K Effective
Well-known Member
I've been contemplating fencing off the fields in front of our house, north of the driveway out to the road. It's about ten acres, currently in a small hay field and small bean field. Directly east of this ground is access to my pastures- I'd like the option of turning the cattle out on these two small fields in the fall, either to graze cornstalks or a hay field if conditions warrant. Plus, it would be a small amount of insurance if a cow finds a weakness in the fence perimeter and goes on a walk-about.
We have access to the fields from the south east and west corners- pretty convenient to pull in with a tillage tool/planter/combine from either side.
I want to set the fence up with gates at those two spots for vehicle access, plus others for the cattle to use. [b:91ffb4c266]My question is[/b:91ffb4c266]- what should I plan for gate access to accommodate today's large equipment, and the future's designs, as well?
I was thinking of using two gates at each access, like JonMN was showing in his thread. I like steel tube gates, and the fence will likely be tensile wire. The neighbor has the combine, and his grain table is 35' wide. Would two 20-foot wide gates give me enough room? I could plan for a removable post in the center for support.
Is there some better arrangement than two gates? Should I just plan for him to take the head off and cart it into the field to hook back up? The east gate access can be used from his fields directly to mine, no road travel needed. The west gate would be right off the road at my driveway. Maybe I should set the opening at 50 feet, and just run wires through there when needed- most of the year there would be no cows in there, only if they escaped the pasture. I could install the temporary 50 feet of wires as needed, and leave it open most of the year. I don't trust the fence or animals enough to just use temporary fence for all of it, only as needed.
tl;dr: how do you plan wide field access?
We have access to the fields from the south east and west corners- pretty convenient to pull in with a tillage tool/planter/combine from either side.
I want to set the fence up with gates at those two spots for vehicle access, plus others for the cattle to use. [b:91ffb4c266]My question is[/b:91ffb4c266]- what should I plan for gate access to accommodate today's large equipment, and the future's designs, as well?
I was thinking of using two gates at each access, like JonMN was showing in his thread. I like steel tube gates, and the fence will likely be tensile wire. The neighbor has the combine, and his grain table is 35' wide. Would two 20-foot wide gates give me enough room? I could plan for a removable post in the center for support.
Is there some better arrangement than two gates? Should I just plan for him to take the head off and cart it into the field to hook back up? The east gate access can be used from his fields directly to mine, no road travel needed. The west gate would be right off the road at my driveway. Maybe I should set the opening at 50 feet, and just run wires through there when needed- most of the year there would be no cows in there, only if they escaped the pasture. I could install the temporary 50 feet of wires as needed, and leave it open most of the year. I don't trust the fence or animals enough to just use temporary fence for all of it, only as needed.
tl;dr: how do you plan wide field access?