Clipex posts

They are probably a little more than timber posts but are easy to drive by hand so could work out cheaper since you require less labour/ equipment to install a fence.

Might be a different story if you live in the Burren

I'd say it would depend on what stock you're trying to keep behind it. Sucklers and beef cattle I'd not be overly confident about. Might be okay for internal fencing, but I'm not convinced about them for boundary fencing.

I think they would be fine for dairy cows - I doubt they'd be as rough on it as the beef, plus you can move them about to resize your paddocks. Not sure what they'd give you over pigtails though, unless you had a few sheep running alongside. Great looking system. I'd say with the price of steel now that they'd be ridiculously expensive.

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Are they easy to erect yourself?

What method are people using for driving Clipex posts as I'm going to try them out in the next week or 2 hopefully.

Would using a sledge not damage the galvanise coating ?

Not sure I didn't get any sleeve with then anyway.

The demo video I seen on the MVP website showed them putting a cylinder over the post and then knocking that with one of those handheld engine powered drivers.

I don't even bother with the sledge if the ground isn't real stony or hard just slide the sleeve up and down like a post driver, and haven't had any issues with damaging the top of the post.. probably not the recommended way..you'd put in 30 posts in a hour at your ease

But does it not damage the galvanise at the top of the Clipex post when you hit it ?

Usually no damage, the sleeve I used I received direct from Clipex distributor with an order.

Occasionally, very occasionally if you really have to batter one in there may be a bit of bending near the top especially on the 10 clip posts with a clip near the top....easy fix to bend it back with a vise grips or similar

I have 3 row of high tensile barb through 10 clip posts spaced about 10ft apart going about 100m strained between two King posts next a road but on a rocky margin it would be a pain in the hole to try drive anything else into for yhe last 3 years ....no issue....that's an expensive fence due to spacing

Eco posts and two row of high tensile barb on boundaries next boreen....no issue

On internal boundaries I use it with two strands of electrified wire...no issue....

Ive used it in boggy stuff too in hope it won't rot as quick as most of the wood posts....time will tell there but I'd have faith

Pros: it's so much less hassle to drive and I have a loader mounted post driver but I'd nearly always go for the clipex now for convenience...you can go fencing with the posts, drive tube a sledge a hammer, a strainers and a box of u staples and it doesn't involve the hassle of hooking up a deathtrap on a front loader that would nearly twist the chassis it has such leverage and then have access issues and have it sinking in difficult conditions.

It should give you a long service life without rotting away....

It's convenient to attach wire to (barb or electric with additional insulators)

I think it will stand the test of time and leave a job done and not create a load of recurring jobs as it fails

Cons: it probably could get said it does look a bit industrial or out of place on a farm (how much of that is conditioning? Who knows)....

It's expensive if you do it the way I went about it in first example but I love doing a job and not having to look at it again, that's worth it to me.... (caveat it can be quite competitive for internal boundaries with 2 clip eco posts spaced fairly far apart and disclaimer I do that with fairly quiet stock that are familiar with electric fences and I can usually control with a single line of electric fence on pigtails 30/40 ft apart.....I wouldn't be confident of that set up presenting much of a barrier to a bunch of wild limos brought from a mart that day and let loose or a bunch of heifers separated from a load of bullocks etc....also you can bring the cost down if you don't use their strainers at 200/300 a pop...get a bit of tubing and weld a point to it and use another bit as a stay or put down a section of old esb or telephone pole as a strainer will normally do the finest.

If its wood posts you are going for yhe below might help

I initially put in **** tanilised posts in a place and after 5 years they all started rotting at the base and went one by one in the space of 12 months.......pain in the behind and a false economy at 3.50 a post at the time, if you see light green stained posts made of soft wood not properly dried run a mile...waste of your time and effort.

I've used the kiln dried brown posts of various quality with preservative (not really creosote)...depends on which ones you get there but suffice to say there's not great out there and you'll know if you got shite if the colour bleaches out of them within 3/5 years...5/6/7 euros a post and 8/10 years life if lucky...these are pretenders imo

Then there's the octos....haven't used many of these but those that didn't snap (which a good few did) seem to have lasted well....but I don't like a product I'm dancing on eggshells with

There's also ones from a place over in Wales I think that have been well pressure treated with proper creosote that you avoid handling like the plague that in fairness show no signs of rot and have a lovely deep impregnation of the preservative if you look at them in cross section....they're also not made of shite soft fast grown wood but older more mature denser stuff with lots of growth rings close together (grown in a cold country somewhere I assume)...couple of places in thr country supply those including a lad near tyrellspass

Then there's good quality larch which I've never personally put down but there's some here thats been in the ground since my grandfather's time ...expensive in my experience but good larch is great stuff

By railway cattle posts do you mean repurposed old sleepers or sections of track

If its yhe sleepers they can be grand if they are not too old but telephone/esb poles better ...if you are talking about concreting in sections of old track....that stuff is the best quality steel you can find imo ....they don't nake it like that anymore ....its been there for a hundred years or more and there's barely any corrosion bar a tiny layer on the surface....that stuff will last generations.

Oh....sorry, I've never used those ones but they look very like the Clipex beefy posts (more clips on the railway ones anyway I think)

From my experience of the beefy posts they are a little thicker and sturdier than thr bog standard ones and I found them quite strong but I suppose it depends on the exact use you intend to put them to

I'd also imagine those ones are pretty pricey too

Don't think they were that expensive, but there is also a much cheaper option of a straining kit for the beefy post. I have used both but can't find price at the moment.

Put up this one about 4 years ago hasn't lost any tension yet, although fence is only about 100 meters.

You can also use any more traditional straining posts either.