Tie Wire and Nylon Line for Fence Support
You may not need to support your fence with tie wire or nylon line. If your deer fence is polypropylene and less than 500 feet long, and if you see no need to defend it against falling tree branches, then you need nothing along the top.
If your deer fence is a metal hexagrid fence or a polypropylene fence over 500 feet long, plan on supporting the fencing by putting a run of black metal tie wire or nylon monofilament line along the top. The wire or line should not go around corners, across gates, or over 300 feet in a straight line (80 feet in the case of tie wire). When you have gone 300 feet, reached a corner, or reached a gate, terminate your run of line and start again. If these runs tend to be modest (80 feet or less) or go around a curve, use metal tie wire. Otherwise use nylon monofilament –12 gauge for polypropylene fencing, 8 gauge for metal hexagrid fencing.
If you anticipate heavy deer impacts on a polypropylene fence, put one or two additional runs of nylon monofilament line and/or tie wire through the mid-section of the fence, following the same rule for selecting monofilament versus tie wire that you used in selecting the line/wire along the top of the fence.
Based on the above, calculate the number of feet of nylon monofilament (8 or 12 gauge) and/or metal tie wire that you will need. This calculation will tell you how many of the various spools or rolls should be placed in your cart.
Line Terminators and Tensioners
The metal tie wire requires no special terminators or tensioners. That’s because it is tightened manually, doesn’t stretch, and can be terminated by twisting it several times around itself. However, wherever a “run” of nylon line begins or ends you need accessories to terminate this run. Plan on using two terminators for each run of nylon line.
The nylon monofilament (both 8 and 12 gauge line) can be terminated with U-bolt cable clamps or gripples. If you are using U-bolt cable clamps you will need two of these cable clamps (they come in packs of 10) and one circular (daisy wheel) tensioner for each “run” of line. You should also get one handle tool for tightening the circular wire tensioners, which are left on the deer fence and can be re-tightened if and when the nylon line stretches. Please note that the handle tool’s design has been changed since our installation videos were made (it now has only one handle), but it works.
If you are using gripples you do NOT need any circular wire tensioners or handle tool, but you do need a gripple tensioning tool. In general, the gripples provide the most elegant but also a more expensive solution, while the U-bolt cable clamps are the cheaper choice.
Using the information above, calculate the number of terminators you will need (two per run), adding any circular wire tensioners (one per run) and special tools that you may need, and enter these in the shopping cart.
Fasteners for Tie Wire and Nylon Line
Plan on attaching the nylon monofilament line and/or metal tie wire to the deer fencing with nylon zip-lock ties or hog-ring staples. We recommend the nylon zip-ties if your fence is of modest length (less than 300 feet) and using a hog ring stapler and staples if it is longer. (The zip-ties are less expensive than the stapler and staples but they take longer to fasten.) Use one staple or nylon zip-tie per foot of monofilament line or tie wire.
