Wallaces Farmer

Dispensing and take-up reels along with fence post and jumper storage at the driver's fingertips

Dan Crummett, Executive Editor, Farm Progress

February 8, 2012

2 Min Read

Alan Newport has been moving cattle around in paddocks and studying intensive grazing management for more than 20 years, so it's no wonder he got tired of running back and forth to the shop for fence posts, getting tangled up in unorganized rolls of polywire and, in general dreading putting up temporary fence.

Last winter, the editor  of Beef Producer  (www.beefproducer.com) spent some time thinking about what he needed on fence building trips, then went to work with a welder to organize his efforts on the front of his 4-wheeler. The result was a pilot model of the PolyFence Wizard, now being built and marketed by fabricator, Rick Moberly of Ponca City, Okla.

The "Wizard" consists of an angle-iron frame which forms a tray in front of the ATV handlebars (with an expanded metal bottom), and tubing mounts for commercial or after-market wire spools. In addition, there's room in the racks in front of the tray for 52 tread-in posts. All the supplies are within easy reach of the driver.

In use, the operator sets the first post and attaches the polywire from the dispensing spool, then drives to the point where a fence post is needed. The post can be placed against the ground and driven in with the driver's left foot (driver not leaving the ATV) and the wire attached to the post. The process  continues to the end of the fence run. For taking up the polywire when it's time to move paddocks, the operator uses a cordless drill motor on the take-up spool to reel in the wire in a matter of seconds or minutes.

Alan has used the rig this fall with a "mob grazing" experiment on his place in northern Oklahoma and says it's taken a lot of the frustration out of stringing wire.

For more information on the PolyFence Wizard, visit www.wendricktools.com, or call (620) 222-4708.

About the Author(s)

Dan Crummett

Executive Editor, Farm Progress

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