The PowerFlex Post The Ultimate Line Post for Electric Fencing New on this page (below)  is a listing of our Authorized Distributors & Dealers for PowerFlex Posts We wish we could send each and every one of you a sample of this post to take to the field and experiment with. My task here is to briefly explain in a short space the "actual usage" of this post. The PowerFlex wpc Post is intended to be used as a line post for electric fencing. So what does that mean? First, put out of your mind all the posts you have used in the past  Below are some thoughts to help "open your mind"  about line posts for hi-tensile electric fencing. The main function of an electric fence line post is to support the electric fence wire, and it needs to have a means to insulate the electrified wire from the ground. Hi-tensile, 12.5 gauge wire has memory capability to maintain the initial tension. It will stretch up to approximately 2% of its length, then return to its normal tension. It is springy and bouncy once it is installed. It has a breaking strength of from 1100 to 1500 pounds. An electric fence line post should be forgiving enough to allow the hi-tensile wire to react to pressure as it is intended to. Now, why do we so often attach an electric fence wire to an insulator on a rigid steel post?  We are not allowing the wire to react to pressure as it is intended, and when pressure is applied (such as deer traffic) something is going to break. It probably isn't going to be the wire or the post. You will likely have a broken insulator - the electric wire will then be resting directly on the steel post and you have a short. When you get time you may go walking to find it. Does a PowerFlex wpc Post stop this problem? It certainly does. Based on the above example, a PowerFlex Post is flexible enough that they will bend to the ground, then spring back up by themselves. With the added tension of the wire, they spring back up even more so.  The PowerFlex post does not require insulators, as the post itself is insulated. And, most importantly, it allows the 12.5 gauge hi-tensile wire to react as it is intended to. Hi-tensile wire stretches then returns back to its initial tension. The PowerFlex wpc post does much the same. They work together in unison. Some thoughts on post heights.    A PowerFlex Post has good ground holding power, meaning that it seems to stay where you put it, without much lift out problem. In the midwest we provide a lot of posts for single strand cross fences.  The WPC1848 (1-1/8" X 48") is more than adequate for this fence.  If you are going to put up multiple strands then a 60" post will be adequate for up to 5 strands, and a 72" post for situations where you have 5 or more strands and want the top wire around 48" above the ground. Ground Penetration: We feel that 12" of ground penetration is enough for a 48" post for single wire cross fences. As post height increases and the number of wires that will be attached to the post increases, so should the ground penetration for the post. On a 72" post, with 5 or more strands of hi-tensile wire attached, then 18" of ground penetration would be more acceptable. We sell the PowerFlex post into many different geographic locations and get feedback from our customers regarding how far the post should be driven into the ground. That feedback varies from different locations, as it should. If you are located in sandy western soil, such as the Sandhills of Western Nebraska - and need more stability, then go with your personal feelings - you probably know your soil better than we do! So what we are saying here is this: If we say that 12" of ground penetration  on a 48" post works well here in the Ozarks and you know personally that a 54" or 60" would be better for your soil types, then go with your feeling. What probably works the best in this industry is to take the basic recommendations + input your own personal experiences and knowledge, and adapt it to your own location. Transitions, Dips and Ridges:  Please just use common sense at these places. Remember, we are calling the PowerFlex Post a line post and it serves that purpose wonderfully. Just as in any type of fence - at bends, transtitions ridges and dips, you will probably need a stiffer post. We recommend using a wood post in places where you will be having extreme pulls in either vertical or horizonal directions. Flexibility:  PowerFlex Posts are flexible. We love the flexibility of these posts, however, they stand upright and straight as well. If you do get pressure from wildlife, treelimbs etc - they are very forgiving.  