spikeymikey

Nice work there Aaron, heres a few of todays job for all the critics!

Some nice work there Aaron, certainly nothing to criticise!

Its called a Stockade st400 you can get them through Tornado wire. I have to take the machine round behind my tractor as its too heavy for my hilux, It weighs a shade under 3 ton I think so you could possibly get away with it behind a landrover or similar but I often have a load of materials too so safest behind the tractor. Also getting across wet fields and tracks in the winter might be hard work with it on a truck and trailer!

Thanks for that PC Tree! I haven't really thought about the fencing comp and like Matthew I haven't anyone too do it with as also work on my own, although I have had chap helping me recently who is pretty good. I find good labour to be the hardest thing to find, that's why I bought my tracked machine which helps me a lot, another must for someone doing a lot of wire fencing is an st400 stapler, I was a bit sketchy about it initially but now wouldn't be without it. I recently did a job, just over 1000m of stock fencing, I had all the netting tensioned and barbs laid out and my brother and I pulled all the barb and stapled the lot in a day. The staples I use in it are 40mm double barbed and they are absolutely no compromise to what you buy normally.

I spoke to Tim, and before he even worked out a price it sounded very expensive! so that's where the thought ended for now anyway. You cant beat telegraph poles but where do you get such a ready supply of them? Bet you think I have boys ground to fence on eh! its not all like that I can assure you!

A few jobs over last couple of years, should take more photos really. Nice bit of fencing there Matthew, interesting that your posts aren't peeled though?

Depending on your budget and tractor size, a good flail would be ideal but they aren't cheap and a lot of them require 1000 pto which some older tractors havnt got. You don't really want a drum mower as it will leave big swaths of grass that havn't been chopped up. Also a lot of them are only 5'6"/6'6" which is a bit narrow, having said that if its level you can get on with them but if its rough you will forever be knocking the breakback out which is a pain. A good spearhead or mconnell rotary would be another good option or teagle, I have got a bomford tri blade 3000 which is quite good but very heavy, having said that it puts up with some grief. Beware of a lot of cheap toppers with rubbish gearboxes that cost a fortune to replace. Theres loads out there so pick one that suits

I would spend 3 or 4k on a good mk4 hilux and put the rest of the money aside for something more useful. I am on my fourth hilux now and have managed to turn a small profit on everyone, with very minimal running costs. However old or rough there is always a market abroad giving you a guaranteed sale should you need it. Most of all they are ultra reliable up to mk 5 anyway, I had a mk 6 for a year and didn't think the build quality was as good but sold it for what I paid for it after 12000 miles, 1 service and just escaped giving it an mot. The only thing I would upgrade to would be a landcruiser. Im sure however Isuzus and rangers are also good trucks but have no experience with them myself. I must admit the hilux isn't the best for towing so if you do a lot maybe not the best choice but I would happily drive mine to china tomorrow with absolute confidence.

legendary tractors and already classics, expect to pay for one though, imo the slightly earlier ones without the electronic throttles went a bit better, think they changed in 2002. For a good one with tls and reasonable hours expect to pay upwards of 25k but will be a good investment if looked after.

Rots much quicker? im not going half way through the post and you cant see any gaps when the strut is wedged in there tight, if you notch and nail and the strainer twists then it exposes the cut wood and leaves a gap? Also as Matthew says, with a big chisel it doesn't take long, unless you hit a knot! I have seen with my own eyes a cow rubbing against a strut like that and it pushed it out easily, a couple of 4" nails don't take much bending or pulling out. But im not arguing as everyone does it differently, its just I always look for better ways of doing things and rightly or wrongly have progressed to these techniques! Also the surface are of a half round stake is the same if you lay it down or stand it up? and surely the deeper you go the firmer the ground which I think is key as the first 6" is usually just topsoil. Out of interest how deep do you bury it and does it take long?

