# Splicing broken barb wire in fence lines



## vhaby

Each of us have our own way to splice barb wire that has broken or needs tightening for various reasons. I'm curious to know how each of you splice wire on your farm or ranch, and how long your method of splicing lasts? I'm not interested in how some people, particularly previous owners of our ranch, use a screw driver to twist a wire strand to tighten it- I've had too many of those wires break at the twist point.


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## slowzuki

I don't use barbed wire but the previous owner did all perimeters with it. They had a fence stretcher and would fold back and staple to last tree/fence post.


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## hillside hay

fence stretchers abd ferrule couplings


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## urednecku

I use the stretchers to bring the ends together. (If there is not enough slack, I'll add a piece in.)

The splice....I bend it back over about 2 fingers making a loop, then wrap the end around the main line. Same with the other end, but running the 2nd section thru the first loop then bending back wrapping around it self.

Simular to this, only bigger loops.


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## mlappin

barb wire?

did away with all of it years ago.

9000 volts or so thru a smooth wire tends to keep damn near anything where it belongs and is entertaining as well watching calves, bulls or cats experience it for the first time.


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## Gearclash

Fold back around the end pole with about 2 foot tail. Wrap the tail around the main strand. If the pole is wood it gets a staple, but not so tight that the barbs can't slip thru. This allows me to tighten or loosen the fence without tools. Splice by overlapping the wires by about 3 feet and and winding them around each other. If not wound agressively enough, the splice can slip.


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## vhaby

mlappin said:


> barb wire?
> 
> did away with all of it years ago.
> 
> 9000 volts or so thru a smooth wire tends to keep damn near anything where it belongs and is entertaining as well watching calves, bulls or cats experience it for the first time.


Do I assume correctly that you don't have to worry about tree limbs or even trees falling on your hot wire and that these wires never break? Wonder what 9,000 v would do to a feral hog? Here, on fence charger hot wires, feral hogs go right under these wires, and knowing that they are going to get hit, begin squeeling about 40 ft before coming in contact with the wire, lol.

Hope you guys in the Midwest states don't ever experience feral hogs. Do they ever love corn...


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## mlappin

vhaby said:


> Do I assume correctly that you don't have to worry about tree limbs or even trees falling on your hot wire and that these wires never break? Wonder what 9,000 v would do to a feral hog? Here, on fence charger hot wires, feral hogs go right under these wires, and knowing that they are going to get hit, begin squeeling about 40 ft before coming in contact with the wire, lol.
> 
> Hope you guys in the Midwest states don't ever experience feral hogs. Do they ever love corn...


Once in a great while tree limbs are a problem, thing is though once your animals are trained to properly respect a electric fence, you can't hardly drive them across where one used to be.

Run nothing but high tensile for the perimeter fences, have never had one break yet.


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## Vol

mlappin said:


> Once in a great while tree limbs are a problem, thing is though once your animals are trained to properly respect a electric fence, you can't hardly drive them across where one used to be.
> 
> Run nothing but high tensile for the perimeter fences, have never had one break yet.


Feral hogs are different....and especially the larger ones....once they get up around 400#s or so they do as they please until they catch lead poisoning. They are the most destructive creatures in this country. A 400+ pound feral hog will walk thru any fence it chooses. They do not react to high voltage like any other creature would. They are shot 24/365 here....and we can barely keep up with controlling them.

Regards, Mike


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## somedevildawg

Vol said:


> Feral hogs are different....and especially the larger ones....once they get up around 400#s or so they do as they please until they catch lead poisoning. They are the most destructive creatures in this country. A 400+ pound feral hog will walk thru any fence it chooses. They do not react to high voltage like any other creature would. They are shot 24/365 here....and we can barely keep up with controlling them.
> 
> Regards, Mike


Ditto that here....we shoot em first, ask questions later...have shot domesticated ones, they go feral rather quickly....give em to the local shelter or Mexicans if they want em....if ya shoot em with a .223 they'll usually make it to the other fellas property and ya don't have to worry with them....shootin the babies...easy....ya just don't lead em as far....lol

And yea hot fences are no match....most down here have gone to a type of field fence on steroids...not sure what its called


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## vhaby

Gearclash said:


> Fold back around the end pole with about 2 foot tail. Wrap the tail around the main strand. If the pole is wood it gets a staple, but not so tight that the barbs can't slip thru. This allows me to tighten or loosen the fence without tools. Splice by overlapping the wires by about 3 feet and and winding them around each other. If not wound agressively enough, the splice can slip.


