I need to fence a 70m boundary, mainly to stop a dog from straying but also as a security deterrent. The land is reasonably flat for about 80% of the distance and then slopes down at about 20 degrees. The fence will run through trees so won't be visible. I haven't erected a fence before so I'd appreciate some guidance. My plan is to use 6ft galvanized stakes, with 2ft in postcrete and 4ft above ground, and with suitable braces at the ends and changes of direction or slope. The fencing will be 4ft (1220) galvanized welded mesh, supported by 3 or 4 lengths of HT wire woven through the mesh and tensioned between the stakes.
Is this sensible? Is there a better (i.e. easier, cheaper, or more effective) way of doing it?
That's exactly what I would have said. The magic name is stock fencing. If it's a small dog, you can get "horse netting" where the verticals are about half the distance apart of the generic sheep netting (so that a horse can't get a hoof through the holes). And no need for high tensile wire, the horizontals in this sort of fencing are already high tensile. It is worth trying to tension the net properly, though, it will be more robust and will look better. You can get a tool for this, it is (if I recall) a bit of galvanised angle iron with hooks to engage the net. After stapling one end of the wire to a post with a diagonal brace, you tension the other end with a quad or 4x4. Normally done with two men, but I've done it single handed by using a static vehicle as the second anchor, and using a manual winch to tension lengths prior to stapling.
Get your stakes from a farm supplies place rather than a "shed", they will be cheaper and almost certainly better. You can get "nice looking" ones which are machined round, but "as grown" ones with just the bark stripped off are half the price. At our local place these are described as "2 to 3 inch" and "3 to 4 inch", the latter are quite substantial.
With the money saved, you could probably get a couple of farm contractors to do it, they will use a JCB or similar (either with a power thumper, or for a 3-series just using the bucket plus the 8 tons), and probably make a much neater job of it in a fraction of the time. Unless the ground is very rocky they would do it in a day.
How big is the dog? I expect galvanised stakes last longer but are more expensive than pressure treated 4x4 timber stakes so it is really dependent on how often you are prepared to maintain it.
+1 although it isn't all that stock proof if there are cows about and they decide there is something on your side they want to eat...
I have seen cows clear a full scale 3 bar fence barbed wire and all chased off by the allotment owner but not before they trashed his beans and cabbages. A single spar along the top and a line of barbed wire will discourage them but if they decide to go for it all bets are off.
You might also want to put a finer grade of chicken wire lower down and buried to keep rabbits out if you intend to have a garden or vegetable patch. Just one rabbit can do a surprising amount of damage overnight.
As TNP has pointed out a thin wire virtual fence and an active collar would be a lot less effort if it is just to keep the dog in.
Agreed, that's probably the easiest method if you are doing it single handed. You will need a tool for the straining wire.
Of the many dogs I have owned, there's only one (a greyhound) that would get over that. If they want to get through, badgers will easily dig under it, making enough room for a fox or terrier. When I had that problem once, I "staked" each side of the hole so that it was badger/fox sized, but not collie sized (and that kept in a collie terrier cross that liked digging a lot).
I've never known a spaniel, retriever, or labrador that would jump four feet (although they could no doubt be trained to do so).
I've been reminded that it's to keep (future) grandchildren in as well as the (future) dog, which will be a Border Collie, so electrification is not an option!
Thanks for making me investigate wooden posts again - some are guaranteed for 25 years so that is probably a better option than T section "angle".
Having thought a bit more about this I'm going off the idea of welded mesh because of the downslope. I don't like the verticals not being, err, vertical and the ends would also be odd. I need something that will "lozenge" slightly to accommodate the slope. More research needed.
Or do the whole job in rabbit wire and save on the stock fence. Lots of sound advice above but a few more thoughts.
If you use rabbit wire, buy 48" roll and 18# ! 19# is 'kin useless.
For field fence I use HT tornado stock fence topped by 2 strands of barbed wire. (HT because it annoys the Leathermen carrying trespassers). You could substitute plain HT wire for the barbed if you are not controlling livestock.
25 year fence posts would have to be pressure treated with creosote and very expensive (X3). Dosing the bottom 18" of a cheaper treated post with your preferred timber preservative is likely to be a good thing.
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