Taking up electric fence

[robbyr]

We have forty acres leased with some cows on it. The property is rectangular with the back fence probably somewhere between two and three times longer than the sides. Needed to take two strands of electric fence wire down and have been thinking on how to do it for a couple weeks. I made use of an old plastic water hose reel that probably hasn稚 been used in 10 years by strapping it in the back of our side by side. It worked pretty good although my arm was starting to tire. Feel free to laugh at the redneck ingenuity.

 

[Roadworthy]

I'm not going to laugh. I wish I'd thought of it. I used a coffee can, some all thread, and some crossed 1X2 pieces to make something similar for the same purpose.

 

[Wagtail]

:thumbsup: Whatever gets the job done Mate.

 

[bunyip]

Had a wire fence removed by a villain at a prison farm, he was told to keep the wire for other projects and went on his way.
End of the day there was a trailer full of 6' lengths of wire all neatly bundled and tied.

 

[oosik]

Helped my neighbor remove four wire - half mile - barbed wire fence. He had borrowed a very special implement but his tractors were too big for the implement. Therefore the Kubota M6040 came into use.

It attached to the 3-point - PTO driven. The center of this "winder" expanded when winding up the wire. When done - the center collapsed - spit off a large "donut" of wound up barbed wire.

It worked well - EXCEPT - pulling all four wires at the same time was not the brightest idea. The "pulled" barbed wire snagged and tore out all the bunch grass, sage brush, everything else - within its reach. We were constantly stopping the operation and picking this crap out the the incoming wire.

We ended up with a "donut" of barbed wire weighing right around 400 pounds. He had no plans for future use of the wire and I would not have wished this donut off on my worst enemy. It wound up nice and tight but the four wires were constantly crossing over each other. Not a pleasant situation for future use.

 

[robbyr]

I would like to see a pic of that 3pt implement. Sounds like that donut would best be taken to the dump.

 

[oosik]

Next time I see the neighbor - I'll ask. He leaves these large donuts out in the open - in out of the way places. They slowly rust down to nothing.

 

[LouNY]

Here's a link to one. They are handy, just be aware if you have any thought of reusing the wire take one strand off the posts lay it out in the field and reel it up, then repeat.
If you wind more then one strand at a time it is junk and almost unuseable after.
Wire Winder Hydraulic PTO Spooler Roller Pro Tatch Cable Winders Winch Best Tractor Fence Barbed Smooth

What I have done which is not as nice or neat is lay a strand out in the field, start a good sized loop ( I like about 3 ft in diameter)
get 6-8 rounds of it rolled up nicely, use some twine and tie that coil in several places,
now start rolling that down the field snugging the loops up as necessary when you reach the end tie it well, you may need to tie the bundle a few times while winding.

I have also seen old tire rims used to wind wire up,
I haven't tried it but I have looked at the large electrical wire spools and thought they would be nice to use for that, set them on a couple of stands and hand roll them pulling the wire in and on to them.

 

[robbyr]

I have done that before as well except after so many loops I wrapped it with tape. Then roll some more and tape some more. I figured after a quarter mile of doing that it would resemble a bird nest so wanted to try something different. Also saw an old TBN thread where it was mentioned you could remove the back wheel on a truck, put an old rim on it, then put truck in low gear to spool it up.

 

[Alan W.]

My electric fence runs are not that long and Im using aluminum wire so I use those orange cord reels to take mine up. But I do have an old hose reel and that may be quicker.

 

[robbyr]

Heard those reels mentioned but didn’t think they would hold enough wire.

 

[Alan W.]

Heard those reels mentioned but didn’t think they would hold enough wire.

They dont but the fence I take up is just around my garden. I take it down in the winter to let the deer eat on the cover crop.

I have the same hose reel and it was practically useless for its intended purpose. Good to see there is a use its good for.

 

[KYErik]

Great idea! I save the spools that the electric wire comes on. When I am done with the fence, I put a long 1/2" carriage bolt through the empty spool center hole, tighten a nut down and then chuck it into my 2 speed cordless drill. I use the low (screw driving) speed and hold the drill so that the spool is pointed downwards. I use one hand to guide the wire on without kinking. It does get pretty heavy to hold by the time the spool gets close to full. I suppose a guy could rest it on the bed of a truck/UTV while he was reeling it in.