O'briens step ins and reels

Does anyone know of a dealer other than Kencove that sells these in N. America, preferably in Canada?

Neville supply, Clare, MI sells them. I had a lot of problems with mine and had to return them and bought Gallagher instead.

Really Ray. What kind of problems?

I have personally used ones that are 15 years old and still in excellent shape. Greg Judy said he's only ever had 1 break on him and O'briens is all he uses now. All his others are in a pile unused.

I miss read your post -other then Kencove- part of it. The post I had were the Kencove clones of the Obriens, and what cheap pieces of garbage those are. The Kencove post break right away just like the cheap farm store step-ins but I guess you already know that. I also had trouble keeping the poly wire on those Obriens style hooks, My guess is you are all using poly Tapes?I saw the actual Obriens post at Nevills and they looked identical besides being yellow but must be better polymer. The Obriens I saw were over $4/post. I order a hundred Gallaghers at a time and get those for around $2.75/post from Paul Modreske at Modreske livestock equipment in Wayland,MI. He told me last year that Gallagher bought out Obriens so that may be why you are having trouble finding Obriens, my guess is that Kencove now makes the pattern. You definitely won't be disappointed with the Gallaghers.

Yes that is what I don't want.. the cheap knockoffs. I plan on using them for both poly wire and tape. I wonder how the Gallaghers will hold out compared to the O'briens. With a price comparable to the knockoffs, I have my doubts. The O'briens seem so durable that I don't mind paying $4 plus a post.

I like the stafix reels better than the obrians. Fewer problems and they run smoother out of the box.

I don't like any of the polymer posts, but obrians used to be the best. Polymer is not all created equal.

I went to premiere1 metal pigtails when I only need one or two wires. Indestructible and my runs aren't so long than carrying the extra weight isn't a big deal.

I did find a local supplier of Stafix so definitely going to use their 3:1 reel and energizer. I don't particularly like using plastic anything either but if these O'briens are going to last me decades, I figure it's worth it. If I wasn't going to do sheep along with my cows, I would consider a metal pigtail.