# Cow fencing - no bob wire



## Msch2112 (Nov 12, 2013)

Hi, I tore down 40 year old perimeter bob wire fencing because it was old and dangerous to horses and cows. I built a 6 rung wire fence with an inside hot line for peace of mind.

I am in the process of ripping out interior bob wire fences. Any recommendations? I don't want bob wire and don't want another hotline maintenance issues. Nor do I want pipe.

Any ideas? Could just go with what I have but cattle seem to like what's on the other side of the fence.

Thanks,

Mike


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## Bonfire (Oct 21, 2012)

Your removing "barbed" wire, no bob wire.

Look into using high tensile woven wire.

http://www.staytuff.com/


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## somedevildawg (Jun 20, 2011)

Barbed wire is tough to beat for cattle (cost/install/etc), horsey peeps seem to sometimes have a problem with it, personally for horses it's not the barb that I worry about so much, it's the uncapped T posts that a horse could impale itself on.

Regardless, livestock always think it's greener on the other side of the fence in my experience.

Welcome to Haytalk msch2112


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## aawhite (Jan 16, 2012)

We used to see a lot of woven wire, with a single or double strand of barb at the very top. The woven wire part is about the first 4 feet. Very horse friendly. Only downside is it won't last a long (lot of steel in woven) and if a horse or cow are determined to go thru, they can work at it long enough to get out.


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## Lostin55 (Sep 21, 2013)

The three requirements of fences as I was taught them. Horse high, hog tight, and bull strong. 
As to the " dangerous" comment, I have watched many a fence crawling cow go through a 5 strand barbed wire fence without a scratch. Somehow they manage to lose ear tags though.
It sounds as though you would be interested in what we call New Zealand wire, with electricity. It is high tensile and costly.
Around here, the only thing that seems to work is barbed or electric. 
As for the horses, I have seen them push over just about every other kind of fence. Barbless they will have zero respect for and you will end up cutting horses out of it at some point. The non climb has not worked for us. The only reason it is called non climb, in our opinion, is because they walk it into the ground.


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## Grateful11 (Apr 5, 2009)

Bonfire said:


> Your removing "barbed" wire, no bob wire.
> 
> Look into using high tensile woven wire.
> http://www.staytuff.com/


That Staytuff woven wire fencing is good looking stuff. I've seen a few fences built with it. We tried to get 3 rolls of it a couple years ago and we waited and waited on one of the local farm supplies to get it. He never did so they went with Red Brand which in IMO is inferior to the StayTuff. Wife was contracting out the fence work so we had to get something as they showed up to tear out the old barb wire and we couldn't wait any longer on the StayTuff. It shows now as the cows are able to slide the inner and top twists with their nose. I know Red Brand is suppose to be good but we're pretty disappointed in it and this an inner feed lot fence where the Dairy cows used to eat and now the beef cows eat so there's really no reason for them to work the fence but they do anyway. Cows aren't dumb if they find a weak spot in a fence they'll work on it until they tear it up.


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## Chessiedog (Jul 24, 2009)

I've put up some staytuff last couple of years 1500 feet or so , I like it my self .

Jsut put some of the 6 inch stay type in my small feed lot that I have for like for 8 or 9 calves , I ran a 12.5 high tensile on top of the post instead of barbed wire that will be hot . If they go through that or over it .. The neighbors can have them !


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## prairie (Jun 20, 2008)

Whatever you decide to put in, make sure it is high tensile wire. It is available as smooth, barbed and woven.

Its advantage is that it has some elasticity, and will stretch and spring back instead of sagging in most cases. Also most high tensile wire has Class 3 galvanizing, instead of lesser grade Class 1 which is on your typical Red Brand wire. Some people refer to this as New Zealand type fence, and it is usually cheaper to construct and maintain than comparable US type fences.

For your interior fences, I would recommend 1-3 wire smooth 12.5 ga high tensile electric fence. There is no better fence if it is designed and constructed properly, and powered with a high quality, adequately sized and properly grounded energizer.


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## Tim/South (Dec 12, 2011)

All my parameter fences are 48" net wire with two strands of barb on top to keep the critters from riding the wire down.

I tried a cross fence with high tensile a few years ago and liked it. We built good corners and installed the springs and ratchets to pull and keep the wire tight. I really liked the way that came together. We had one or two of the strands hot with a solar charger.

We have a couple of horses and their hide is not thick like cattle. I was concerned that if a horse hit the high tensile at a gallop it would slice them. With the springs it allowed for some give but would pull back tight.


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## cornshucker (Aug 22, 2011)

We have tried a couple of rolls of the StayTuff high tensile woven fixed knot wire like it so far. Local Southern States dealer has another brand which is similar to the StayTuff he uses on his own farm. I will try to remember to ask him the brand when I see him. I am going to get about 4 rolls from him as soon as we get the rest of our posts up. The StayTuff and this brand both come in 330 and 660 foot rolls. Personally I like this better than the high tensile electric wire because if there is no power on the 5 strands of wire we got cow can walk through it as easy as a person walking through a door. Another thing about electric they do not like thunderstorms lost 3 boxes on last 2 years despite having the lightning arrestors on them. Better off I think to use barbed wire or woven wire on the perimiter especially close to a highway. But fencing is like a lot of things what works best in your situation. Also we bought a fencedawg from Van Foster of GoBob sales near Athens GA. Look on the GoBob website for details on this really works great on woven wire attaches to your tractor or skidsteer unrolls the wire then stretches it.


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## Msch2112 (Nov 12, 2013)

Thanks guys. I'll ponder the recommendations.

Mike


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