I again would have the struts lower about half way down the strainer at least, but I would never cut a notch like that with a chainsaw now. Chisel a hole out and cut the strut to fit, that way a bullock cant rub against it and knock it out. I also would never strut against the next post, if im not using box strainers which I normally do I will dig the strut in a good foot or so and scoop a bit of a half moon out the end with the saw so it cant slip and then drive the fattest 6ft round post I can find all the way in with the knocker (at least 4ft) at the same angle as the botton of the strut if that makes sense. I would then wire it in a figure of 8 or use a g-pac and pull back round the bottom of the strainer, gripping the strut at the same time. You can actually get the strainer to pull backwards like this if it is soft. This works well for me if digging is easy going but if its a ballache I will use box strainers as its easier and quicker to drive in another strainer and not much more expensive. I have had problems with gripples but compared to how many I use it is minimal and I find they work well, if you use them on box strainers though, make sure you use jumbos or large ones with a g pack.

No good having two flat faces for your clamp as already said an angle over tube works well, I made one with two angle irons then welded two bars on the outside of one and one in the middle of the other so the wire gets crimped in an s shape. If you don't bend it round something then wires will pull through the clamp. I have been averaging a tad over 20 thousand metres of stock fencing per year over the last 4 years and learnt a lot about the job and I have not used a wire clamp once in 3 years now. I put gripple joins in where needed and use my contractor gripple tool. You may not agree but I can get the wire tight on all strands in dips and peaks through out the line and you are pulling evenly through out the line. If your wire goes a bit slack if you over stretch your top wires just go back and tweek the joins to pull the netting back. I don't like the idea of pulling big stretches of wire without being able to adjust them in time if needed. So imo forget the clamp and get a gripple tool, buy by the box and get gripples for £0.48 each and it build it into the price

You cant step the bays, just follow the lay of the land and as long as your posts are up right your palisades will be. Use a palisade to get your post height roughley where you want it with desired gap underneath. Imo some of the easiest fencing to erect, just make sure your happy with it all before you snap off your security nuts! Also a cordless nut runner is a must if your doing a lot of it. Have you quoted for standard or ultra? The ultra is lighter but has a higher impact force.

I did 60 last year in an avenue but I did vase shaped ones which I would recommend over the ones you are doing as they are much smaller around the bottom and fan out at the top. This way the stock can graze much tighter to around the bottom leaving less waste. I did them 6ft high then they cant reach to get the trees and I had 3 rails and used heavy rabbit netting as these were only to stop deer, rabbits and sheep. The problem with the ones you are doing is it leaves such a big area ungrazed and it will swamp the trees and look untidy unless they like to pay someone to maintain them constantly. Being conventional shape they need to be big to stop cattle reaching over. I also put terram around the bottoms and covered in well composted chip to stop any grass growth. It all takes time though, I put it on a day rate with a time estimate, took 4 days with 2 of us and that was with chesnut posts and rails all cut to size using a nail gun and tracked post knocker. It was handy aswell because you could knock all the posts in from one side using the sideshift instead of having to drive all the way round!

If I was doing it, I would dig your strainer holes tight (6" diameter) with small shuv holers and go down a couple of foot, fill it with water and leave for a while. Then get your big drivall and knock in an 8 foot strainer the rest of the way. I always use box strainers and this makes the job easier, do this for your secondary strainers too. Then chisel out for your struts, put your diagonal wires in and strain tight, I use gripple g pacs or a couple of strands of 3.15ht and a jumbo gripple, this way shes going no where. Then pull out your line wire cut in the middle, put in a gripple, tie off both ends then tighten up with gripple tool. Do the same with the netting and your laughing, this way you can keep tweeking the wires and will get it much tighter and it will stay tight. Short stretches are by far the hardest to keep tight but I did 8 metres today like this, I knocked in the posts mind and it was all strainers bar one post but you could play a tune on every wire, that's the beauty with gripples keep tweeking until they all stay tight and its all good as your strainers will move a little bit. Theres an art to wire fencing and its very easy to do it badly!

Changing the subject a bit, did anyone see police interceptors last night? The police chased some gypos who had just been seen stealing fuel, back to the traveller camp. They chased then through the camp, blocked the van in on a track, the van then reversed back flat out and rammed the police car a couple of times and then drove off up a track so the police just gave up and drove off?? no call for backup or anything! and nothing happened after that..... earlier on in the program they saw some hare coursers and were actually watching the dogs chasing the hare!they too just got away and one of the blokes wasn't even allowed in the county!! They did however manage to pull up a pensioner riding his bike at night with no rear light.......enough said

I have heard that fleming aren't the best but as you probably know quality will cost you. Ideally I suppose a dropside would be more versatile as I have a five ton tipper fixed sides which I can load a 3t digger on but you cant swing it around in it which makes for hairy loading/unloading sometimes as its quite a climb! to be honest if your looking for something in the 6-8k budget my money would be on a good s/h beavertail for £4500 and a nice tipping trailer with the rest. Get a drawbar on your beavertail and tow your tipper to site behind it (empty of course!!). These multipurpose trailers imo are always a bit of a compromise and a beavertail with bolsters would be good for timber and will probably carry more weight. Ive got a lowloader and a couple of tippers and I would rather have the right trailer for the job.

