FENCING is an accepted and essential part of the farming landscape. Modern timber and wire systems replacing traditional wall and hedgerow fencing in lots of places in the UK.
Timber has always been a popular and economical choice for agricultural fencing components which was often cut and milled on the farm. Early farmers would have used hardwoods which were readily available in the early days and was used because of its natural longevity and robustness.
Most timber fencing components today are typically manufactured from more readily available softwoods which do require preservative protection to help ensure a longer and more reliable performance in harsh, ground contact conditions.
Agricultural fencing strainers and stakes must be preserved and protected from rot. Unprotected timbers will be attacked by bacteria, fungi and insects and will begin to decay. Once this process starts the wood will become weak, brittle and unable to perform the task which is was designed for.
There are several methods for trying to add this preservative protection but by far the most consistent and reliable is by high pressure preservative treatments.
Pressure treatments, carried out by sawmills and timber companies in industrial treatment vessels, forces the wood preservative
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FENCING AROUND THE FARM deep into the timber structure. The preservative remains in the wood for the lifetime of the timber but it is this perceived‘ lifetime’ or‘ desired service life’ that needs explaining and understanding
For timbers used in permanent ground contact( strainers and stakes), its recommended that they be treated to Use Class 4 requirements as stated in BS 8417, the Code of Practice for preservative treatments for timber. Carried out correctly this should give the timbers a‘ desired service life’ of 15 years. There are some treatment companies and suppliers who will treat fencing timbers to an even high specification and offer components treated to a‘ desired service life’ of 30 years.
Some suppliers offer product warranties on this performance. Some prefer to educate their customers and show the quality treatment procedures they use and demonstrate the high performance protection they build into the treated timbers they offer. Whichever supplier you are looking to for your fencing timbers it is a good idea to get them to demonstrate and confirm their treatment practices. Find a quality supplier and stick with them.
Surface incising of ground contact fencing timbers is also something to look out for. Whilst not a new concept, surface incising provides regular incisions, particularly at ground contact level, which allow a deeper and more consistent penetration and distribution of the wood
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preservative into the timber structure. The deeper and wider the penetration of preservative the better overall chance of long term performance.
Just like any product you use, preservative treated timbers have to be used correctly to perform at their best. Therefore during installation they are some key points to remember.
• Should pressure treated fencing timbers be cross cut, notched or bored during installation, then exposed surfaces must be liberally brushed with a suitable brush-on end grain wood preservative to protect the integrity of the treatment. These are usually readily available from the supplier of the treated timbers.
• Pressure treated fencing timbers must not be pointed after treatment.
• The shortening of pressure treated fencing timbers should be avoided, if possible. If unavoidable the cut end must be treated with a suitable end grain wood preservative and must never be used in ground contact.
• Pressure treated fencing timbers must not be planed or ripsawn.
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Most agricultural fencing used on many farms in the UK will utilise a combination of timber fence posts and wire fencing. Traditionally wire fencing was made from mild galvanised steel, but these days there is a move towards wire made with high-tensile steel.
Barbed wire is particularly effective for fencing in cattle and sheep. One or two strands of barbed wire are used in conjunction with woven wire to prevent cattle reaching over the top and in the case of sheep from crawling under.
Smooth wire is essentially the same as barbed wire but just without the barbs. The advantage of this wire is that there is less likelihood of injury if an animal becomes entangled in it. Animals can lean on the mild steel wire stretching it out of shape, which is why high tensile wire is becoming more popular, because of its ability to bounce back to its original length. It is often used in conjunction with a line of electric fence to keep animals fenced in.
High Tensile fencing is a hardspringy steel wire that was developed in the 1970’ s. The wire comes in a single strand, barbed and woven and is capable of much more tension than mild steel wire. It will allow wider spacing of posts and
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is harder for animals to stretch unlike its mild steel counterpart.
Woven Wire, commonly known as either pig or sheep netting, is generally used to fence in pigs, goats and sheep. It is generally identified by wire knots wrapped around intersecting wire. This wire is suitable is suitable for horses with squares of small dimensions, such as no climb variations with squares that are 2 inches and 4 inches. It is also the most effective for keeping goats.
There are cheaper forms of the wire which are primarily used in residential settings where the wire is spot welded at the intersections. This is far less sturdy and will potentially break if used to fence in livestock. Woven wire is more costly than normal wire and is more time consuming to install.
Electric fencing became available during the 1950’ s and has generally been used as a temporary form of fencing, as well as being used to improve security of traditional fencing. Its commonly made with lightweight steel attached to posts with insulators made of either plastic or porcelain. The use of synthetic cord or rope with wire interwoven which carry the electrical charge have become popular especially for use when high visibility is required.
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