I am looking for the cheapest way to fence in a large area. I am hoping someone out there has come up with an ingenious way to do it, cheaply. My prperty is 5 acres and I have dogs I would like to keep in. Might be cheaper to train the dogs. The cheapest way I have seen is branches stuck in the ground with barbed wire. JUst wondering if someone has a better solution.
thanks
Replies
Probably in this order:
boundary train your dogs.
Electric fence...stock type w/ transformer
Burried elect. fence, dogs wear collar
Cyclone/chain link
What you were thinking of....the dogs could easily get thru.
5 acres? Woven wire field fencing. If you have small dogs you can use the 2x4 "no climb" type for horses.
JonC
You will be money ahead to save your sheckels until you can do it right. A crappy fence, especially to hold dogs, will get you nothing but frustration and it will probably look like hell in a short time.
An electric fence is the least expensive, but not real reliable for dogs. I've known dogs that could "sense" the pulses and time their escape. And an electric fence takes some maintenance because you've got to keep it clear of vegetation. If you go that route, get a good quality charger....Weed Burner is a good one and it makes a believer out of trespassers.
The barrier fence with shock collars works well, but you have to work with the dogs a little until they figure out not to cross it. (They'll get confused and cross it and then can't figure out how to get home). There's the buried kind and also an above ground type.
In my opinion, the most reliable of low cost fences is posts with 2" X 4" non-climb dog wire strung and stapled properly with gates and braced corners, etc. If done correctly, it looks ok, keeps dogs in and most things out if it's tall enough (about 7' for deer). Will probably cost you a buck or more a foot for the wire (on a 4' high basis) plus posts and misc. hardware.
You might see if you can get "Junkhounds" attention: He's the undisputed master of these boards for clever, low-ball, creative solutions.
Jules Quaver for President 2004
I don't know how much an hour that your time is worth, or how smart the dogs are, but I have to believe it is cheaper to spend the time to train the dogs. I have been lucky, the two that I have had both caught on real quickly. The tougher of them only had to be whacked twice to learn it wanted to stay home. Five acres is a LOT of fence, even if only a dollar per foot. Good luck!
Dan
Branches with barbed wire could be you most expensive option when you consider the vet bills. Barbed wire is for cattle.
Excellence is its own reward!
"The first rule is to keep an untroubled spirit.
The second is to look things in the face and know them for what they are."
--Marcus Aurelius
Barbed wire is for containing terrorists.
I lived with it most of my life and you're right...it's a source of vet bills.
Problem is, while it may be effective for cattle (when the fence is well maintained), for any other critter it is either worthless or dangerous, not to mention humans.
Anyone with horses knows that barbed wire is pure poison. For buffalo, it's about as effective as 4# test monofilament. Deer jump over it or through it; elk bull through it, coons skitter under it. Birds fly over it.
Barbed wire should go the way of knob and tube wiring.
Jules Quaver for President 2004
So they're using knob and tube to get information out of terrorists now?
;).
Excellence is its own reward!
"The first rule is to keep an untroubled spirit.
The second is to look things in the face and know them for what they are."
--Marcus Aurelius
And using pennies for fuses!Jules Quaver for President 2004
get your self 250 ft of 1/4 steel cable and put it between a post 250 ft from the house and put a post next to your house pull it tight and put a pulley on the cable and then put a 50 or 75 feet of chain on the pulley and hook the dog to the chain now the dog will have a 100 ft by 200ft dog run.
You will want to put a stop on the cable on the far end of the cable so the dog can't walk around the post tied up. The one by the house need to be close enough so the dog can't get round post.
LOL
I've got one of those and a dog with a neck like a seal. Collar goers right off over her head!.
Excellence is its own reward!
"The first rule is to keep an untroubled spirit.
The second is to look things in the face and know them for what they are."
--Marcus Aurelius
Harness that puppy.
Unfortunately, she's got short legs and a rotund body too so she slips right out of a harness. We have eight rural acres and she knows to stay home most of the time though so it isn't a major danger for anyone..
Excellence is its own reward!
"The first rule is to keep an untroubled spirit.
The second is to look things in the face and know them for what they are."
--Marcus Aurelius
Piffin, thats a nice looking dog. I wish I had that much acreage, I just have a small lot, and my Siberian husky is a typical sibe. Fencing is the only thing that keeps her in. She is old now, so it's not a problem anymore, but she used to break any chain when I had to keep her restrained when she wasn't home. So I decided to get one of the aircraft cables with a shock absorber on the end, and she broke her heavy nylon collar in two once. I dont know what kept her from breaking her neck. Once I tied her out, and she took off full speed, jerked the cable taut which caught my shin as it tightened, knocking me off my feet, cutting my shin and causing a big bruise. As I was falling over I saw her hit the end of the line. She was suspended in the air upside down a couple feet off the ground, before falling. I thought she killed herself that time.
I remember when I was about eleven YO doing the same thing as your dog. I was chasing my brother around the corner of the house at full speed and forgot about the clothesline that he managed to duck under. I remember a sudden feeling of suprise and wonderment at seeing my feet silouetted against the sky before I landed on my back gasping for air. It left a pretty road rash across my neck that turned all sorts of colours over the next week or so.
Naturally, my bro laughed!.
Excellence is its own reward!
"The first rule is to keep an untroubled spirit.
The second is to look things in the face and know them for what they are."
--Marcus Aurelius
That sort of thing looks funnier from the other side. Ow!
I train dogs for Search and Rescue work (and other things) so I think
I know dogs.
Maybe this will help, forget the electric stuff. If your dogs are escape artists, they don't work.
Forget the barbed wire.
The best system for covering a large are is fencing, sorry.
I personally use chain link for my areas. Mostly I worry that a dog
will get loose into a road and get killed or injured.
All are trained to never loose me, so they won't go far.
A system that I saw and would use is this:
Pick your area lines to go from tree to tree.
Install large, strong rings to the tree.
Run a wire from the ring on one tree to a ring on another tree with
a turnbuckle in the system to tighten it up.
Put your wire fencing on the ground (1 to 2 feet turned inward to
prevent the dogs digging) and work it to prevent openings for escape.
Put your support wires about 2 feet apart, going up, and continue
as high as you need to prevent climbing and jumping.
I recommend 8 ft high. 2 5ft fences give you enough height.
Will cost a few bucks, but there aren't much options.
drop me another note if you have questions.
Good luck
Jeff
$300 and six stitches installed in my dog's chest by the vet on emergency call last Sunday afternoon suggests that there has to be a better option than barbed wire.
Edited 12/29/2002 12:16:00 AM ET by Dick
I'm thinking shipping pallets.
Usually found free....enough over a proiod of time would make for a materials mostly free 4' high fence.
JeffBuck Construction Pittsburgh,PA
Fine Carpentery.....While U Waite
The cheapest way to build a fence is to use free pallets nailed together in a zig zag pattern so you dont need posts. This is also the least attractive fence. I once saw a fence made of hoods and doors from cars and trucks, but it would be difficult to obtain them for free. Maybe that was even less attractive than the pallets.