Cattle panel and post fence questions

[candycar]

I'm going to put up a drylot fence using cattle panels and posts.

For T posts: How do you attach them? Do you overlap them? how much? just enough to lap or one square? Close up pics would be great. Do you have any problem (horses rubbing and cutting themselves) with the "raw edge" at the junction? Do you put one in the middle of the panel (8ft mark) or is every 16ft ok?

For wood round posts: what size/dia? do you cement them in? Do you use staples or is there a better/easier way?

I need info quick! Tractor supply just sent me a 20% off coupon and I need to buy the supplies before Nov 24th!

Thanks!

 

[chandab]

I have cattle panels for my mare dry lot, t-posts set every 8' and I have no overlap, panels are on outside of fence, which reduces the chances of snagging on end of panel.

On the wood posts, it might depend on the soil and climate where you are, but here we just dig the hole, drop in the post, back fill and tamp as you go. For minis, you can probably use pencil posts for the majority of the fence line, then larger posts for the corners and gate posts for more stability. [We have cattle, so pretty much all our wood posts are railroad ties, or if not those then 6-8" round treated posts. I have a few smaller posts around the mini pen, but if its a side that cows will be on, its gotta be tough.]

Here are a few pictures of my mare pen and maybe one stallion pen, mostly winter pics as that seems to be when I take pics of the paddocks.

Here's a picture of Dakota, you can see the railroad ties behind him holding up the windbreak (the other side of the windbreak is one of our cattle working pens):



Here's Dakota in a different pen (you can see the railroad tie as a gate post behind him)



This is Tana in the mare pen, the fence she is standing behind is set with t-posts, the one behind her is between the minis and a cattle working pen, so again railroad ties.



Another picture of Tana, showing part of the panel and t-post fence behind her:



Snowy picture of the entrance to my mare pen, I've since moved the gate over to the left about 8' to get away from the common drift area:

 

[bevann]

Post every 8 feet.Too much sway if only every 16 feet.Zip ties might work if you get the dark ones.Most of our posts are wood so panels are stapled.We line our PVC fence with hog panels so dogs can't get through and sheep can't get out.

 

[dannigirl]

We use cattle panels and t posts a lot. We make sure to put the fence on the inside of the posts and that the posts are down to at least the level of the fence or lower so the horses don't jump up and get caught. We over lap about 1 square and use a post at the 8ft point on the panel. They will rub on it and only having post at the ends makes it too weak. Once you have the fence up and the horses are in there, you need to occasionally (about every 3 or 4 months) check all the connections for wear or disappearance. I don't know where the connectors go--but they go somewhere. LOL

 

[Mona]

We do ours the same as dannigirl.

 

[Jill]

Here, our cattle panels are on oak posts / half rounds every 8'.

 

[paintponylvr]

I, too, use quite a number of cattle panels w/ t-posts purchased from TSC. On pasture fences, on corners (formerly Hi-tensile wire, so 8" posts set in cement), most panels are stapled to the posts. On the line, they are tied to the fence posts every 8' - not overlapped - using hay string (not as pretty as zipties, but FREE and have LOTS).

I don't have tiny minis. I have larger double registered mini/shetlands, larger shetlands, shetland horse x's & full size horses. I choose one pasture that will hold the more dominant ponies, and put all the posts with the flat edge towards that pasture. Then the panels get attached on the INSIDE of that fence line - stronger that way. I have not had any problems with mine getting injured on the edges BUT have had dominant mares fight "over" or thru a fence line - permanently bending the panels, ripping them off the posts and loosening the fence posts that were 3' deep in the ground (don't cement any t-posts).

Large horse (15.3 hh) checking out two Shetland fillies. Panel is upside down and was later fixed. The round pen on the inside of the pasture. The pasture fence here is still hi-tensile wire.

