Baling wire is
an incredibly diverse material, and while its main purpose is to keep bales
together, the baling wire itself has been used for centuries for many
different purposes.
One of those
purposes is to use the wire to repair a fence, especially if you are far from a store and the wood fence needs
repairing quickly to ensure your livestock, animals, or even the safety of
other people.
Keeping
Your Fence in Good Repair
In truth,
keeping your fence in better repair will negate the need to use materials like 12 gauge galvanized wire to make emergency repairs, but it's easy
to say invest in proper maintenance
after your find your fence has failed, and not so easy to consider it
beforehand.
If you find
yourself with an emergency repair to your damaged fence posts on your hands, bling wire is a
great material that can provide strong fence support when you need it most.
Using baling
wire in these circumstances is perfectly legitimate and has been a technique
that has been used across the west by cowboys and horse owners for centuries,
and for a good reason.
It's fairly
cheap, and it's easy to do, not to mention the results -while not pretty- are surprisingly
robust and will last well enough time for you to order the correct tools such
as pouring concrete,
installing longer screws,
getting an auto tie,
or using stain or paint
available at most hardware
stores to get the job completed.
Fixing
Your Fence Without Tools
One of the most
common ground level fence
problems, especially with wire fences, is that of sagging, where a wire fence
stretches and sags, creating a dangerous dip that could be harmful to your herd
or your horses should they come over to investigate.
There are two key
ways to fix a sagging gate
without any tools type of
wood. Method one is easy enough: take a piece of pressure-treated wood or a dead branch from
a tree and place it in the fence; from here, you can twist it to pull the fence
tighter again.
Method two is a
little more complicated but works better; this time, you should take a number
of pieces of deadwood or tree and weave them in between the lines alternatively,
which will clinch onto the wire and tighten it, creating a tighter and more
robust fence with a temporary fix.
Electric
Fence Repair
A warning before
you consider repairing your electric fence with baling wire, make sure you
switch off the power supply to the current fence. This is usually fairly simple
and involved simply unhooking the battery and solar panel that will run horizontally to the
fence to make sure no charge is going through the metal fence.
You can replace
a damaged insulator or a wire hook with baling twine depending on the type, letting it go around
the fence posts to
absorb and stop the conductivity of the electric fence when you do hook it back
up to the power and re-electrify the fence.
Fixing
Things Permanently
As with all
quick fixes, these are not intended to be a long-term solution, but here at
Baling Wire Direct, we've used along with a wire for so many of life's little
jobs, we sometimes forget it's used primarily for bailing up in the recycling industry!