Ranch and Pipe Fencing in Tyler, TX

Continuous top rail on welded pipe

A welded pipe fence starts with steel line posts set in the ground and a top rail welded across them in one unbroken run, rather than cut into short sections between posts. The continuous rail ties every post together, so a horse leaning on one spot or a cow rubbing along the line spreads the load down the fence instead of loosening a single post. Rail height is set by the animal: taller for horses, lower and tighter for calves and goats. It is usually painted white or black after welding.

Sucker rod or pipe for the rails

Below the top rail, the horizontal members can be more pipe or sucker rod, the solid steel rod once used in oil wells and now widely reused as fence rail. Sucker rod is solid, narrower than pipe and usually cheaper per run, so many pasture fences combine a pipe top rail with two or three rod rails beneath. Pipe-and-cable is the third option: tensioned steel cable strung through drilled posts under a pipe top rail, which flexes when hit and springs back.

Cattle panel and woven wire on the rails

Where small stock or dogs share the pasture, rails alone leave gaps they can walk through. Welded cattle panels, the stiff grid panels sold in fixed lengths, can be welded or clipped to the posts behind the rails, and woven field wire with smaller openings near the bottom does the same job over longer distances. Horse owners often choose a no-climb woven wire with small square openings, because a hoof can't pass through it.

T-posts, barbed wire and woven wire

For the back pasture, a long boundary or a timber line, the economical fence is steel T-posts driven between wood or pipe corners, strung with barbed wire or woven wire. Barbed wire keeps cattle off the line but is a poor choice for horses. Woven wire holds goats, sheep and dogs and lasts well when it is stretched tight. Keep in mind that towns set their own limits: Tyler allows barbed wire only for bona fide agricultural use, and Bullard prohibits it in all residential districts.

H-brace corners carry the fence

Every stretched wire fence depends on its corners and ends. An H-brace is two heavy posts joined by a horizontal brace and a diagonal tension wire, which keeps the corner from leaning toward the pull of a long run. We put braces at corners, gate openings and changes in grade. On rural acreage around Troup and the wooded tracts near Flint, the brace posts often have to be set through sandy topsoil into the clay below to stay put. Entry points get a pipe drive gate, and older runs with broken wire or leaning corners can go to fence repair instead of a rebuild.

What sets the timeline? The length of the run, the type of livestock, how much brush the line needs cleared, and how many corners and gates it has.

Frequently asked questions