A question for the old bushies

Hello Carl,
I haven't run barb through posts since helping Dad fencing years ago. We used to drill a larger hole about 1'' and it used to pull through ok. Although it would catch a bit with good gloves and a good free running spinner it would pull through ok. Thankfully a lot less barb is used these days.
Cheers,
Tony

In all my years on the land in a previous life repairing old fences (some around a 100 years old) I have never seen barbed wire pulled thru a drilled hole in a wooden fence post. It was either on top of post with a wire tye through the hole ...or tied onto side of post with a wire tye thru the drilled hole. Another reason why I believe it never happened is that a lot of fencers (me included) strained the barb up on each segment of fence between 2 strainer posts to get a straight line in which to place panel posts...either holes dug for wooden ones or steel droppers (star posts) driven by hand with a purpose built post driver.
Now maybe there is a way to pull barb thru fence post holes that I never knew about....but I bet after a half dozen posts there would be a good dose of foul temper and blue air about...not to mention blood everywhere.

Cheers Keith

Still being built as a pretty standard fence in Queensland but now instead of all split posts its usually 1 wood and 3-4 steel posts. The wood posts are much stronger and stable than the the steelposts which livestock will run straight over.

As to the construction method we thump the wood posts in, drill a 1" hole with an Atom Borer on a chainsaw. Usually we have the barb on a frame on the back of a Landcruiser, with a good pair of gloves start pulling, usually you get through the first half dozen posts easily then it gets a little harder. we use a small tractor with a carryall and on one side we have an attachment like wirestrainers which we attach the wire to. Simple task of driving close to the fence with another person threading it through the hole and reattaching to the tractor every post. The top wire is done first so if the barb goes slack it doesn't catch on the wires below.

Once you are experienced at it only takes a few minutes to run a 3-400m section of fence beween strainers.

There you go

Rob

You blokes must like makin' life hard for ya-selves (LOL)

When I was doin' it (40-odd yrs ago), we used a length of plain wire..

Simply run the plain thru all the posts, from one strainer to the next.. roll of barb on a spinner, tie the end of barb to the plain, other end of the plain is tied to the ute (or tractor), then simply drive said ute (or tractor) at a steady pace 'till the end of at the barb is at the next strainer.. unhook wire from ute, drive back to where end of barb is (at strainer post), strain 'er up, then run the plain back down the line (thru all the posts), & repeat the process...

If the posts were close together, we could run 2 at a time.. easy peasy ;-))

:)

I did miles of fencing in my day too but never put the barb through any holes, we use the wire ties. We use the old hand brace and bit to bore all the holes as well, the truck was used to strain the wire, geez I think about it now and wonder how we got so far so quickly, no wonder the shoulders and arms ache so much these days. LOL

Cheers
D

Well ,you live & learn. I've never seen barb pulled through drilled post holes either.
Must be a Qld thing. Although I dont doubt it is possible I cant help feeling the
process must bend most of the barbs along the axis, therefore defeating the purpose of the barb in the first place. I have only ever tied the barb on the side or top of the posts with a short piece of plain wire..twisted in opposite directions. The barb is run out by tying one end to a strainer ..placing coil on a wire spinner & driving a vehicle the length of the strain, the barb unrolling as you go.
If you happen to lose the end it can recoil a long way & you have a tangle. The same can occur with pre fab hinge joint fencing too. The worst part is I am still fencing
... been at it , on & off, for 50 years....but so has anyone with acreage.......oldbaz.

Nothing like a mob of old farts reminising. A long time ago for me - about 60 years. The barbed wire came in coils then but I recall that it came later wound on a frame and it must have been easier. I was in the horse and sulky days and a good horse would just follow along slowly.
I have travelled the old Rabbit (now VERMIN!!) Proof Fence and am surprised how good the fence is in many places. Those old fellows must have been very hardy.

Like many of the other posters I have built bloody miles of fences and whilst I always drilled a hole through the posts to attach a tie wire to tie the barb on the outside of the post..........others have not

YES I have seen barb pulled through the holes of the wooden posts. I know a bloke who always did it routinely...and he swore it did not catch in doing so as much as one would have thought ............

and at times I have looked at his jobs and the barb did not appear to have been bent ot distorted in the process of pulling throgh as much as one woud think

Not a common practise but yes it does happen despite all the other experts saying it does not

Nothing like a mob of old farts reminising.......

Absolutely.

I am 63 and still bear the scars of where I put the old mans crowbar through my left big toe when I was about 9, while helping him fence LOL.

I used to love driving the old blitz down the line in 1st gear running out the wire, standing up behind the wheel.

I guess most of the old blokes had a method that worked best for them, with the equipment they had available, and they all differed, except those that only used shovels and crowbars and hand auger drills.

Great "POST" LOL carlj. Thanks all for reviving a few old memories.

Fred.

See if you blokes were all a bit smarter you'd know that you run plain wire through the post holes first, then you go back and tie up little short barb bits on last...
Cheers (a bit younger farmer)
Corrugate!

Carlj - Yes most of the fences up this way have the barb pulled through the holes in the post.

And as stated above the wire does not catch up very much.

Cheers Tony

I seem to have stirred a hornet's nest. By way of backing out I offer the solution used by my neice and her husband. They threw ALL the barbed wire away from the property and replaced it with an electric wire. They tell me that withinn weeks you could turn the power off and the cattle would stay away from the fences. Seems they do not like the little "bitee thing" and wont take the risk.

Hi Carl,

Its really easy to do fencing, prob the easiest job a farmer can do. I call up the local fencer and magically it gets done : )

Never seen the wooden strainers with holes that barb goes thru, we alway nailed it to the side of the post.

Cheers Wilko