Your splicing may be similar to the method I use. Unravel the double wires on both ends of the break and on a short splice. Using fence pliers, hold the left side of the splice wire on the fence wire while allowing about 6 inches of overlap of the fence wire and splice and then wrap the two strands of the splice in opposite winding directions around the fence wire and do the same for the fence wire around the splice wire. Can wrap both strands of the splice wire and of the fence wire in the same direction if preferred. Hook the fence stretcher to the wrapped fence wire on left and onto the unravelled fence wire on the right, allowing about 6 inches of the splice to overlap the right side fence wire. Tighten the fence as tight as can and then wrap the splice strands around the fence wire while holding the splice and fence wire together using the fence pliers. At this point, the stretcher can be removed and the unravelled ends of the fence wire can be wrapped around the splice. May be overkill and take some time to do five wires broken by a fallen tree, but these splices won't slip or break.


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## deadmoose

Looks WAY better than what I have done. Nice job.


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## deadmoose

hillside hay said:


> fence stretchers abd ferrule couplings


Are you talking something. like this? 
http://www.tractorsupply.com/en/store/15-1-2-ga-barbed-wire-ferrules-pack-of-50

I see last weekend I had a storm knock a dead tree on my 4 strand barbed wire fence. Lucky I am not using that pasture now. I am looking for an easier way to fix then just using a stretcher and pliers. Ferrules look inexpensive. Do they hold up?

I can't find a website now but have seen many commercials for two piece that slip on and lock together (interlocking spiral wires.). Any idea how much they cost?


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## stack em up

Texas fence fixer. Nuff said. Look it up, watch video and your barbed wire fences won't look so hard to fix. Until you decide to go with hi tensile smooth, then you will wonder why you spent all that time with barbed wire.


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## hog987

The only guys around here that use straight electric fence are the ones that are too cheap to built a solid barb wire fence. We have too many things that can short the hot wire. Trees falling. Cow in heat on one side bull on other side. Bulls on either side looking for a fight. Sometimes deer. Moose. Moose are very hard on fences here. Drunk drivers driving through fence. Neighbors getting there cattle of your place and than leaving gate open. I like electric for cross fencing but still need a good solid outside fence.

Oh another one. Neighbor using chain saw to cut down trees and than leaving the fallen trees on the fence. Than getting mad cause my cattle are looking at them through there living room window. Uuummm. I would have a lot less trouble with fences if it was not for the dumb people. Had another neighbor who found a broken gate between our places. Instead of fixing the gate he opened up up. Than phoned me up so mad I couldn't talk to him. Your cattle are mixed up with mine get them out of here now. This had my wife scared dealing with him because he shot a guy a couple of years ago.


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## barnrope

vhaby said:


> Your splicing may be similar to the method I use. Unravel the double wires on both ends of the break and on a short splice. Using fence pliers, hold the left side of the splice wire on the fence wire while allowing about 6 inches of overlap of the fence wire and splice and then wrap the two strands of the splice in opposite winding directions around the fence wire and do the same for the fence wire around the splice wire. Can wrap both strands of the splice wire and of the fence wire in the same direction if preferred. Hook the fence stretcher to the wrapped fence wire on left and onto the unravelled fence wire on the right, allowing about 6 inches of the splice to overlap the right side fence wire. Tighten the fence as tight as can and then wrap the splice strands around the fence wire while holding the splice and fence wire together using the fence pliers. At this point, the stretcher can be removed and the unravelled ends of the fence wire can be wrapped around the splice. May be overkill and take some time to do five wires broken by a fallen tree, but these splices won't slip or break.


Now thats what I call a splice!!!


