The Fence Post

Here's a very helpful video--

Watch this video and learn how to install a basic garden fence. Enjoy this straightforward approach for creating a garden safe from predators.

How would this style of fence fit into your gardening plans this year?

A Preferred Choice for Controlling Livestock

High tensile wire is regarded as the most significant improvement in farm fencing since the introduction of barbed wire in 1874. While relatively new in the US, it has been used to effectively control cattle, sheep, and other livestock on ranches in other countries for over 50 years. It has now become the preferred choice for agricultural fencing in the USA.

Low vs. High Carbon Content

Low carbon wire is made from steel rod with a carbon content of approximately 0.10%. This type of wire is easy to work with and fairly forgiving. However, it is prone to elongation, falling victim to stretching and sagging. And its strength is low when compared to high tensile wire.

High tensile wire is made of higher carbon steel. The carbon content of this wire is approximately 0.28%. This increased carbon content significantly increases the wire’s strength and reduces elongation. This allows the use of a smaller diameter high tensile wire versus a thicker low carbon wire.

High tensile wire fence: Advantages

• Lower overall costs due to smaller diameter wire and fewer posts used
• High tensile wire can be installed using fewer fence posts than low carbon fence
• High tensile: post spacing up to 16.5 feet vs low carbon: post spacing 8 to 10 feet
• Stronger – about twice the strength as low carbon wire for effectively controlling any type of livestock: horses, hogs, cattle, deer, sheep, goat, etc.
• Lighter weight means easier handling during installation

• Very low maintenance
• Longer life – 40 plus years if properly maintained
• Can be easily electrified
• More secure
• Looks neater
• Much safer for livestock than barbed wire
• Class 3 galvanizing is standard

With high tensile wire, build a long-lasting, low maintenance fence for nearly half the price of a conventional low carbon fence. Make sure you know that the wire you're getting is high tensile--call Louis Page for details.

A Helpful How-to on Splicing

Do you have a woven wire fence that needs repair? Has this ever happened to you?

• You have two rolls of fence you need to splice together.
• You need to cut out a damaged section of your fence and splice in a new section to replace it.
• Some strands of your fencing material have broken and are in need of repair.
• You're unsure of how to repair these problems so that your fence can function as intended.

 Watch this video and learn a couple of different ways you can splice a woven wire fence.

Have you discovered other helpful techniques for mending and splicing woven wire fences you'd like to share?

Yes! You Can Still Buy American-made Fencing

Nowadays, it seems like everything is made in China or some other country. While this may be true for a lot of products, it is not true for all fence products. There are a lot of fence products still made with pride and exceptional quality in the great US of A! In fact, most fence products are still available from domestic manufacturers.

• GBW, GAW, and Vinyl Coated welded wire fencing materials are all available from US manufacturers such as Riverdale Mills (Northbridge, MA) and C.E. Shepherd (Houston, TX).                                      
• Bekaert Corp. manufactures all types of low carbon and high tensile field fence, horse fence, sheep & goat fence, and deer and wildlife fence in galvanized, zinc aluminum, and black paint over ZA finishes.
  
• Stay-Tuff Fence Manufacturing produces high tensile deer & wildlife fence, field fence, horse fence, goat fence, and barbed wire in New Braunfels, Texas.
  
• Oklahoma Steel makes a wide variety of field fence, barbed wire, deer and wildlife fence, agriculture panels, horse fence, and GBW welded wire in Madill, OK, and Centerville, IA.
• Franklin Steel produces top-quality steel painted and galvanized studded T fence posts in Franklin, PA.
  

These companies employ hard-working, tax-paying Americans! American-made products are superior in quality and are surprisingly price competitive versus imported products. American-made products provide an overall better value than lesser quality imports because the fence will last many years longer and will not need to be replaced. Just think of the hassle, expense, and inconvenience you will avoid! Just like the old saying “You get what you pay for.”

>You may be aware of “The Buy American Act” which restricts the purchase of supplies that are not domestic end products. For manufactured end products, the Buy American Act uses a two-part test to define a domestic end product.

1. The product must be manufactured in the United States; and
2. The cost of domestic components must exceed 50 percent of the cost of all the components.

The Buy American Act applies to all U.S. Federal government agency purchases of goods valued over the micro-purchase threshold but does not apply to services. Under the Act, all goods for public use (articles, materials, or supplies) must be produced in the U.S., and manufactured items must be manufactured in the U.S. from U.S. materials. Many states and municipalities include similar geographic requirements in their procurement legislation.

If quality and supporting America are important to you, please consider buying products made in the USA the next time you need fencing. Sure you may pay a little more, and you may have to dig a little deeper to find products made in the USA since most retailers and discount online sellers primarily sell imported products. But the effort and added costs are well worth it in the long run. Go USA!