Below is an illustration of the Flexibility of PowerFlex Posts. Driving PowerFlex Posts:  We feel that you can drive a PowerFlex post anywhere that you can a steel t-post. A standard manual post driver is all you need. In extremely hard ground and/or rocky areas (like we have here in the Ozarks) then a Pilot Driver really does come in handy. Many people make their own post drivers and size them for the length of post you want out of the ground. Example: on a 48" post that you want the top at 36" from the ground - make your driver 36" long, then all your post will be the same height - you won't have to stop and measure each one as you work.  Power (hydraulic) post drivers can be used with PowerFlex Posts, however you will probably want to put a steel sleeve over the post to keep it from flexing . Actually a sleeve with a top cap on it, sized to the length that you want your post off the ground, makes it easy to know when to stop - and all your posts will be be the same height. _____________________________________________ Pictured above is a fence line at Grassland Consulting, LLC, on the Mariposa Farm located in SW Missouri. To date this NZ dairy has installed in excess of 30,000 Powerflex Posts. Most of their interior fences are 1 or 2 strands of 12.5 gauge HT wire on 1-5/8" x 60" white posts. They use a KingHitter hydraulic driver for their wood posts and the Powerflex posts. For the line posts they devised a pilot driver for the KingHitter that punches in a pilot hole, then they drive the Powerflex post into the pilot hole. The straighness of their fencelines are very impressive. They then use reels and polywire to crossfence these long paddocks. ________________________________________ Additional Note: Under extreme drought conditions, in which case it is hard to get "any" post into the ground -- it will be the same with a PowerFlex Post. We have experienced this here in the Midwest in July & August this year. We worked hard at it at times with a Pilot Driver. In these cases it may be helpful to go to a Rental Store and rent a Rotary Hammer Drill with a splined masonary bit with flighting. These usually come in 18" to 22" lengths. These bits have carbide tips and last years in a rental store. It will normally be an electric unit, so a generator will be required. But, you can pre-drill a lot of post pilot holes in a day.  If you buy this unit it will probably sell from $400 to $600 or you could rent it for $40 to $50 a day. You can also get a chuck adaptor that you could use to drive your ground rods as well.  Under normal soil conditions you will not need a drilling device - however it's something to consider under extreme drought, hard soil conditions  or when encountering solid rock !   Click here for spec's on this Rotary Hammer Drill   UPDATE - 12-5-2007:  Powerflex Fence is now stocking the above Bosch Rotary Hammer Drills along with 1", 1-1/8", 1-1/4", 1-1/2", and 1-9/16" drills and a ground rod driver. These bits will give you about an 18" depth hole and will drill thru concrete or solid rock. This tool uses a Bosch SDS MAX spline. We have been getting feedback from our contractor customers on this unit as well as using them ourselves. The results are very favorable. We don't view this item as a lazy mans tool, but rather - a smart mans tool. I will be posting this item in Our Products section under Fence Tools - along with a product review. The tool itself will sell for $ 459.00. If you have any immediate needs or questions, just call us - 417-741-1230  0 they are ready to ship !   Drilling PowerFlex Posts:  We just had a call from a customer that prompts me to address the issue of drilling the posts. So lets talk a little about the drilling procedure. We recommend that you field drill PowerFlex posts. They drill quite easily with a standard cordless drill. The posts when driven are very hard to turn, so if you get off when driving them your cotter pins will not be square with the fence and cause you some problems. The cotter pin we provide is 13 gauge, class III. You want to drill a hole that just allows the pin to go through. Do NOT oversize the hole. A 3/16" hole is adequate, so please don't drill a larger hole. If you have some 10 to 12 gauge cotter pins on hand, please just keep them for other uses,  and do not use them on PowerFlex posts. You will likely be taking