Where is the best place to buy fencing supplies?

I just bought a new farm that has 26.5 acres. Currently there is barbed wire and the corners consist of really thick railroad-type ties. I live in Central Minnesota, around the st.cloud area. I have about 8 horses and a couple of cows. I want to redo all of the fencing. Where can I get the best, yet most economical fencing at? I had on my old farm, 1 %26amp; 1/2 inch electric poly tape with wood fence posts and t-posts. I now have 5 barns, but I am only going to be utilizing 2 for my horses. They are located around the house. If anyone has any suggestions or whatever , let me know! I could use any tips !|||Congrats on your new farm. If the fence posts are salvageable why not just take down the barbed wire and reuse the posts? You can always replace and/or brace up any areas that need work.





If it were me I'd be leery of using tape or other weak electric fence for the outside perimeter of your property; too easy for something to break the fence, and then your livestock is on the highway. BAD LIABILITY issue plus a real danger to your animals. An alternative is to use something sturdy for perimeter then cheaper stuff for cross fencing.





A neighbor of mine uses Electro-Braid on wooden posts (with wood post elec. insulators). It looks very orderly and neat and is cheap compared to wood, pvc, or Centaur fence. Also it has a much higher break strength than tape yet is still visible - not great contrast against snow but horses learn that where there are posts there is hot wire!|||good places to look for electric fencing(which i have use and have used for years) would be your local hardware stores or tack shops.... also online at Stateline.com or valleyvetsupply.com are good fencing supply companys.


if you want to go the much more expensive route you could go to a local sawyer and get fence poles milled and put wooden fence in yourself. It take alot more work and is more expensive but in the long run you'll have less mantanace on it (usually you have to paint wood fencing ever few years and thats about it unless a horse kicks a rail down or somthing) and it is considered 'prettier'. good luck.|||We used electric poly tape very successfully. Barbed wire is nasty for horses and cattle.





There should be Tractor Supply, Farm Fleet, Home Depot, Menards, or other big building supply stores in your area, or something like them. You can also check the local feed mill. They usually have fencing supplies and generally at the cheapest rates. If not, they can tell you where to get inexpensive fencing for horses and cattle.|||hmm we use fleet farm or farm in fleet|||Congrats on your farm! I would suggest checking out Premier 1 fencing (I have included the link). Their horse catalog is extremely extensive on the types of fencing they offer and how to best use them.





I have been doing a lot of research myself and personally I would not buy electric tape or rope from a local store (i.e. Tractor Supply, Atwoods, feed store) or from StateLineTack. I would go straight to a company that knows something about fencing - has a history of using and testing it - and offers a premium product at a good price.





Cheap fencing is cheap and it won't hold a horse. Smooth wire and barb wire will cut your horses' legs like a knife through butter. PVC or Vinyl fence is weak and breaks w/o it being used with a hot offset wire (fact - as I'm managing a farm now and this type of fence is falling apart).





JMO but hot wire with other combination fencing materials is the best way to go. The perimeter fence and paddock fencing has to be done with different combos and it depends on the type of horses (i.e. stallion?) as well as how close your horses are going to be placed together and if they already get along - or old (and wise) enough to respect fencing. Keep in mind though that in a moment of panic, a horse will go through almost any type of fence.





Good luck with your new place!