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## stack em up

I am pretty cheap, that's for sure. I use 6 strands of hi tensile fence. 3 strands are hot. I keep bulls in, do fence line weaning, separate bulls and cows. Seems to work. Different strokes for different folksz


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## eam77

Barbed wire fence tightening and repair:

The first thing is to have a good fence stretcher, "Goldenrod" is what I like. I always check to see if I have enough wire length or need to tie in a short piece to have enough length for the final tie. Often a tree fall or heavy limb will stretch a long section of wire enough to allow retie without adding a piece. You need at least 5 or 6 inches overlap to make a tie. If you have to tie in a piece, I use "Western Union" type splice--by holding both wires with one fence pliers and hand (gloved) wrapping wires both directions tightly in oppisite directions. Now for the tension tie. The Goldenrod gives you 4 to 6 inches to tie in if you get your placement about right one both wire ends. Then I twist both ends together, perpindicular to the wire line, with fence pliers, developing a little tension inside the Goldenrod frame. About three turns is good. Now this splice will blow up instantly unless you then take the remaining ends, maybe 3" long, and go around the wire on each side of the perpindicular twist. Two or three wraps will work, and they don't have to be real tight or pretty. I've done hundreds of these. No slip, no fail, no excitement when you release the stretcher.

I have seen, did it myself years ago-- wire tightened by multiple kinks with a claw hammer--- tiny loops with fence pliers. Don't do it. These kind break pretty quickly. Anything that puts a score or crease on the wire soon fails.

Now a question for you high-tensile users. Just what do you call high tensile wire. How big is it- diameter, how hard is it?

Now, why would you rather use high-tensile that just the smallest available barb wire? (for hot fence, that is). Most all of the hot fence I ever used was with 15-1/2 gauge barb wire.


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## rajela

Barbed wire for hot wire just asking for an injury. Soon or later something is going to get cut up very bad.


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## stack em up

Hi tensile I use is Kiwi 12 1/2 ga. Pretty stout stuff honestly


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## mlappin

stack em up said:


> Hi tensile I use is Kiwi 12 1/2 ga. Pretty stout stuff honestly


 Not sure of the brand I use, but around 12 gauge. very tough stuff.


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## Swv.farmer

Vol said:


> Feral hogs are different....and especially the larger ones....once they get up around 400#s or so they do as they please until they catch lead poisoning. They are the most destructive creatures in this country. A 400+ pound feral hog will walk thru any fence it chooses. They do not react to high voltage like any other creature would. They are shot 24/365 here....and we can barely keep up with controlling them.
> 
> Regards, Mike


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## Swv.farmer

The fix for hogs is one can of fly bait from tac 50 pounds of corn soaked in water add fly bait to the corn this will thin down the hogs.


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## valleyfarmsupply

THESE ARE GREAT! WE DONT SELL THEM AND I FORGOT THE NAME, BUT AN INTERNET SEARCH CAN BE QUICK AS FIXING THEM.


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## Tx Jim

I have a hot wire powered by a Gallagher fence charger on the top of 4 ft net fence with 2 barb wires on the top to keep mine & neighbors bull apart. Both bulls have great respect for the charged wire. Texas fence fixer is a very good tool for splicing barbwire.


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## Tim/South

I do not have much barb wire fencing, mostly the top strands over field wire. I have helped a friend splice barb and bought those hollow connectors from Tractor Supply. I originally crimped them but now just run the ends through the center and twist them neat. Has worked well so far and looks neat and tidy.


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## jr in va

My method may not suit some but it works for me.I cut the broken strand a few inches form h e post and splice the break then splice a short piece to the other end and re-stretch. Makes it tight. Gallagher makes a splicing tool everyone should look into.LIttle three hole drilled pipe-type thing that works great.


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## RuttedField

I have sheep so I use Page Wire fencing rather than electric or barb wire, but occasionally the top or bottom wires break from ice or drifted snow. In those cases I use daisy wheel fence tensioners and just leave them on. Some have been there for years without an issue.


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## oliver1850

we use 12 gage for our high tensile. 1 strand 30'' high keeps all our beefers in without a problem.


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## Coondle

Gave up splicing barbed wire and plain wire years ago.

I now use a product called a "Gripple" a self locking hollow connector.

