Thread: tensioning farm fencing!

some people will remove the staples afterwards to let it "settle". or they may have tightend it with a pair of fencing pliers. on short spans you can get teh wire bloudy tight tighter than with teh strainers. we have even broken wires this way.

we put inline strainers (racher thingys) in all our fences because fencing wire seams to streach like buggery now. one fence we did a month ago with the chain strainers we had to tighten yesterday the wire had streched more than a foot. it never used to do this. the must be using ???? steel or mixing in lots of other stuff.

best thing you can do is go buy some inine strainers and add them to teh fence that way it can be kept tight forever. just send the misus down with a 17 spanner.

If you have a look at the picture of the strainers you will notice a hook on one end of the chain. That end of the chain is wrapped around the strainer post just below where you are going to tie the wire to the post.and the hook is clipped over a link in the chain.

You then clip the ratchet dogs onto the other end of the chain just past the dog on the other end of the chain. You then clip the clamp on the strainer bar on to the wire leaving a tail long enough to wrap around the post and to tie it off.

You then strain up the wire to the point where you just about run out of strength to clip the ratchet dogs on the chain. You then tie off the wire around the post and then release the ratchet by pulling the strainers to the point where you can pull one of the ratchet dogs of the chain to release the strainers.

If you do it this way I can guarantee that the wire will be so tight that you will be able to play a tune on it.

If you are straining up a fence where the join is in the middle of the wire you use the strainer chain the opposite way round. You connect the clamp end of chain on one wire, connect the ratchet dogs on the strainers on hook clip end of the chain and connect the clamp on the strainer bar on the other wire and then strain up the two wires up to the point of just running out of strength and then tie the two ends of wires with the appropriate knot and then release the straines. Again the the wire will be like a banjo string.

Here you go everything you wanted to know but were afraid to ask.

http://www.onesteelwaratah.com.au/me...structions.pdf

http://www.onesteelwaratah.com.au/me...ng%20steps.pdf

http://www.onesteelwaratah.com.au/pr...-strainer.aspx

BTW using staples is a lazy way of doing it. The posts should be bored and the wires passed through the holes because eventually the staples will fall out and then your fence will become useless.

Another way is to still bore the post and use a piece of tie wire through the post and twisted round the fence wire each side of the post.

I have read that info on the waratah site.
It doesn't clearly show how the opportunity to tie off is created after the wire has been tensioned.From my understanding the chain or the tensioner will be in the exact position where you would wish to tie the wire with a short bit of bar with a hole in it.
Unless you set the tensioner a good 150mm below the position where you wish to tie the wire off.

cheers rileyp

Have a look at this Waratah Fencing Catalogue
on page 8 for pix of tying off the end.
The strain has already been take in pix 1.

i dont know where you guys get your info and gear.

the wires should be put threw holes in the line posts then around the end post and strained up staples put in to hold the wire tight and then tied up.

i have never seen a set of chain strainers with a hook one the end they always have the wire grab.

you could dop it the way that others are saying but it is a lot harder and verry hard to get a neat tie as there is no room for pliers or even to pass the wire threw.

this is what i do for a living was taught by my father (who still works with me) who was taught by his father. that is over 100 years experiance between us.

Originally Posted by weisyboy

i dont know where you guys get your info and gear.

the wires should be put threw holes in the line posts then around the end post and strained up staples put in to hold the wire tight and then tied up.

i have never seen a set of chain strainers with a hook one the end they always have the wire grab.

you could dop it the way that others are saying but it is a lot harder and verry hard to get a neat tie as there is no room for pliers or even to pass the wire threw.

this is what i do for a living was taught by my father (who still works with me) who was taught by his father. that is over 100 years experiance between us.

Carl

I have been doing fences with my brother-in-law longer than you have been alive (40 years) and he was taught by my father-in-law who was taught by his father who was taught by his father well over the 100 years BUT what you have to remember that equipment and techniques have moved on and maybe you need to get with the times and buy some new and improved gear.

You are correct in what you say the wires should go through the posts as I said in a previous post.

Originally Posted by Barry_White

Carl

I have been doing fences with my brother-in-law longer than you have been alive (40 years) and he was taught by my father-in-law who was taught by his father who was taught by his father well over the 100 years BUT what you have to remember that equipment and techniques have moved on and maybe you need to get with the times and buy some new and improved gear.

You are correct in what you say the wires should go through the posts as I said in a previous post.

yer we upgraded from a forked stick to chain strainers more than a few years ago. but i still maintain that you should wrap the wire round the post then pull it tigh stapel and tie. the blokes that wright the instructions on the back of the box have never been outside there office so dont take any notice of that. some of the brands recon you tie a short peice around the post, pull between this and the main wire and then tie the ends together.

there have been many gizmos come out for tightening fence wires most of them not worth the plastic there made of let alone the outragous price.

it dosent take mutch slack to make a fence lose. a fence 100' long only needs about 2" of pull to take it from saging 3" between posts to dead tight.

the best thing to do is put inline strainers on the end of the fence it can be tightend and kept tight. and if done properly can look verry good.

Guys.. its a f..n... farm fence. Who gives a sh.t how it looks as long as it keeps the b..dy sheep out..........

Originally Posted by DavidG

Guys.. its a f..n... farm fence. Who gives a sh.t how it looks as long as it keeps the b..dy sheep out..........

Good on em for splitting the whisker and taking pride in their work.
Every person out there that pays coin for someone to build them a fence wants something that looks good and keeps the sheep out.

Originally Posted by DavidG

Have a look at this Waratah Fencing Catalogue
on page 8 for pix of tying off the end.
The strain has already been take in pix 1.

This is the pic I have been looking for .....
It even shows me how to bend the wire so I don't need the tool....
Im thinking after reading weisyboy's posts that it would be quite possible for me to
1 set up my engine chain block on the other support post adjacent the strain post
2 tying the fence wire to the lifting hook on the chain block.
3 Pulling up the tension on the fence wire with the chain block ....
4 Bopping in 2 staples to hold the strain
5 Rremoving the chain block and tying a knot in the wire and then loosening the staples a little.
Does this sound ok?

sould work fine if a little unorthodox.

there was a bloke doing fencing contracting down the road from us used to tie the wires to the toe bar of the ute and roll it fowards a few inches.

no need to losen the staples jsut leave them.

rileyp, do you want to borrow a chain strainer? Cost you postage both ways.

By the way my previous post had a smily on the end.

Originally Posted by weisyboy

..........there was a bloke doing fencing contracting down the road from us used to tie the wires to the toe bar of the ute and roll it fowards a few inches.............

When we did really long runs we used to pretension it with the ute. If you didn't you couldn't pull it tight enough with two guys by hand so then there wasn't enough length on the chain.

Mick