Stretching New Barbed Wire Off an H-Brace Corner With a Ratchet Wire Stretcher: Pull Hard to Set the Barbs, Ease Off to Working Tension, Then Staple

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New barbed wire has stretch built into it. If you staple it up the first time it looks tight, it sags by fall and the bottom strand ends up in the brush.

Tie the strand off at the far brace, roll it out along the line, and hook a ratchet stretcher to it at the near corner. Pull it well past working tension to take the stretch out and seat the barbs, ease it back to working tension, then staple it loose to the line posts and tie it off.

What the numbers say

The British Columbia four-strand barbed wire fence specifications call for pre-tensioning barbed wire to 600 pounds, releasing it, and stapling at 250 to 300 pounds. They say all the stretch must be taken out of the wire, and the wire is wrapped twice around the end post with no spaces.

The British Columbia factsheet on dispensing, stapling, and joining fence wire says new barbed wire is stretched to about 600 pounds to set the barbs, then relaxed to about 250 pounds. It says to tension the wire before stapling and, where you can, to tension when the air temperature is midway between the local extremes.

Most of us do not own a tension meter. A ratchet stretcher with an inline gauge, or a clip-on tension indicator, takes the guessing out of those numbers.

Rolling out the strand

1. Tie the end off at the far brace first, two tight wraps with no gaps.
2. Run a bar through the spool and walk it down the line, letting it turn. The factsheet says barbed wire is dispensed by rotating the roll, and it tangles very easily.
3. Lay the strand on the ground along the posts on the side the wire will hang.
4. Install one strand completely before you roll out the next. Loose strands lying together tangle.

Stretching it

1. Anchor the stretcher's chain or hook to the near brace post below the strand height, so the pull runs straight along the wire.
2. Clamp the wire grip onto the strand a couple of feet back from the post.
3. Ratchet slowly. Walk back and lift the wire off any brush or rock it snags on.
4. Pull to the high tension and hold it a minute to let the barbs seat.
5. Back the ratchet off to working tension.

A ratchet-style fence wire stretcher built for barbed and smooth wire grips the strand without crushing the barbs and holds tension while you work.

Stapling and tying off

1. Staple the strand to each line post while the stretcher is still holding it. Leave the staple loose so the wire can slide.
2. Wrap the end twice around the brace post, tight to itself, and twist the tail back around the strand.
3. Release the stretcher slowly and watch the brace. If it leans, stop and fix the brace before you go on.

The classic mistake is stapling before the wire is stretched, or driving the staples tight. The wire cannot slide to even out, so one panel ends up drum-tight and the next one sags.

Gear and next steps

Tractor Supply sells barbed wire by the roll, staples, and clip-on tension indicators. Heavy gloves, long sleeves, and eye protection are not optional around a strand under that much pull.

Before you string wire, the line posts need to be straight and set; here is a guide to driving 6-foot and 8-foot T-posts on rocky ground.