The Accidental Smallholder Forum
Smallholding => Land Management => Topic started by: mark_p_monroe on September 20, 2020, 09:58:11 pm
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I have a parcel of land 25m long with sheep fencing on both sides, One side done with just sheep fence and extra line of wire, into wooden posts at 3m gap. the other side is done with sheep wire, posts and rails.
We want to cap the 10m width of the land at both ends and use the area for a dog run. We intend to put extra chicken wire along both of the 25m sides and then install new 1.2m high galvanised wire with 2 x 2 gaps with 4inch posts. We would then have a 2 meter gate in each end. The dogs are small dachshunds so we woriied about getting heads stuck in bottom of sheep fencing.
I have 2 frozen shoulders so am just not able to complete the work, so anyone got any idea how much i should pay for 50m of chicken wire overlay, and then 2 gates and approx 16m of new fence. Ive been quoted £650 for labour only, but that seems ridiculous to me! I have all the materials on site already
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That sounds steep to me. I paid about 3x that for around 200m of stock fencing, two strands of barbed wire and two gates. Materials and labour, everything included.
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Chicken wire is the devil's own to use, you might get a cheaper quote for a second layer of stock fencing, offset to make the available holes smaller ;)
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We have found that having two layers of mesh, or one of chicken wire and the other sheep mesh, is something of a death trap, perhaps not for the dachsies, but for lambs or poultry on the other side. It is almost impossible to get chicken wire really taut, just because of the way it's made, so it becomes a series of hanging traps - heads can get through but not back.
Sorry I can't help with costs as we've always done our own, but perhaps a single person fencing business would be the way to go. I would think that the costs reflect where you are and how many fencing providers there are in the area. Get at least 3 estimates before committing yourself to such a cost. Perhaps the price is higher because of the gates and all those strainers needed - can be hard work if your ground is rocky like ours.
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The best advice is get some more quotes. If they are similar then that's what the cost is in your area.
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Couple of thoughts:
At face value, your requirements [member=206153]mark_p_monroe[/member] seem to be fairly limited and not requiring the services of an agri' fencing "contractor". As Fleecewife sort of suggested, you might be better off engaging a "handy-person" I reckon.
However, hanging/clipping-in a bit of "rabbit/chicken wire" takes time (apart from testing one's patience and wrist strength).
Where are you ??
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Thanks for taking the time to offer your advice, really appreciate it. We are in shropshire/powys border.
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Unfortunately you are too far away [member=206153]mark_p_monroe[/member] for me to offer my services: but there will be someone nearby I'm sure.
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Have you thought of using debris netting for scaffold instead of chicken wire? You could get a multitude of colours and you can staple it on with a hand stapler?