out more material than neccessary and hey, its common sense - if you drill a hole thru any rod material, it will weaken it at that point. We have had no problems with the 13 gauge cotter pins that we provide and highly recommend using them. Due to the flexible nature of these posts we do not feel that a larger cotter pin will give you any more strength. (A Case in Point here: over the years we have had customers bring us, or talked about, broken fiberglass posts. Usually the break is at a pre-drilled hole that was not in use.) Making your own cotter pins out of 12.5 ga hi-tensile wire ? That would be acceptable. Our ol' friend Willy Kilmer has done this for years - he calls his a diaper pin knot. In this case you will only need to drill a small hole to allow a single 12.5 gauge wire to pass thru. Just remember to not lock the fence wire in place - make a loose knot to allow free travel of the fence wire.  I have done this before but personally prefer the manufactured cotter pins as my hands get weary after working with the stiffer hi-tensile wire, making and installing cotter pins all day. (maybe thats a sign of my age.) To me, the pins we provide are easy to work with and too cheap to make me want to make my own ! The cotter pins we provide are part #2529 and come in a bag of 100 for $5.95. Cotter Pin Installation Suggestion: Updated 3-13-07: Here's a new way to install the cotter pin that we feel does work great. This Photo was sent to us by the Gerrishs in Idaho, and is the way they have been installing them. Now why didn't we think of this ? We have cautioned you that if you bring the cotter pin tail back around the wire, to NOT cinch it up tight - and to make sure that the fence wire has free travel thru the pin. We have observed that it often does get cinched up too tight and when the post bends with pressure from tree limbs, wildlife, etc, that the binding of the cotter pin does not allow for the post to return upright. In the photo above you can see that the tails of the cotter pin is wrapped around the post and BETWEEN the post and the wire. This closes off the V'd portion of the cotter pin eye and allows for miminal resistance. Thanks for the tip, Jim ! Pilot Driver:   Our Pilot driver really does help when you are in very hard or rocky soils. On the other hand, if you have good soft top soil you will not need one. Our recommendation is to try one if you are having problems getting the posts in straight and plumb. We love the flexible nature of PowerFlex Posts, however this flexible nature also means that when you hit rocks, the posts will want to flex and turn off the rock, thus giving you a post that isnt plumb. Now, for a cattleman that is putting in a single wire cross fence that may not be important -- they may just want a post to do its job, if it leans or flexes a little, so what. Personally, I am somewhat of a "nut" about sighting down my fence and seeing all the posts in line. So, I like using the Pilot driver. If you pilot a plumb straight hole, your post will stand true. Once the wire is attached and tensioned, it will also flex the few that may be a fuzz out of line. The pilot driver is somewhat heavy to lug around, but is sure an improvement over the alternatives in rocky hard soils. Additional note: this pilot driver is not just for PowerFlex Posts, we have used it on various other kinds of posts as well - with favorable results. Post Diameters: Our post diameters are: 1-1/8" and available in 48" and 54" heights. The 1-1/4" posts are available in standard lengths of 48", 54", 60 and 72". We do offer custom lengths, please  call for pricing and allow extra lead time. We also offer a Bull Post in a 1-5/8" diameter. It is a little stiffer and some people just like the thicker "look" and "feel"  of it. We will also be recommending the Bull Post for installations of electified hi-tensile woven wire. The Bull Post is available in 60" or 72" lengths.   Our general guideline for post diameters are: use the 1-1/8" X 48" or 54" posts for single or double strand  cross fences. Use the 1-1/4" posts for multi-wire fences. Use the 1-5/8" Bull Posts for areas where crowding may occur, or just for aesthetics - and the look of a larger post. The 1-5/8" Bull Post:   About 18 months ago we put the Bull posts on a project in a starter yard, that was a complete fence replacement project. The original fence was steel T-Posts with 3 strands of hi-tensile wire. This original fence was in pretty sorry shape the first time we were called in. Dogs had gotten in the yard and the cattle had been run through most of the fencing - with bent steel posts and slack wire. There are around 30 pens with feed bunks on one lane. Cattle arrive in potloads and most have never been expoed to electric fencing, so the normal pressure on the fence is high.  