Before you price a single roll of wire or a pack of posts, there's a more important question to settle: what kind of fence does this job actually need? It's the question that decides whether the fence lasts thirty years or gives you grief every season — and it's the one most easily got wrong, because it's tempting to just build "what we've always built" or copy the neighbour. The right answer depends on what you're containing (or keeping out), what the fence is for, and the country it's going across. Get that right and the construction is the easy part.

This guide is the selection guide — it helps you choose the fence system and points you to the right products. Once you've settled on a type, we've got the how-to-build guides to take it from there, linked through the article.

Start with four questions, in this order

1. What are you containing — or keeping out — and how much pressure? A quiet breeding cow leans occasionally; weaners test everything; a bull or stock under feed pressure finds any weakness. Sheep and goats challenge low and through. Horses are flighty and run into fences. And dogs are their own problem, at both ends: people want to keep working and pet dogs in, and wild dogs out — and a small dog like a Jack Russell will go through, over or under a fence that would hold a steer, while wild dogs are determined climbers and diggers. The animal sets the minimum standard.
2. What's the fence for — boundary, subdivision, or temporary? A boundary fence is a thirty-year, build-once, legally-shared structure and deserves your best materials. An internal subdivision fence needs to be stock-proof but can be lighter, and electric shines here. A temporary or rotational fence needs to be fast to put up and move.
3. What country is it crossing? Flat, cleared, stable ground is forgiving. Hilly, timbered, rocky, flood-prone or scrubby country changes post type, strainer assemblies, and how hard the fence gets tested by falling timber and floodwater.
4. How permanent, and what's the budget over its life? The cheapest fence to build is rarely the cheapest to own. A well-built prefabricated or electric fence can outlast and out-earn a cheap plain-wire fence that needs constant repair.

The main fence systems — and what each is genuinely good at

Barbed wire

The traditional cattle boundary fence in Queensland. Strong, familiar, effective at stopping cattle that respect it. Barbed earns its place on cattle boundaries and rough country. Its weaknesses: it's not sheep- or goat-proof, and it should never be used where horses are kept — the injury risk is too high. That said, a single strand of barbed has two very useful specialist jobs on a dog fence (see below). Building one properly is covered in How to Build a Barbed Wire Fence.

Plain high-tensile wire (often with electric)

Plain HT wire is lighter to handle, holds tension well over long runs, and is kinder to stock than barbed. On its own it's a moderate barrier; add one or two electric wires and it becomes a very effective, low-cost boundary or subdivision fence that stock learn to respect rather than lean on. Often the sweet spot for cattle subdivision.

Prefabricated mesh — the workhorse for small stock, dogs and mixed classes

Prefabricated mesh (field fence) is the go-to when a continuous barrier is needed — sheep, goats, dogs, or mixed classes. But not all mesh is the same, and the spacing matters enormously. Mesh is described by three numbers — for example 8/90/30 means 8 horizontal line wires, 90 cm high, with vertical stays every 30 cm. Two numbers do the real work:

• Number of line wires and height — more wires, closer together near the ground, means a smaller animal can't push through.
• Vertical stay spacing — this is the one people get wrong, and it cuts both ways.

Getting the spacing right — small dogs vs horned stock

This is where TGRM's retail experience earns its keep, because the right mesh depends on what you're fencing:

• Small dogs (Jack Russells and similar) and wild dogs: you need tight spacing and plenty of line wires so nothing can squeeze through. A 12- or 13-line mesh with close vertical stays is the answer — for example our Maxloc Yardmesh 13/122/5 (13 line wires, 122 cm high, stays every 5 cm). For dog runs and yards, chainwire is another excellent tight-barrier option.
• Sheep and goats — the horn trap: horned sheep and goats push their heads through the mesh to graze and get their horns caught in medium-sized squares — at best a daily rescue job, at worst a dead animal. The trap is mid-range spacing. There are two safe ways around it: go wider, such as 8/90/30 (30 cm stay spacing) so heads and horns pass straight back through; or go very tight, with squares small enough that a horn can't get into them in the first place. It's the in-between spacing that catches horns — so pick a definite side, and talk to us about the right mesh for your stock.

We carry the range across both ends of this — from tight 13/122/5 yardmesh through 8/90/15 and the wider 8/90/30 field fence (Maxloc / Angas, and Whites Murray Stiffstay), so we can match the mesh to your actual animal rather than sell you one product for every job.

Keeping dogs in — and wild dogs out — with barbed-wire add-ons

Mesh alone stops most dogs, but a determined dog — and a wild dog especially — goes over or under. For serious wild-dog pressure, the stocked exclusion base is Whites StiffStay Wild Dog 13/115/15 — thirteen line wires over 115 cm closes the pattern right down against pushing through. Where wild-dog pressure is significant, consider additional fence height or a suitable top-wire configuration as part of the design — the right setup depends on terrain, existing fence construction, stock and local dog pressure — and exclusion fencing needs regular inspection and maintenance to stay effective. As a practical option based on TGRM experience — not a universal rule — some customers add:

• A top strand of barbed wire (such as Waratah Longlife barb) above the mesh to discourage dogs (and some stock) from climbing or jumping over.
• A bottom strand of barbed wire, close to the ground, to help stop dogs digging under in problem areas.

Stopping pigs digging under — aprons and footers

Pigs don't climb — they root and dig under. Where feral pigs are the problem, an apron (footer) — mesh laid along the ground on the outside of the fence, or turned out at the base — stops them getting a start digging under the fence line. It's the pig-specific equivalent of the bottom barbed strand for dogs.