I have a wire unroller on my tracked machine which I can locate in 5 different places although it mainly stays in one, made from scrap. Im not a fan of pulling big stretches from one end especially if it is undulating and with lots of turns. I can buy gripples for £0.38/each and put a join in every 50m or so (using 100m ht rolls) its not expensive. That way I can do several hundred metres, tie it off properly both ends and then use the gripples to tension the netting. This way you can tweak the top/middle/bottom accordingly and get a nice even tight fence and I haven't used a wire clamp for 3 years or more. Also you can go back any time and retighten using your gripple tool if the fence gets damaged etc. All of the fences I put up are infinitely adjustable and I wouldn't have it any other way as things will inevitably move or get hit. With good quality ht 8 80 15 costing around £0.75/metre in 100m rolls is there a need for 500m rolls? but maybe im wrong?Quick fencers and alike are ok in my opinion if your doing pipeline work or similar when you want to whack it up quick but to get the best most even pull you need to pull from the middle or in several places along the line.

That's good going Matthew, I would recon on doing around 400 metres of knocking a day on my own with the wrag on the tracked dumper. That's 6ft posts every 2 metres and doing box struts t the ends and diagonal struts on the turners. Can manage a lot less though if its awkward or hard! I can swap my weight from a 2-300kg but I always use the 200, as you get a bit more height under the weight and usually stop fencing in the summer also its less wear on the machine and keeps it more balanced. Everyone goes mad about these massive weights but I would sooner have a rockspike, I use mine all the time as i fence on a lot a chalk and flint and all a bigger weight would do is smash the posts. I would look at a protech when I change the wrag, a Bryce or vector would be too heavy for my 3t tracked dumper, I like the idea of the telemast. kinghitter in my opinion are as good as the Bryce or vector but the height of the mast can be a bit of a ballache!

I have an Aga little wenlock classic which has the airwash for the glass and is also defra approved. When I first got it I couldn't stop it roaring. To solve it I took the washers out of the air wheel so it shuts dead tight and with some black fire cement I neatly blocked off the top vents. Now when you screw the wheel in tight the fire goes down instantly and will keep in easily all night which isn't bad seeing as its a tiny fire! This airwash low emission business is all a bit unessecary in my opinion

I would no way class an echo as lower rate saw! I would never buy a stihl or Husky again! buy an Echo, you'll save a few quid and wont compromise on the quality!

Yep its a Penna, I am going to ring Tim Wright in the morning and see if he will sort me out with a commander xl headstock and female bit of the side shift and then I can use my mast with tilt rams and rock spike so should be a bit cheaper than a whole new machine! It is difficult in tight corners as the levers are in the wrong place. What wrag have you got? You can buy a second hand dumper for 10k or so and put your knocker on it (need to uprate the pump), if you work on your own it will be your best mate! I can run mine all day on 10-15 ltrs of diesel and carry all my materials/tools on it, unroll wire etc and its so handy being able to drive it from both ends. Its got me loads of jobs I couldn't do with a tractor and will give you the edge over your competitors.

Ive had mine on some good side slopes! steep enough to empty all the posts out of the rack! you'll be fine if you keep the weight side of the knocker up the hill, the other way is dodgy and you can end up slipping into the fence. Mine has got a hydraulic leg on both sides and they are wider than the tracks so that helps. You'll have a job to roll it with the weight transfer right, she might lift a track every now and again but that makes it more exciting!

Ive tried to upload a few pics of mine, I bought a 3t Kubota tracked dumper then a mate of mine and myself put my wrag knocker on the back, fantastic machine! If needed the knocker can come off and go back on the tractor. It will go on some serious slopes if its dry and work in bogs no problem. I fence on my own and wouldn't be without it

my old mans got a 171 and its my little pony compared to the echo for the same money!