Metal t-posts are no longer made in 8' lengths

I was getting them in 8' lengths and sinking them approximately 3 ft deep (very sandy soils). That made the tops 5' above ground. Now they are 7' long, so I am sinking them 2' deep to have them roughly the same heights. I have attached the toppers of different types but have had too many shetlands and shetland crosses that like to remove them - finally gave up... Right now, most fence lines do not have them on them. If I ever completely get my "act" together, I'd like to put up a hot line (tape) from Horse Guard on the tops of the posts - nice to look at and will keep the larger ponies/horses "off of" the fence line. They do rub on the fences - bending the panels sometimes. Nice thing - if they aren't overlapped - it's EASY to replace a panel!!

I also have my 50' round pen made of panels and I now use panels for cheap and easy hay feeders for our round bales that REALLY save on hay waste. Will save more when I get or build pallets that keep the hay off of the ground. For temporary pens/stalls, I do use double ended snaps and no posts. Can then move the square 16 x 16 foot pen around on grass to house my stallion away from the mares as I didn't breed any mares this year.

You can see the fenceline in front of the barn here. Took years to put that gate in - don't know how I lived w/o it, LOL! You can see that it would probably be "prettier" with zip ties or even metal to tie the panels to the posts but again, the hay string works for me... The hay feeder is also "tied" with braided haystring (single strands don't last thru multiple times of tying and untying). It becomes somewhat "tear drop" shaped. You can put a tarp over it to protect the hay OR you can put the whole thing under a shelter or whatever...

The fence line between the boys and the girls. I have the most size differences in the boys - and currently have 2 - 2 yr old stallions running with geldings. The pony in the center is a larger shetland x that will mature around 12.2 hh (50" tall) and the butt on the far right is part of a 1/2 shetland that is now 13.1 hh. Later this winter (13/14), will be putting the 3 newly weaned boys in with the "big" boys! There is a smaller pen inside the pasture, along the back yard of our house. It was started as a stud pen and has been used as a pen for a mare that was sick (delivered a dead foal after starting on antibiotics in Feb 2013).

 

[Carolyn R]

The only other thing I will add is to cap the T posts. Makes me nervous looking at all the pics with no protection on the tops, especially t posts at mini horse height or areas that house large horses too. Another BH forum had a horse impale himself on one. He survived but not before having multiple surgeries, chest tubes, removal of ribs and rib fragments and abscesses.

 

[Margo_C-T]

We used cattle panels for some smaller 'runs'. Wooden posts where two panels would meet, no overlap, used staples to fasten to wood posts. T posts in between, minimum of 8' apart, 4' even better if fencing smaller spaces or containing more, or young, fractious horses. We had lots of those wire 'fence holders' that had come with net wire fencing, so my husband used those to attach the panels to the T posts. I prefer to rest the panels on the ground…recommend NEVER leaving a halter on a horse fenced behind panels; had a mini try to reach for a blade of grass, get halter hung on slightly projecting 'rod' of cattle panel--when I'd just let him in the run for a few moments while I did something else(I do NOT leave halters on 'turned loose' horses unless I am right there, and it's only momentary!)

Agree w/ Carolyn R. on 'caps', esp. if the T post projects ANY AT ALL above the panel.

Recommend burying wood posts DEEP, and setting in cement. Ground 'heave' due to temp. variations, in certain kinds of soil, can cause your posts to lean/loosen, otherwise. Pound T posts deep for the same reasons!

Margo

 

[candycar]

Thanks All!

I have a good idea now of what I need to do. I'll take a little from each "way" and apply it in a way that makes sense for my situation.

 

[Marty]

I have a round pen made with them and guess what? NO posts at all. Its free standing and hasn't budged an inch in years.

We used zip ties and about those edges.......I really should get you a picture. I took an old hose that was full of holes and I entertwinded it in and out of the fencing about half way up so they could see it better. Then for the other rough edges where it also serves as the gate part, I took neon orange duct tape and "sewed" it in and out covering all the bad edges. Sounds so dumb and half axx but it really works well.

 

[Magic Marker Minis]

Marty, how many cattle panels did you use to make your round pen? I've thought about making a round pen from the panels... One time I even had an excel spreadsheet formulated for 40, 50, 60 foot round pens using cattle panels, shipping pallets, and the 12' fence panels... I used pi to calculate the diameter and number of each... (probably just as well re-create the spreadsheet...)

