Fencing Guides and FAQs
Welcome! You have a project and we have the expertise and products to help you get it done. Thanks to OK Brand (Oklahoma Steel & Wire) for sharing their decades of fencing experience.
FENCE BASICS
Choosing the right fence can be challenging. Be sure to think about your unique needs and invest in high-quality parts to ensure lower maintenance. Containing livestock requires different fence than containing small pets, just like temporary construction sites require different fence than a private backyard. Rest assured that we carry a wide range of fencing, gates, and panels for your project.
- Cattle: barbed wire and heavyweight woven fences are ideal for acreage coverage while heavy wire panels are great for facilities and short runs.
- Sheep and Goats: barbed wire fences have been used but can damage fleece and cause injury, a better choice is heavyweight woven wire fences.
- Swine: medium to heavyweight woven wire fence situated close to the ground, sometimes with a barbed wire to discourage rooting, provides proper containment.
- Horses: make sure to use panels or woven wire fencing with small openings to increase visibility and reduce the chance of accidental injury (eg: legs going through large openings).
- General Containment: non-livestock applications such as small pets, construction sites, and temporary enclosures/boundaries are perfect applications for rolled bulk fence or utility panels.
KNOT TYPES
There are generally two types of fence knots: flexible and rigid. Flexible knots allow the fence to give slightly under stress, such as during installation or when animals are rubbing against the section. Rigid knots are those that provide extra strength against aggressive animals or when your application calls for the least amount of give possible.
Welded joints are also found on many panels and fences, and obviously provide the most rigid option. This also makes them more difficult to work with, especially over uneven terrain, and provide no give when impacted.
CALCULATE HOW MUCH FENCE YOU NEED
Use these calculators to determine just how much you'll need. No sense in overspending, and certainly don't want to end up short when you're in the field!
RUST PROTECTION/ASTM RATING
The longevity of your fence depends on numerous factors: the type of wire, its thickness, the protective coating quality, weather conditions, and stressors like animals rubbing against the sections. But there's an easy way to get a sense of how well your fence will hold up over time - its ASTM rating. ASTM is the American Society of Testing and Materials, and has established standards for testing and performance.
Most fence is coated with zinc (galvanized) and is measured by its class rating. It's an indicator of how many ounces of zinc coating exists per square foot. The higher the class, the better it is at resisting rusting.
- Class I is the lightest - should be several years to a decade before rusting
- Class III is the heaviest - may be several decades before rusting
- "Regular galvanized" isn't really a rating but provides some protection (better than bare steel)
Now that you're better informed, visit our fencing, gates, and panels section of the website to browse our offerings. Note: visit your local store for full selection and best prices!