I do not know the brand name elsewhere.

I unravel a few inches of the barbed wire on the two ends in between the tensioner jaws, after tensioning the two ends. I then insert the double wire of one end into and through one hollow and the other set through the other hollow, but I then add a little by winding the protruding ends around the taut wire.

Here is a Youtube link:






You could tension up with a texas fence fixer and cut the slack portion in the middle, between the jaws, and fit a gripple by hand.

Costs more than a splice but easy to do and no fail.

The Gripple tensioning tool is not suitable to use to tension a very loose fence although in the video the guy uses one on Barbed wire.


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## bool

Mate, you must be from a dry inland part of WA. I find in coastal south west Victoria that gripples don't work very well. They don't grip, so you have to twist the wire over itself to hold it. And after a year or two they don't slip if you want to tighten the wires. They rust up. I have pretty much given up on them.

I use barbed wire on the very top and bottom of my fences. Top for cattle, bottom for crossbred sheep. In between there is 8 line prefabricated. And a couple of electrified outriggers. It costs as though it is gold plated, but I don't want to have to do it again in my lifetime.

Roger


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## Coondle

Almost everywhere in Western Australia would be drier than SW Victoria.

Most times I have experienced Gripple failure is when the wire is under or close to the lower limit of the Gripple size e.g. 2 mm wire in the medium size (2mm to 3mm).

Agree they can rust up which means tightwad me can't reuse them in another fence.

I have fences 15 years old that look almost like new. Galvanised steel pickets, galvanised steel strainers and braces with heavy galvanised ringlock mesh 7.90.30 with 2.8 mm top and bottom lines and 2 high tensile barbed wires on top. Nothing goes through it although kangaroos do go over the top.

Lower quality mesh succumbs to 'roos that can push through by spreading the vertical lines and horizontal lines, thus open up a hole. With good quality mesh the verticals hold in place and the hole does not open.

For those in the US, a kangaroo is shaped like a wedge and if it can get its head through a hole it just pushes and pushes until it is through and those back legs have a great deal of push.


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## bool

True! Bits of the south west of WA would come close but that's about it.

The prefab I use is 8-90-30 griplock, made by Southen Wire in Perth. I haven't found better.

The idea for using a barbed belly wire came from a friend just out of Mount Barker in WA.

No roos here, but I do have a few koalas and the occasional wallaby.

Roger


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## Coondle

The far south-west has dried out in more recent years and the annual rainfall is now more like that that used to be experienced north of Perth. The climate has dried so much that most of the underground caves (not that there are many above ground caves in the Naturliste/Leewin ridge have lost their lakes.

A property my father sold has State forest on 3 sides and the new owner fenced those boundaries in 1.8 metre (6 foot) fence with 8.90.15 fabricated mesh (do not know brand) on 2.4 metre (8 foot) steel pickets with 4 rows of high tensile barbed wire on top.

He also laid an apron of netting from a little up the fence down onto the ground and about 900mm (3feet) each way to stop roos pushing under the fence. i.e. they are standing on the netting apron and so can't get a gap to start opening.

Roos still get in, a few by jumping over and some by entering through the neighbouring property.

Domesticated pigs that have gone feral have now taken up residence in the forest and some landowners tried hot wires to keep them out. Doesn't work the pigs will line up the fence charge at it and begin squealing before reaching the fence in anticipation of the electric shock and just pop through ready to settle down to quiet munching.


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## Tater Salad

stack em up said:


> Texas fence fixer. Nuff said. Look it up, watch video and your barbed wire fences won't look so hard to fix. Until you decide to go with hi tensile smooth, then you will wonder why you spent all that time with barbed wire.


THE BEST fence tool EVER made !!!! You beat me to it Stack !!!! DO NOT waste money on any other method !!! Don't even waste your labor TRYING anything else !!!! Double NUFF said !!!!!


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## Shetland Sheepdog

Kept my Angus in for years with a single strand of 14 gauge smooth at 24" above ground, and a HOT charger!

Always used western union splices for better conductivity.

When the wire got rusty I'd discard it.

Never wanted to work with barbed wire!


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