Mounting electric fence on living trees

Hello,

I'm looking at putting up an electric fence around the pasture of a small farm we recently bought. The total run of fence would be around 2000 ft.

About 1400 ft of that length has mature maple trees on 40-ft centers. Is there a smart way to use these trees as living fence posts for my electric fence? Many are along the laneway and road, so I want it to look reasonably nice.

Thanks in advance for any tips!

Edit: Here's a farm layout I'm working in. I'm primarily looking at Dexter cattle.

Re-edit: There's an existing array of galvanized ground rods near where the yellow area meets the barn wall.

I'd think that there should be a good way but I'm not personally sure what it is.  I just wanted to chime in to encourage you to try to find a way without screwing into the trees.  They're a great maple syrup source and each hole you put in causes some damage.

Mike Jay wrote:I'd think that there should be a good way but I'm not personally sure what it is.  I just wanted to chime in to encourage you to try to find a way without screwing into the trees.  They're a great maple syrup source and each hole you put in causes some damage.

Yep, that's more or less why I'm asking. I could always run fencing inside the treeline, but if I could somehow use the trees, it would save a few hundred dollars.

I'm wondering about some sort of board with I can screw insulators to, that I then strap to the tree. However, I'm wondering if the strap material will end up causing more damage to the tree than two screws.

Joel Salatin uses nylon rope.  Others use bungee cords.  

Honestly, it is cheaper and easier to just use step in posts next to the trees.

R Scott wrote:Joel Salatin uses nylon rope.  Others use bungee cords.  

Honestly, it is cheaper and easier to just use step in posts next to the trees.

Nylon might be an idea.

I'm not sure step in posts would make for good boundary fence - I understand it's a psychological barrier, but it would be more susceptible to small branches etc off the tree than a pounded in T-post.

Brian

You can fix nest boxes to trees using garden hose, which will stretch as the tree grows, and you can adjust it as necessary.  So, hold a square of ply against the tree, take the hose round and nail it to the board, then fix the electric fence attachments to the board.  But I'm not sure it would hold the tension of en electric fence evenly enough on a long run.

Hester Winterbourne wrote:You can fix nest boxes to trees using garden hose, which will stretch as the tree grows, and you can adjust it as necessary.  So, hold a square of ply against the tree, take the hose round and nail it to the board, then fix the electric fence attachments to the board.  But I'm not sure it would hold the tension of en electric fence evenly enough on a long run.

Ah, that's a good thought.

I don't think the fence would put a lot of tension on the trees. Mostly just aiming for something to keep it tight enough to avoid excess sag!

My dexters don't care about the electric fence I put up, they walked right through it. We had to use page wire to contain them.