Screw/washer alternative for hardware cloth ideas

[Folly's place]

We use 1"x4" or sometimes 1"x3" cedar boards. They should live a long time!
Mary

 

[Sunshine Flock]

I had my last and final fence done professionally after too many mishaps and too much repetitive work. No regrets, trouble free for over 14 years now. I don't touch it and neither do the horses.

Okay, spill the details on your fence. We need to fence our property and are pulling our hair out (well, I am; the husband is bald) trying to figure out what to do.

 

[Ruralhideaway]

Mine's horse specific so might not be useful. Then again it sure could be set up to keep predators out.

4 lines of electric high tensile, some plastic coated for visibility. High tensile fence is controversial for horses as the damage it produces if they get caught in it will definitely be severe. Then again loose horses in the road threatens more lives than the horses so I needed to consider that, and they were getting loose lots. Deer were taking all my homemade fences down and the wire was never properly hot and they knew it. I didn't have time to walk the fence daily to check it. Good tight wire stays hot, they know it's hot and have never crowded it and gotten hurt luckily. I had one test it but once only, and she was wearing wraps and double blankets because I knew she'd try. It bounced her back.

The deer dive right through the strands, I've seen them do it. The does have their fawns in there every spring, so I think either the fence or the horses keep the coyotes out.

Had it too long to recall how the pricing details went but I think I paid about 4,500 to fence 7 acres plus a half acre. They charge by the foot and then a per corner rate. I have 5 corners. I divided further with less heavy duty fence that looks the same and they stay away from that also. These are horses that regularly just ran at the wire and took it down then went on miles long tears. A HOT fence is a safe fence.

So definitely a success, and those professionally pounded posts last forever and are hardly affected even by the crazy frost heaving that makes everything go crooked here fast.

If you wanted to keep, say big cats out, I'm guessing there's a way to do it. Might be lots cheaper even, I paid a considerable upcharge for the high visibility coated lines that I think only horses really benefit from.

 

[Folly's place]

High tensile wire is definitely not recommended for horses!!! It's cheaper than many other choices, but seeing even one horse literally diced on it makes it totally not something to use!
Cattle are much less likely to charge it in a panic and be killed, so it's more commonly used for them. My fencing is 2"x4" woven wire, 4' high, with electric rope or tape over the top. MUCH safer!
Mary

 

[Ruralhideaway]

Controversial yes as I said. Your woven wire is a good choice for many, but would have never held these horses. They'd jump right over that, and I've actually seen horses with their faces skinned to the bone who got their heads under it where it got loose, or getting legs caught up in loose broken sections from pawing at it, ie operator error. In fact no physical barrier within reason can actually hold a determined horse, only respect and fear of the zap can.

I've been in the horse industry for 30+ years and seen all the same train wreck injuries. If you really dig though you quickly learn that the fences causing the injuries were not built for horses and were NEVER kept energized. They were never just off that one day either, but broken energizer, irresponsible/ignorant owner or manager, deer took it down, some reason always that fence was not kept consistently hot. If mine was turned off for awhile they still wouldn't come near it. After a month they might. That's how long someone needs to be negligent before a horse gets into hot wire that's not kept hot.

Comes down to "don't blame the tool for how poorly it was used".

Here's a fence showing similar construction, although I had to have alternating exposed wires to insure a faster more certain shock than the coated hot wire provides. Nonetheless those fat coated wires don't cut and do provide a buffer.

 

[Folly's place]

The first rule of electric fencing; it must always be on! I like the hot rope and hot tape because it's visible, and that matters with horses.
We all know that both horses and chickens are always looking for ways to suicide...
Mary

 

[Ruralhideaway]

They sure do. Self destructive creatures, they all need bubble wrap. Those coated wires I have are great, big as my thumb so really visible.

I like the rope also, especially for dividing lines you might move. I use that plus tape for that. The rope is easier to wind up without destroying it.

 

[SunHwaKwon]

Like I said, I'm slightly lazy about fiddly things and like to work with a handful of screws in one hand and a drill in the other. Washers slow me down unless I can coerce someone into handing them to me assembled.

Hey I gotta be me.

Maybe it is the screws and/or washers you're using. It's been a while since i did mine but I'm pretty sure my washers slid right over the screws - the center hole was smaller than the head of the screw but bigger than the threads, that is. Of course, that means if you insist on holding a handful, some of the washers might slide off. I'm partial to holding things in my mouth, which might be gross to some but I bite my nails so what's the difference.

 

[Ruralhideaway]

They do go right on, it just takes two hands to assemble which sounds simple, until you add a clutz(thats me) on a ladder while holding up whatever is being attached plus a drill. Your mileage may vary.

Also, when I do preassemble them they stab me in my fingertips while blind reaching into the box.

I truly thought a screw with built in washer must exist! If women designed hardware... sorry just saying!

 

[aart]

Finding washers that would work with the deck or drywall screws I favor was my problem, not gonna find them in most/any stores. Ordered them from McMaster-Carr. Kinda pricey but next day delivery is pretty standard.....
.....and the right size fastener, Priceless!
No.8(~3/16" ID), 3/4" OD, .06" Thick.

I honestly don't find it difficult to jab a screw through a fender washer on it's way to the wood.

It's a PITA...IMO. I pre assembled my screws and washers, nice to sit and give my bum knee a break, and stuck them in a block of styrofoam mounted on wood (for weight) where they were easily plucked out with one hand for installation.

They will not come out, even if you use pliers on them.

I like things to come apart (intentional disassembly) if needed.

The caps from glass bottles would do well as washers, but you'd have to have access to a sizable collection.

Have used bottle caps many a time, got a copious supply from a beer loving buddy. Poke a hole with a roofing nail and hammer, have a fixture to do that(piece of pipe in bench vise) and do a bunch at once.