglass posts)
Gate
We have found that for us it is better to purchase large bulky materials at a local store, but to source the smaller easy to ship materials from an online fencing supplier. We purchased our wire and fence posts at the local Tractor Supply. The other materials came from either Premier1 or Kencove as that was what we found to be the best prices at the time.
How to calculate supplies needed
The quantities of materials needed will vary depending on your fence design. After you read through this article, you can design your layout calculate the quantities of materials needed. We sketch out our layout on paper marking all the fence posts. This makes it easy to count out the required material accurately.
For example, you will need to roughly measure the length of the fence you are building and multiply the number of feet by the number of fence wires you will be using. Count the number of end posts/ corners you will have, so that you know how many brace posts and supplies you will need.
Each end post requires 1 brace, and each corner requires 2 braces. Each brace requires 1 paver, 1 strainer, 1 brace pin, approximately 16′ of wire, and 2 crimps.
You will need a minimum of 4 crimps and 1 strainer per fence wire. It is a good idea to buy some extra in case any split on you. Each line post will require an insulator for each wire. You will also need 1 set of long insulators for each end post. When counting insulators, keep in mind that you will need insulators for the brace post where the wires lay next to it. On our 6 strand fence, we need 4 insulators per brace.
If you are using wider post spacing and battens you will need a batten ever 25′ between line posts. Lastly, do yourself a favor and buy lots of staples, more than you think you need. A high tensile fence requires TONS of staples, and once you start hammering them in they go very quickly.
Getting started
First you will need to lay out your fence. Figure out where you would like your corner posts to be and place those posts.
To install your corner posts, you will need to dig a hole 4’ deep. If you have soft soil or very long fence runs, you may wish to place your corner posts in concrete, or you may wish to put a larger pressure treated board attached to the bottom of the post to help prevent it from sinking or pulling out. Corner posts should be placed leaning outward a small amount, so that when you tighten the fence wires they don’t lean in. Once you have your post placed, back fill the hole thoroughly tamping down the soil around the post as you fill the hole.
Once your corner posts are installed, you need to draw a straight line between them before you install your line posts. You can do this one of 2 ways. You can run a piece of the high tensile wire between them, or you can use a rope or sting line for shorter sections. We chose to use a rope pulled tight between the posts. Once you have your straight line, you can go ahead and install the line posts. They should also be placed 4’ deep. Make sure they are in line with your corners and straight using the level.
The all important braces
After you have all your posts installed, it is time to build the braces. You will need to construct 2 braces for each corner, and 1 for each end post. There are 2 types of braces you can use. H braces and angled braces. If you have soft or muddy soil, H braces are probably a better option. We opted to use angled braces as it saves us both money and labor.
Please note, when it comes to corners, it is best to try to avoid angles that are not 90 degrees if possible. If you have a corner with an angle of more or less than 90 degrees, you will need to use a different method of bracing than the one we are showing here.
We use angled braces on our farm so will demonstrate how to build an angled brace in this article. We will be building an H brace in a future article.
Your braces are one of the most important components of your fence, and need to be constructed properly. This is particularly important with angled braces. The placement of the angled brace post approximately 2/3 of the way up the above ground portion of the supported post is critical to its function. Do not place the brace post near the top of the corner post you are supporting as this will result in a weak brace.
Lets get started building!
The first thing we need to do constructing a brace is to cut out a small section of our end post to give the brace a flat surface to rest against. The bottom of the brace post should be about 20” from the top of the post. Mark a line here and one 4” above it on the side perpendicular to the fence wires (so the brace will lay next to the wires).
Once you have made your marks, take the saw and cut into the post about ½”. Use the chisel and hammer to chip out the wood between the two marks. Once you do you will have a flat edge you can rest your brace against.
Next place a paver on the ground under one end of the brace
This paver is to prevent the brace from sinking into the ground. It is important to prevent the brace from sinking or it will fail to properly support your fence. If you have very soft ground or you find your brace sinking, place a larger paver or rock under it to prevent it from sinking.
With one end of the brace resting on the paver, hold the other end up against the back of the end post and draw a line to match the angle of the flat area. Cut the end of the brace post along that line, so that when you rest the bottom of the brace on the groove you just made it sits flat against your end post.
Once you have this done drill a hole at an angle through the end of the brace into the end post. Make sure you drill the hole in such a way that your brace pin is about ½ in the brace and ½ in the end post. Pound the brace pin into the hole. You now have your basic brace.
There is one last step to finish the brace.
For this step you will first need to place your roll of high tensile wire onto your spinning jenny. Then cut the clips holding it. This is important. Do not cut open the wire roll until it is on the spinning jenny or you will have a exploded wire mess on your hands.
