14 gauge electric fence wire

[devils11217]

Could i use 14 gauge electric fence wire that is readilly avaiable at tractor supply to support a 1/2" or 3/4" main line? Or do i need the 12 1/2 Gauge hi tensile wire regardless?

[Sunday Rock Maple]

H T for main and 14 for side ties they will break first when a tree falls on it

[Loch Muller]

Your better off with high tensile. Learned that one the hard way!

[Ryan Mahar]

Ditto............high tensile only............really stinks to go back and re-install everything after the 14 gauge breaks...........no savings there for sure!

[BreezyHill]

Could i use 14 gauge electric fence wire that is readilly avaiable at tractor supply to support a 1/2" or 3/4" main line? Or do i need the 12 1/2 Gauge hi tensile wire regardless?

HT only for support. Side tie with CDL Rapid Tie. 14 ga soft wire has very limited strength to with stand even cold weather constriction of the HT wire.

So when the weather warms in the day time. The heavier lines will sag with the weight of the sap. A small sag becomes bigger as the line fills, until you have a block of the line and vac transfer is sacrificed and a sap pool is formed.

TSC also has the HT wire, may have to ask where it is.

Ben

[WESTVIRGINIAMAPLER]

I always use 9 gauge not high tensile and have been using it for many years. Price is usually same as 12.5 gauge high tensile just get less footage of wire but it is much easier to work with than high tensile.

[maple flats]

My early lines (2005) had 9ga, not HT and it worked fine. Then I started using HT. HT is harder to work with but it is far stronger. It requires hardened cutters and take some experience to work with. I now don't use support wire on my mains, 3/4" and by far most are 1", but I do use wire on my 1.25 and 1.5". For the others, I use the Rapitube method ( https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=zDdHrRzo7qY ). However I use the method with Leader 30P mainline. I like the simplicity, but if you have little slope you will need to side tie frequently and often need to add posts where there aren't enough side tie trees.