mainline wire distance

[sapman]

What is the maximum distance (if there is a maximum) that a mainline wire should be strung? Or how far have some of you gone with it? It seems like distance could become too great, and sags would be inevitable. But maybe with enough tie-backs you can keep going.

Thanks,
Tim

[jrthe3]

i am no pro but i think you could go as lomg as you like to as long as you sapport it i have one mainline that is over 700 feet long a put a T post every 100 feet or so but that would depend on the size of the main and the amount of taps on it i know a guy that has a main over 3000' long 11/2 wet line with a 11/2 dry line both on the same wire over 1500 taps on it and he has it sapported like every 25 to 30 feet

[ennismaple]

There's no real limit. The more "hard" connections to trees you have the tighter you can get it. The longer the distance between the ends the more tie-backs and t-bars you need to keep it on a constant grade. If you're on flat ground you need more intermediate supports. If you're on the side of a mountain you can probably get away with very few.

[Valley View Sugarhouse]

my wet dry system, is a little over 4200 ft and gains 350 ft in elevation..

[Haynes Forest Products]

I try and run about 100 at a time and zigzag from tree to tree (beach trees) so that when big limbs or complete trees fall they dont take out the entire wire plus you can tune up the wire section by section

[softmaple]

i think what he is asking is how long the main wire should be strung between trees/tiedowns/supports that support the mainline not how long mainline should be.

[OGDENS SUGAR BUSH]

mine is 900 feet and i am on flat land so i surport it about every 10 feet to keep it from sagging

RICH

[Brian Ryther]

If you are going to break the line in to sections, I would sugest no more than two. Put the ratchets at the ends and not in the middle. If the ratchets are in the middle you will put a sag in the line when you tighten it.

[maple flats]

My longest wire run is about 700' but I think next time I will go about 100-200 per wire and continue on with a new wire adding up to whatever is needed total, along the same thought as Haynes Forest Products. If something falls taking down a section you only need to repair a short section of wire. I started using ratchets to tighten which worked good on softer wire but when I switched to hi tensil wire it broke using a ratchet, then I bought a crimper tool, crimp sleeves and a wire tightener tool from TSC and that works real good. The sleeves are only a few dollars for a 25 pack and I use 2 per connection. The wire puller and crimper should last the rest of my life if I don't lose them. If I want to loosen a section I just cut the wire and add a short repair section to rejoin later if I can't do it without adding something to reach. These wire tensioners pull much better than a ratchet ever did but don't over do it.

[sapman]

Thanks for all the ideas, guys! I actually started by wanting to know total distance of wire, but as Softmaple suggested, knowing distance between tie-backs was another question I had. So far I think I've gone from 15-40' in between, but sounds like I should perhaps add more.

I ran all the fencing for my pastures, so the great guy I had drive my posts set me up with all the stuff for it. I've been using up wire, strainers, and crimp sleeves leftover. The strainers definitely get the wire tight, but it sounds like Flats is using the puller and "gripple" type system that my post driver guy used to brace the ends of my fencing. By the way, if you can locate a reputable fencing dealer, you can probably get better quality materials than from say TSC, and maybe cheaper too. But I do run to TSC quite often myself.

Thanks again, and keep the ideas coming!

Tim

[markct]

so what fence wire is it that you guys use for mainline, the just plain galvanized wire and what gauge, or the hi tensile stuff?

[sapman]

I'm using 12 1/2 gauge hi tensile galvanized. I think that's become sort of an industry standard, at least Glenn Goodrich advocates it. I know some still prefer 9 gauge stiff stuff, which has some advantages. But I prefer 12 1/2, easy to get, easy to run and can handle a lot of tension.

Do you all run separate wires for wet and dry lines, or somehow support both from one?

Tim

[Valley View Sugarhouse]

I use high tinsil wire for support, 1 pipe to each wire, I use softer galvanized wire for side ties, I have found, the ties will break and let the pipe fall to the ground if a big limb or tree falls on them, alot better then trying to splice messanger wire..