Once the wire is on the spinning jenny, cut a piece long enough to make a complete circle of wire around the end post to the end of the brace post sitting on the ground. Be sure to leave at least 12” of overlap on the wires so that you have space for your crimps. Pound 2 staples into the middle of the end of the brace post and place 2 more staples over the top of them. This will hold the wire onto the end of the brace and prevent it from spitting the pole.
Place a strainer on the wire and feed it through the two staples. Wrap the other end around the end post near the ground and staple it loosely onto the post. The wire should be able to easily slip through the staple. Next place two crimps onto one of the wires. Feed the other wire into the crimps and crimp the two wires together. Tighten the strainer until you have take up all the slack and put some tension on the wire. Your brace is complete! Repeat these steps to make all the braces needed for your fence.
A note about crimps.
You should always use 2 or more crimps on each wire junction you make. It is also important to crimp carefully. You can easily cause a crimp to split and peel off your wire if you try to crimp it too much or too closely to the ends. Be careful to leave a section uncrimped at each end, and only crimp them 4 or 5 times.
After all that preliminary work its going start looking like a fence fast!
Once all the braces are complete it is time to nail on your insulators and run your wires. We have found it works best to go around and staple all your line post insulators onto the posts before running wire. Use a tape measure to staple them at the appropriate wire spacing. Staple them on until they are firmly held, but not so firmly as to crush the insulator. Place your corner post insulators near your corner post. Do not staple your long corner insulators onto the posts. You will just feed the onto the wire as you run it. If you are not electrifying your fence and not using insulators you can skip this step.
Running wire
Now it is time to start running your wire. Before you do this you will need to decide where you would like your strainers to be located. If it is a long fence run or there are corners, the strainers should be placed near the center of the length of wire so that they will tension the fence evenly. An even number of corners should be on either side of the strainer.
You always start with the bottom wire and work towards the top. This way you are not putting tension on the tops of the posts before there is tension on the bottoms. They are more likely to be pulled over if you tension wires at the top before installing the lower wires.
Check to make sure your roll of wire is still securely on your spinning jenny. Place the spinning jenny near one of your end posts.
Carefully pull the wire and feed it through the insulators and strainer as you work your way down the fence line. Work slowly and carefully making sure not to cause any sharp bends in the wire. If you do crimp the wire, you will need to cut out that spot and splice the wire together again as it will break when you put tension on it. Also make sure you put the wire through the strainer and all of the insulators including the corner ones. It is VERY inconvenient to have to pull a whole run of wire back to add a missing insulator.
When you get to the other end post, it is time to add the required insulators and crimps to the wire so you can finish the end. Make sure you have everything you need to finish that end of the fence on the wire before you start crimping!
Finishing the end
To finish the end of the wire put a short insulator for the brace post on the wire, follow that by two crimps and then the long insulator to wrap around the post. Wrap the wire around the post. It is very helpful to have some one who can help hold the insulator and bent around the post while you feed the end if it back through the two crimps. Once you have the wire back through the crimps and are satisfied with the loop around the post you can crimp the two crimps. The last step is to staple the insulator onto the post in the correct location.
Return to the beginning, cut the wire off the roll and repeat the process on the other end. It is a very good idea to carefully check your fence wire as you walk back to the beginning of the fence to make absolutely certain that you have all the insulators and the strainer on the wire in the correct locations. Once you have finished the other end you cannot go back and correct a mistake without cutting the wire.
Now that your wire is secured on both ends, tighten the strainer until the fence wire is snug. It is not necessary, and can actually be dangerous, to over tighten high tensile fence. Just tighten it enough to take up all the slack and and put a little tension on it. You can and probably will need to come back later to adjust the tension as the fence settles.
And repeat, and repeat…
Repeat this process for all the other wires on your fence. Always work from the bottom to the top. Once you have the wires all strung it is time to add your fiberglass battens. Place the spring clips on the fiberglass posts and attach them to the fence wire at 20’ spacing. You do not need to pound them into the ground. If you find the wires are pulling them down and pushing them into the ground somewhere, you can place a brick under them to prevent this.
Battens are important if you are using wide line post spacing. They keep the wires properly spaced and help to keep them from sagging onto the ground (which is important if you have low electrified wires). This will prevent you from needing to over tighten the wires to keep them from sagging.
The very last thing that you have to do is of course hanging the gate. No pasture is complete without a gate. This step is as simple as drilling two holes and screwing in the gate screws in the proper location.
If you have made it this far with us, congratulations! You now have a fancy new fence that your neighbors will be envious of! Next week we will discuss how and why we electrified our fence, and how to properly design and install an electric fence.
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