Our suggestion was to install the PowerFlex "Bull" posts, and 4 new strands of hi-tensile. To date, the materials have performed quite well. There have been many challanges and some run throughs, without damage to the fence or animals. We will feature a report with photos of this project in the future. The posts used were a combination of 5' & 6' x 1-5/8" Powerflex "Bull" posts with 4 strands of 180K hi-tensile wire.  We have also participated in a working area project nearby our facilities in which the owner installed 6' Black "Bull" posts at short spacings with 8 strands of hi-tensile wire for the larger holding area - they are NOT electified. The lanes and narrow holding areas carry 7 wires with only one being hot. The owner is very pleased with the way it performs - as well as it's appearance. Well, I was finally by the Starter Yard that I mention above - today - and I had my camera with me. Below are some photos of what they look like in a feedlot after 18 months. No, I didn't go out and straighten any posts or pose any photos - they are just as I found them after 18 months of rugged everyday use and constant pressure. You will notice a little grass under the hot wires in the 2nd photo - pretty unheard of in a feedlot. This system is powered by a Stafix M36R with a remote control. According to the owner, Brad Fricke of Triple F Farms, by Hermann Missouri, the Powerflex posts have been working well and quite an improvement over the original fences. You will see in the photos an occasional "leaning" post or one that has been uprooted, but considering the pressure, they are working great. There have been virtually no replacements or broken posts. Post Spacings: Generally, post spacings will range from 20' to 50', depending upon slope and lay of the land. In most level areas 40' to 50' is a good distance. Out west, you will see spacings of 100'+. The closer your spacings the more visible your fence will be.  So if aesthetics are important to you, and you want the fence to look more "fency" then narrow your spacings.  A mix of wood posts and PowerFlex post is also an appealing and strong fence. In this case, you could put a wood post (a 4"or 5") every 300' to 400' then use 6 to 8 PowerFlex Posts between. This will give you a strong, attractive and effective electric fence with very little maintenance over its lifetime. Tumble Weeds & PowerFlex Posts ?  That was a question we have not had a good testing of until late this fall.  It seems that the tumble weed belt of North America gave us a good testing in November & December 2006. We have had thousands of PowerFlex Posts installed in Eastern Colorado, and they have had some massive tumble weed storms with high winds. Bad enough to flatten steel t-posts. It seems that our posts will bend enough to allow them to roll on over. David witnessed this in SE Colorado while working with a customer to install some hi-tensile woven wire on PowerFlex Posts. Our fence did collect tumble weeds, and there were some adjacent barbed wire fences that were plugged full. The next morning however our fence was as clean as a whistle. The barbed wire fences were still plugged full. Ice & Heavy Snow loads ?  We have had several ice storms on our fences and have been really happy with the performance. We are having one now, as I write.  The high plains have 15' drifts right now. We will be monitoring these fences as the snow melts. Update: I've been waiting for some interesting stories to come in about Powerflex posts and one just did. I had lunch with Tom Strain the other day. Tom is one of our dealers and he has put in several posts on his farm and he told me about running a couple posts thru his brush hog a few weeks ago. He was mowing along a single strand crossfence and trying to mow under the wire, so was weaving in and out around the posts - well he hit one and to his surprise it just popped right back up. He was so impressed that he tested another (but I assumed he was just gawking off somewhere) Anyway he said one did rupture at the base, but it still stood upright and doesn't need to be replaced.....the other he said was under the blades for a while and it only had a few dents in it from them. I think this illustrates the toughness of these posts - but please don't try this at home !  We hope these general comments help you in understanding the potential of PowerFlex Posts. Please feel free to call us anytime with any further questions, concerns or comments. Below is a list of distributors who stock & handle PowerFlex Posts AUTHORIZED DISTRIBUTORS & DEALERS FOR POWERFLEX POSTS

