inline strainer on brace wire

any of you guys ever used a inline strainer to tighten your brace wire i always used the wrap technique with a twitch stick
RICK

A 1/4" rod about 8 inches long seems to be able to catch on near by fence wire and won't decay into dust over the 25 year span expected. I leave fuel strainers in automobiles. not in the fence line. Jim

now thats funny

Thats all we use.Double brace we wrap in a figure 8 and only use one strainer.Single brace should be wraped in a figure 8 pattern as well.

do you guys use the same style in the fence line?
i noticed they make one they call heavy duty with two wire holes in it instead of one.
RICK

When I started runnin HT about twenty five years ago, I used a twisted corner brace wire. They were such a PITA for grounding the hot wires, (I use two or three), that I started using a strainer with a double strand of wire. This gave way to a single strand. When I put the head brace on, I just drill a 1/2 " hole in the top of the posts, and use a pole barn nail to hold it in place. I do not hammer it in tight, and use it as a hanger for the cross brace wire. It's wrapped in a figure 8 through a staple in the bottom of the corner post and snugged up by a strainer to hold it snuggly, but not over tight.

After years of chasing grounds that seemed to be at corners, I discontinued the use of tubing around corner posts. Every type I've tried sooner or later disintegrated and cracked causing grounds. To eliminate this problem, whereever I have a corner post, I use a short piece of wire to a double U or a bullnose insulator which gets placed far enough away from the corner post to get it away from the cross brace wire, and jumpered to the hext section with an insulator on the corner post. Simple line post insulators are tube type, and a nail on if repair is needed. But tube insulation will not hold up at either a corner or end post.

HT fence is easy to work with, and once the animals get used to it, very effective. It's also easy to repair if damaged. There are all kinds of 'snake oil' parts and insulators available, but I've found it doesn't have to be real 'fiddle string' tight or fancy to be fully effective. Quite the opposite- a little common sense and a few tricks in putting it up can save a lot of maintenance headaches later.

I gave up on sticks years ago, royal PITA. I use only strainers, same as the rest of the fence. You can always tighten them up a notch or two if nessesary, but it hardly ever is.

thanks old harv that is what i was trying to find out,i usually use a stick or piece of steel or pipe or whatever i can find thanks for the info.
RICK

I"ve done it for a about 4 years now and it works good. I can tension it if it gets loose. I just use a single 12 ga high tensile wire. The cows rub the twitch sticks off and then they unwrap. Some folks around here nail the twitch stick to the cross brace.

We just use the normal ones.The ones at TSC are not very good,We use Kiwi strainers but others are also good.

Vandals use the twitch stick to short out the fence.New fences will get a strainer here.