ABOUT A BREAK FENCE

Press, Volume CVI, Issue 31327, 25 March 1967, Page 8

ABOUT A BREAK FENCE

'T’HE Agricultural Engineering Institute has recently been doing some break fencing for the Department of Scientific and Industrial Research at Lincoln. The department was looking for a cheap fence which could be moved easily and quickly by one or two men, and which would be 100 per cent effective for holding sheep on trials. The venture is described in the institute’s latest newsletter. “Electric fencing was tried, but for some reason was inadequate,” says the report “We began with two bonuses, which a good many farmers would not enjoy, and our results must be seen in this light The paddocks were flat and also rectangular in shape. “Four-inch English sheep netting was selected for the fence, and a length of 2} chains spanned the distance between the two opposing boundary fences. “A steel spreader was

woven into each end, and a length of wire rope fastened top and bottom carried a hook for straining. A Hayes strainer was used to tighten the netting, and the pull was made from the base of the standards in the boundary fence. “Brackets made from angle iron with sprags in their base were at an 18ft spacing to support the fence, and intermediate steel droppers with twisted and slotted ends inserted between the top and bottom strands. The former were made from Ijin by jin angle iron, and this now appears to have been much too strong—ll x l-Bin iron would have been ample. “Well what of the fence as a break fence? Too elaborate, —quite simple. Too expensive —fairly cheap. Quite impractical for long lengths in large paddocks, even if erected and strained in lengths No good on undulating ground. Yes, these are some of the arguments heard in this office and there are no doubt

plenty more. One thing is certain; it works on the job for which it was made and the D.S.I.R. are happy enough.”