Barbed Wire

I usually use the regular 12.5 ga barb wire, but a sale is tempting me to try some high tensil barb wire. Need advice from you folks with experience in using Beakert Gaucho high-tensil 15.5 guage 4-point class 3 galv barb wire. They advertise that the 15.5 is equal in strength to regualr 12.5, and that the class-3 galvanize last as much as 3 times longer. What are your ideas?
Thanks, Tom.

I switched to the high-tensil and I wouldn't go back. It stays much tighter and requires less up keep.

Only ever used Red Brand wire but have seen the Goucho being used more and more. It will still look new after the others is rust colored.

It s the only wire to use . Be sure you have a GOOD pair of gloves !

It first became available 'here' about 25 or 30 years ago and we tried a few rolls because it was cheaper; it was stiff, you couldn't tie it together without it breaking; it would break without warning; I hated it. It may have changed since then; if it's still the same wire, I wouldn't have it. Life of the good American made 12 1/2 gauge like Red Brand is about 40 years around 'here'; that's about the life of the black locust fence posts we used to use. Of course, the last 10 years or so that I had cattle, I started using metal "T" posts, because of the price of farm labor; cost too much to cut/split/set the locust posts.

Not the same wire . The goucho is good stuff and wont break from twisting etc. in normal uses but like I said before dont look at it without a good pair of gloves on .

Very nasty stuff. But that's a good thing, unless you have horses. I've never seen it rust, but most of the conventional barbed wire doesn't seem to last more than 10 years around here.

In the Lulling area,, the oil wells leak off lots of sulpher gas and everything rusts very very very fast.

Regular barbwire is easy to work with but doesnt last very long.

This hign tensle crap will last forever.. but it has memory meaning that it still likes to twist after you unroll it. its sharp and meaner that a consitpated porquipine.. and it will streech, but just break when you pull it too tight much easier to break. ....It demands lots of blood and skin donations..If a cow hits it, it sags real bad, SOOOO

if you in an high coorosion area, its better and probably worth the pain.. if you old fashion barbwire lasts forever, why bother..

My brother always says they should of named it gotcha instead of goucho !

Tom,

I've got a little advice on barbed wire, in fact ALL barbed wire > I don't like it, not ever liked it,in fact I hate it!...

I still have some old barbed wire left over from previous farmers on my farm,and over the years I have been removing it little by little, it is in my opinion very nasty stuff, nuff said I reckon.

I have used a single smooth wire fence with a solar powered electric fencer, even works @ night and re-charges in the day, kept the horses in quite well.

Will

i'd used Red Brand the whole time any of my elders were still living...after my dad passed and wire started coming out of my pocket i tried the high tensile 15.5 gauge from Argentina...what can i say...no more restretching wire every year...it has literally stayed as tight as the day i put it up 8 years ago...i bought some Beachert hog wire couple years ago...its holding the tension but bottom wire is already rusting thru galvanize...welded steel corners set in concrete and tee posts and high tensile wire is the only fence i'll build anymore.

I wouldnt consider using anything else. I've got some I put up 22 years ago that is just now starting to show rust on the points while the Red Brand regular wire I put up the same year was rusty before 1994 and has rotted almost to powder. I havent bought anything else since I noticed how much better it held its galvanizing.

Tom, H3ll No! I have tries using it a couple of times in the past Hard to impossoble to tie and splice. Kinks up something fierce. I prefer American 12 or 12.5 wire. Thirty years is long enough for a fence to stand before it needs replacing. I streach with a tractor, when I am done, Charlie Daniels can play a tune on it with his Bow!LOL!
Later,
John A.

I studied it and it seems they want you to use multiple strands of the high tensile stuff. They use a spring to keep from getting them too tight.

I built my horse corral with 12.5 guage double strand barbless wire. This makes it strong enough and tall enough to make them think twice about running through it. Then ran 2 to 3 strands of electric wire to keep them from leaning on the wire and the posts. I had a burro run into it without getting cut. I hear that high tensile stuff will cut animals up pretty good.

For milo stubble and winter wheat grazing, a single strand of electric fence holds them in around here.

Don't know about your Texas longhorns (know a little about KU Jayhawks and K-State Wildcats although I did just get a couple tickets to the Big 12 BB tournament from the Univ. of Texas) but I'm not sure the barbs do any good. Cows can still stick their head through and lean on the fence. Anything that might ever have horses in it, I'd probably opt for 2 strand barbless and add an electric wire.

Don't know if it is a problem or not, but good luck getting a packer to take a damaged steer anymore. Something to think about. Seems like someone just posted something about what to do with a cut leg steer.

I've still got a bunch of leaned on fence to replace.