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 Elite Veteran
Posts: 725
  
| For the fencing I would suggest sucker rod fencing. I'ts cheap, solid and I've never had any problems with it, even with my "fragile" horses. You can attach it to wooden posts or make the whole thing solid sucker rod.
I also live where it gets crazy cold, we use Ritchie automatic water-ers and they work really well. You just have to make sure and clean them out every month or so, they can get gross.
Good Luck! |
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 Thick and Wavy
Posts: 6102
 
Location: Nebraska | stayceem - 2016-09-29 8:56 PM
JAG18 - 2016-09-29 3:03 PM
I agree with the sinking Tank Heaters. We also wrapped some simple insulation around the tank and put some foam insulation on the ground under the tank. I am in northern Iowa and that has kept the tank open even in the -20 wind chills.
Do you have the link to the one you use? Clearly I am not googling the right thing... I can only find the floating ones.
I use tank heaters that go in the bottom of my Rubbermaid tanks through the drain hole in the bottom. We had a horse die from chewing the wire on a floating tank heater back when I was a kid. |
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 To the Left
Posts: 1865
Location: Florida | My horses just walked through the braid electric fencing. I use 3 board on cross fencing and feild fencing on the parameter with hot wire on top of both. |
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| stayceem - 2016-09-29 11:43 AM
I finally had an offer accepted on my very own place!!!! I have boarded my whole life but also took care of the horses at these places for most of my life. But it is much different to actually set mine up. Assuming everything goes well... I am hoping to get some advice on things.
1. Right now my gelding is fed Purina Strategy, he is a big boy and not a terribly hard keeper but harder than the average horse. Wondering if I should take his opportunity to try something new. I am also getting a 2 year old so I would like a grain that is suitable for them both.
2. What are your favorite medicore priced fencing? I have been looking at Electrobraid and different poly ropes but wondering peoples thoughts. Also debating on wood posts vs t posts. Or maybe doing half/half??? I would eventually like all wood posts but a friend might have some extra t posts.
3. Water tanks - live in MN and its frigid here. What is the best system for designing a watertank that wont freeze??
I am sure I will have more questions but these are the most pressing right now. I have worked SO hard for this and its very terrifying but also extremely exciting. Any advice is appreciated.
First thing to buy is this t post puller ... these things take no effort to pull a t post out of even frozen ground ...
https://www.amazon.com/Maasdam-PowR-Pull-PP100-PullR/dp/B000DCN8SQ/r...
Use 6 ft t posts ... they will end up 52" tall when driven in the ground properly ..
You are in wind and ice country so use common sense and avoid being out in the weather with a downed hot wire ... space your posts 10-12 ft apart ... you can use a 10-12 ft board as your spacer between posts ... after you have set your corners and strung a temporary guide wire close to the ground .. (you are going to raise this guide wire higher up once you get your t posts driven)
Horses are smarter than cows and will only try an electric fence 1-2-3 times and then avoid all fences .... I only do one hot wire with the caps on top of the t posts and then smooth barbless wire for the other 3 wires at 9 inches apart .. this keeps horse from sticking their head between them and leaves last wire 25 inches from the ground ...which keeps a horse from standing at fence and pawing and getting a foot over a wire and cutting his pastern/ankle ... 16" is the minimum from the ground when I string a horse fence ....
T post driver .... look for one that is a piece of pipe with a ~16# heavy head on one end like a mushroom (no handles) ... instead of the ones with handles ... they are light weight and a pita .. lol
Do a 300 gal metal tank ... in the winter don't fill it full .. about 1/3 in case you lose power and it ices up ... you can add 1/3 more water over the ice for a couple of days until the power comes back on or you have to buy a small 4,000 watt generator from Harbor Freight around $300 .. it can also run some small heaters in the house to keep pipes from freezing ...
Since you won't be cleaning stalls ... bring 10-15 shaving bags full of crap from your boarder barn to put around your water tank as insulation ... easy to remove if you need to move the tank ...
Here is a couple of doohickies to put on an extension cord to your heater ...
water proof connecter ..
https://www.amazon.com/Farm-Innovators-CC-2-Connect-Water-Tight/dp/B...
and this little guy is worth the money ... keep in mind that frozen water melts at 32.5 degrees ... and you are not making soup ... lol ..
https://www.amazon.com/gp/product/B0006U2HD2/ref=pd_sim_86_1?ie=UTF8...
Keep in mind you can run your extension cord thru some pvc water pipe laying on top of the ground to keep from damaging your extension cord ..
The poster that uses the pvc pipe to slip on his t posts is a good idea for the future when money is more available.. they do look nice and visible ... if you use the pipe .. you can use white plastic ties to hold your hot wire to the pvc pipe and no need for the screwed on clips ...
When you install your gate(s) raise them up 6-8 inches above the fence or panels you have on each side of your gate ... it will keep your horses off the gate and bending it to pieces ... and do 14-16 ft gates to allow easy access for future equipment or when pulling a trailer thru the gate ..
Things that you like where you board ... start taking phone pictures of these items and when driving around pay attention to what other people have done for more good ideas.
For barn or water tanks if you run a water line ... use these types of faucets to keep faucet from freezing ... do not leave hose attached!! and of course you already know to drain your hose so it does not clog up with ice ... lol .. these also come in 5 ft lengths so put a post next to it to protect it or a tub over the shorter one ...
https://www.amazon.com/Campbell-Yard-Hydrant-Frost-Proof/dp/B000UEUI...
Always plan ahead ... where you put a fence, your barn, run outs ... leave you enough room for easy turn arounds with a trailer and easy place to park the trailer ... like where you are going to load and unload .... People build things too close together and end up trapped with a tuff situation ....
GOOD LUCK ... CONGRATULATIONS ON YOUR NEW PLACE ... !!
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 Elite Veteran
Posts: 1117
Location: MI | Hi! Just curious if you have an update on what you did at your new place? We are closing on a house in a couple weeks and I'll have to put in fencing and build a small run-in. Hope everything worked out with your deal & you got your house! :) |
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 Born not Made
Posts: 2937
Location: North Dakota | bowersk - 2016-09-29 5:03 PM We have the RAMM hotcote fencing and I love it! It was easy to put up, just make sure you have good, solid corners. We actually used a tpost like post that is made out of PVC and has the holes already bored in it for electrobraid, hotcote, etc. No insulators to buy or replace!
Hmm, one concern I would have with this is that there is nothing to break or "give" if a horse were to get a leg in the fence. Because it sounds like you string the wire/electrobraid right through the post itself?
I would think insulators of some kind would be better so that they can at least break free and enable the horse to get free, in a situation like that. Yup, more expensive and more maintenance but possibly safer.
Anyway -- food for thought.
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 The Bling Princess
Posts: 3411
Location: North Dakota | 1. Don't change your feed right away. Keep things the same until they get settled in and acclimated to their new environment.
2. What are your favorite medicore priced fencing? We did wooden posts with horse wire for a corral. It is inexpensive, easy to fix, and safe. Because we run cattle on the other side of the pasture fence we had to use barb wire. We've not had issues.
3. Water tanks - live in MN and its frigid here. What is the best system for designing a watertank that wont freeze?? The best investment would be a Ritchie. I put mine behind wind, but still out in the open, and I've not had it freeze up. I did the whole Behlen tubs with the sinking heater, for the first year we moved back to ND, and frankly they are a pain in the hindend. My horses would always want to chew on the electrical cord. Best investment was the Ritchie. Mine is a single hole and will water up to 6-8 animals. |
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