Distributors  (USA)	Contact	Phone	City	State
American Grazinglands Services	Dawn Gerrish	208-876-4067	May	Idaho
Jackson Seed & Farm Supply	Glenn Spencer	816-424-3084	Easton	Missouri
(Has dealers and route trucks in MO, KS, IA NE)
Crete Lumber & Farm Supply	Terry Dittmer	402-826-2197	Crete	Nebraska
Has multiple locations in Nebraska)
Wellscroft Fencing systems, LLC	David Kinard	603-827-3464	Harrisville	New Hampshire
(Has distribution in Northeast USA)
MFA, Incorporated	Allen Huhn	573-876-5239	Columbia	Missouri
(Has distribution channels in MO, KS ,OK, AR
Dealers (USA)
Everitt-Moore Lumber Company	Otis Bonner	719-523-6233	Springfield	Colorado
Greg  Schwab (Fence Contractor)	Greg Schwab	719-568-2878	Rye	Colorado
Tri State Ag Associates	Richard Guenther	815-233-9980	Free[port	Illinois
Kellerman Feed & Supply	Doug Kellerman	618-357-6421	Pinckneyville	Illinois
Green Meadow Farms	Ivan Mast	641-664-3692	Bloomfield	Iowa
Schmidt Fencing (Fence Contractor)	Jason Schmidt	712-365-2528	Battlecreek	Iowa
Matt Larson	Matt Larson	813-842-2678	Land O Lakes	Florida
Moore Fence	Gerald Moore	337-734-3892	Jennings	Louisiana
4S Fencing  (Fence Contractor)	Dan Sharp	660-676-2282	Paris	Missouri
Hoffman & Reed	Phil Hoffman	660-359-2258	Trenton	Missouri
Williman Fencing (Fence Contractor)	Alan Williman	573-619-1193	New Flourence	Missouri
Tim Schafer	Tim Schafer	816-294-0549	Barnard	Missouri
Jamesport Farm Supply	Aaron Stutzman	660-684-6734	Jamesport	Missouri
Miller Farm Supply	Rick Bonnett	573-455-9666	Jefferson City	Missouri
Chester Meyer	Chester Meyer	406-775-6839	Ekalaka	Montana
Charles Thomas	Charles Thomas	406-423-5573	Hobson	Montana
Flat Ridge Grazier's Supply	Melvin Miller	330-893-2597	Millersburg	Ohio
Matthas Mast	Matthas Mast	724-588-1117	Greenville	Pennsylvania
Raush Fencing  (Fence Contractor)	Rick Raush	605-447-5888	Onaka	South Dakota
Quiet Side Grazing Systems	Bill McConkey	920-421-1486	Whitlleyville	Tennessee
Sand Creek Farm	Ben Godfrey	254-697-2927	Bryan	Texas
Dan Wickware	Dan Wickware	903-968-4653	Pittsburg	Texas
Sunny Ridge Supply	David Schowalter	540-879-3944	Dayton	Virginia
St Albans Coop Store	Steve Martin	802-524-9366	St Albans	Vermont
Cutler Fence  (Fence Contractor)	Randy Cuttler	715-652-3060	Auborndale	Wisconsin
Canada
Davidson Livestock Company	Rob Davidson	250-402-8664	Creston	British Columbia
Keddies Grande Prairie Feed	Glenn Keddie	800-390-6924	Grande Prairie	Alberta
Cedarcroft Analytics (Farms)	Stephen Burgess	613-347-7291	North Lancaster	Ontario
Europe
Grasstec	Bertie Troy	00353 87 2728668	Cork	Ireland

The photo below shows a PowerFlex #WPC1848 post ( 1-1/8" diameter x 48") that is about 36" to the top, with a single 12.5 gauge hi-tensile wire attached at approximately 34" above ground. This is a typical permanent cross fence for cattle. It will also be a good goat / sheep cross fence by adding more strands of wire. The photo below this one, shows what the post will look like if you "intentionally" try to break it !

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Read below BEFORE you draw

a conclusion about the next photo !

I almost hesitate to show this photo - but it illustrates a point. This is a close up photo of a PowerFlex Post that was put into a vice and bent beyond 90 degrees multiple times in every possible direction. We have never been able to break these posts into two pieces. If  you drove your truck over it several times over - it would still maintain its integerity as a fence post !  The photo also shows the oriented fibers that make this post as strong as it is. Also, you will notice that there are no sharp slivers or shards of material that would pose a safety issue. You could run your hand over this damaged area without fear of slivers !  For example, if you somehow did as much damage to a post as the one in this photo received - it would still be able to perform its prime function - and that is to stand upright and maintain your wire spacings. What more could you ask for in a line post for electric fencing ?