I LOVE cattle panels. I use them for everything. I make hoop houses from them for shelter, I've used them to enclose a big round bale, and, of course, for fencing... I guess we've been lucky with our horses, though. None of them have every been able to push them over or go through them.

I even had a big horse colt and a big horse filly each in a 16 square foot enclosed area with just a t-post at each corner...

Now, the goats... that's a different story. You really do have to use t-posts every 8 feet for those %^*())_ creatures! lol!

Kari

 

[rabbitsfizz]

But.....but....how do you get into the pen Marty???

 

[paintponylvr]

Yes, Marty, pictures are in order! I'd love to see how you did all that.

I have used t-posts on our round pen for various reasons - the main one being that the round pen has never been used as "just a round pen" and has always been inside a pasture full of horses. Also, I learned many years ago that I don't like dragging the end of a 16' panel out and back to use like a gate. I have used the Wedge-Loc system to hang metal gates on T-posts, but the last couple of times I went looking for them, they weren't available. So I have always hung the round pen gate on a wooden post.

Right now, 2x daily, the inside of the round pen holds the buckets of 9 minis & ponies - attached to the posts, not the panels. I don't have a lot of time in the morning - if they don't go in the round pen to be tied - the gate gets shut and the ones inside, caught and tied up - EAT. Doesn't take too long - even my most stubborn ones like to eat. I have 2 in the round pen pasture (jr mares) and several in the boys pasture (they change out) that "play games". If I have one or two in that don't get caught in the open pastures - the rest get turned loose, made up feed gets saved for next feeding (easier in the winter than in the summer - doesn't spoil) and I continue on my feeding schedule. Usually, even the "wildest hair" in the group will skip no more than 3 feedings before they either come up to me to be caught or they are standing at their bucket as I go down the line to tie them! The round pen gate gets opened and they all get turned loose (run around to each pasture and paddock to turn everyone loose) before I run into the house for my shower before heading to work. Each pasture has from 4 to 12 horses in it that get tied up to eat. I have it down pat - can check, catch and feed 37 head in 45 minutes. Add 30 minutes to fill 5 100 gallon water tanks, feed the chickens and ducks and reset all 37 buckets up with that evenings' feed. On later mornings, I can also play with some - picking up feet, running a curry over them, just loving on the sucklings and weanlings - or practice lead away from mum while the rest eat....

I love my cattle panels. I plan on making some shelters here soon with some to see how that works. Maybe can get some more this weekend - before we get more bad weather (freezing rain and sleet the other night - it's still below freezing right now...).

 

[ohmt]

Round pen from cattle panels-halve your diameter and measure some twine to match. Tie it to a stick and put that stick where you'd like the center to be. Tie another stick at the other end, make it taut and then use that stick to trace the circumference. We'd bring over panels and lay them out. My GPA would cut the end if it was too long.

Please make sure either mesh fencing or something else is used on the bottom half of all your cattle panels. We have had horses climb over it only to break their hind leg in 2 places, and another stallion got his front legs hung though and stuck one night. By morning he had dislocated both shoulder and tore every ligament. Vet couldn't get his shoulders to stay in their sockets so we gelded him and let cartilage fill it in. He doesn't have the shoulder mobility he should and he looks a little funny, but over 10 years later and he is still running our this place (he's our weanling babysitter). Anyway-cattle panels have cost us huge in vet bills. Get the mesh fencing!

 

[Marty]

I shall get pictures for you guys in the morning OK?

I got the round pen in the pasture easy, Drug in the panels and set it up in there.

Law of physics says its not going anywhere and it never moves.

 

[misty'smom]

This is my fence, posts are every eight feet. There is wire mesh on the inside from the ground up to the top rail. My gates are the heavy metal that swing open. I have 2 8 foot gaits so I can get a truck in for hay delivery or to empty my manure bins and then a 6 foot gait.