Use boulders for the dirt bikes, also check fencing companies they sometimes have rusty chaine link fences that are unsightly that they will sell you for the price of scrap .Sometimes they have old wooden fencing that they are going to burn . check all the fence companies and then if necessarry the metal scrap yards THey cost more.

There are several types of plastic mesh used as snow fence and at costruction sites, Its not really cheap but comes in orange whci is highly visible. They could probably sue you if they hit the fence too!! Lawyers!!!

maybe welded wire, or horse wire it comes in 4 and 5 foot heights, we buy roll ends by the pound, we use it to keep goats in and dogs and other preditors out. i will have to ask my husband what he pays per pound. it is kinda hard to notice, so i would suggest that on any new fence. especially where there was none before, to tie orange safty tape every so often untill they realize ....stop there is a fence here

samm

Welded wire is prolly the way to go. I never would have thought of scrapyards, and other leftovers. Thanks.

Electric Fence.
Stan

First off, why is barbed wire out,.....

The cheapest, most durable fence by far is a strand wire fence like barbed wire, and is also the least labour intensive to put up. 2 strand, 16 guage, barbed wire will last 40 years on treated posts, and at that point in time, the wire, the most expensive part, will be hard, brittle and difficult to work, but still good for another 20 years. Single strand barbed wire won't last as long and can be broken by cattle.

Here we use 4 strand wire fences, with 12 inches between strands, 15 to 20 feet between posts, corners braced and tied, stringers every 5 feet to keep the strands supported in the middle, with corner gates constructed of short strands of wire, 4 supporting posts and a simple tensioning latch. This allows neighbors on all sides to recover animals or you to easily move stuff through the property.

The horse people here, use 4 strand barbed wire to border their property, ( keeps cattle out, allows wild animals through) with 4 strand 14 guage galvanised solid wire for the cross fences. Sometimes the Horse people use 3 strands of 14 guage galvanised solid wire with a single strand of barbed on top for perimeter fencing.

A key element, legally and for impact is to post the property in convention with local traditions. In many areas of the US, a paint blaze, like a orange square, painted on posts, trees and rocks, serves as legal notice that the property is posted, trespassers will be prosecuted, access, hunting and fishing is only with prior permission of the landowner.

In other areas, the signage needs to be in plain english, and prominent with certain coverage required. Here, we are required to post on each corner, and midway along the fence, for every quarter section, for a total of 12 signs per full section, (160 acres).

Roostersgirl, where do you get roll ends of fencing? Have never seen it except at garage or auction sales. thanks.
cella jane

Has anyone had experience with cactus for fencing? It looks like they use it like that in the Middle East alot. It might be nice to have a 'natural' fence.

Jen

We found that High Tensile Wire (12-1/2ga galvanized) wih accessory springs and an electric fence solar charger works well for all sorts of livestock and predator control. Posts can be spaced more than 30' apart and it has sustained no real damage from branches/trees where it runs through the woods. We run a 6-wire fence but you could get by with less depending on what you are trying to keep in/out.

Set good quality posts and braces. Plan on spending some time on a regular basis maintaining/inspecting your fence. When you take the time to install good fence you do not want it to get run down.

Humans are a different story. Good strong fences and signs are a minimum. You can run one run of barbed wire at the top of the fence to further disuade people from trying to climb over the braces. Talk to the Sherriff about trespassers/signage and your rights/responsibilities.

It will probably be easier to keep the terrier in than dirt bikers out. The db's come with single-minded bloke determination to go where they wanna go.

Could you get second-hand 44-gallon drums and cut out top/bottom then put them around your most vulnerable trees? Metal ones are best because they slowly rust out as the trees are growing. The db's are less likely to rip those out than they are to rip out plant stakes, particularly if you wired or welded them to a stake to drive into the ground. (It can also discourage grazing by hares and rabbits so you don't end up with Very Short trees, or deaths from ring-barking.)

However awful it might look - slabs of old concrete used to make a solid dry wall. If it was made with a gap between you could infill and plant up with something like Citrus trifoliata which has very discouraging thorns.

I solved this problem by simply adding 3.ft to the concrete posts with timber the same size as the posts, mine were 3"X3" using to holes that the chain links went through and some long 1/4" bolts with washers, you could use angle iron but wood is easier and cheaper.

Take old tires, cut the sidewall off one side and fill the tire with dirt. Stack them alternating like you would with bricks. They can be plastered over so they dont look like tires too.