Electric fencing — permanent and portable

Electric is less a "type of fence" than a tool you add to control behaviour. Permanent electric is superb for cattle subdivision, protecting a good boundary fence from leaners, and strip-grazing. Portable electric (reels, tread-in posts, a portable energiser) is unbeatable for rotational grazing and temporary breaks. The catch is that electric depends on a properly sized energiser and — critically — good earthing; a weak or badly earthed system trains stock that the fence doesn't bite. Choosing the unit is covered in Choosing the Right Electric Fence Energiser and Gallagher vs Thunderbird; building it (including earthing) is in How to Build an Electric Fence.

Steel rail, cattle rail and portable panels

Where you need maximum strength in a small area — yards, laneways, gateways, holding paddocks or high-traffic corners — you move from "fence" to steel rail and panels. Most expensive per metre by far, so you use it where the pressure justifies it. Selecting it is covered in Choosing Cattle Rail, Hardware and Portable Panels.

Quick match: animal to fence

The parts that make the job faster, cheaper and stronger

Whatever system you choose, a fence is only as good as its strainer assemblies, posts and spacing, and the right tools and clips turn a slow, sore-handed job into a quick one. This is where a rural merchant that fences for a living can save you real money in labour:

• Run your guide wires first. On a mesh fence, running one or two guide (tie) wires along the line before you hang the mesh gives you a straight, tensioned line to clip the mesh onto — much simpler and neater than wrestling mesh into place on its own. We stock Waratah LongLife tie wire for exactly this.
• Clip instead of twitch — save the labour. Twitching wire onto every star post by hand is slow. The Waratah Galstar Jio post is built to take clips: Jio Post Clips (250 pack) and the Jio back-of-post (BOP) clip let you clip wire to the post in seconds, and Waratah star-post clips do the same on standard pickets. Jio posts with the clip option cost a little more than plain star pickets, but on a long fence the labour they save more than pays for it.
• Jambro ring fasteners and pliers for mesh. For clipping mesh to line/guide wires and joining mesh quickly, the Whites Jambro ring fasteners (1000 pack) applied with the Jambro ring-fastener pliers are fast, cheap and easy — a big time-saver on a long mesh run.
• Gripples — the professional's join. Where two rolls of mesh meet, you're suddenly joining eight or thirteen line wires at once — and doing that with knots or figure-eights is slow, ugly and never quite as strong. A Gripple joiner on each line wire connects large numbers of mesh strands together quickly and professionally: push both wire ends into the Gripple, tension it, done — a neat, full-strength join every time, and the same joiner mends breaks and re-tensions plain wire down the track. We stock Gripple Plus joiners in fencer packs for exactly this work.
• Gripple T-clips — the easy tie-off. Tying off around a post or strainer is the other sore-handed job — especially with barbed wire. The Gripple T-clip makes it extremely easy: take the wire around the post, feed the tail back into the T-clip and it locks — no twisting, no wrestling barb, and a clean professional finish. Works on both barbed and plain wire, and alongside our Easylock clips for barbed it takes most of the pain out of a barbed-wire build.
• Go heavier where the pressure is. In high-pressure sections — corners, stock camps, laneways, heavy mobs — stepping up to the heavier Waratah Galstar MaxY Jio post (180 / 210 / 225 cm) every fourth post stiffens the whole run without the cost of heavy posts the full length.
• Strainers and tools — ratchet and contractor wire strainers, Wedgelock clamps, twitchers, fencing pliers and post lifters to build it right and tension it properly.

Undersized strainers and posts spaced too far apart are the two most common reasons a fence built with good wire still sags. Our guide How Far Apart Should Fence Posts Be? covers getting spacing right for your fence type and country.

Concrete posts — no rust, no rot, no fire damage

There's a third post option alongside steel and timber that deserves a harder look: concrete. We stock the ACP (Australian Concrete Posts) range, and the case is simple — concrete posts don't rust, don't rot and don't burn. Steel corrodes in wet and coastal ground, timber rots and feeds the white ants, and a grass fire takes out both; concrete just keeps standing there holding strain. And with the price of good fencing timber where it is — when you can even source it — concrete has become the build-once choice that makes financial sense, not just the premium one. They look great in the fence line, too.

It's a full system, not just strainers. The standard line posts come in three sizes — 130 mm × 1.90 m (36 kg), 2.15 m (40 kg) and 2.2 m (41 kg), colour-coded so you can tell them apart in the yard — and every post comes pre-drilled with holes for barbed and plain wire, so there's no drilling on site: run your wire straight through and strain up. The strainers step up to serious units — 170 mm × 2.2 m (106 kg), 2.4 m (119 kg) and 3 m (148 kg) — where the weight itself works for you at the strain. That weight is also the honest trade-off: these aren't posts you throw on your shoulder, and machine handling makes the job far easier (we stock driver caps made for driving them).

Beyond the pre-drilled wire runs, hardware attaches through bolt-on brackets matched to the post sizes — 130 mm sets for the standard posts and 170 mm for the strainers — shaped to the job: round sets for line wires, two-way rectangular brackets where the fence pulls in two directions, and a four-way bracket for corners. Box-end strainer kits with gal pipe stays and the ACP round stay rail build the full end assembly, and a BOSAG gate kit hangs your gate straight off a concrete post.

One honest limit: concrete won't take a direct hit from a big beast the way steel flexes and survives — a charging bull or a truck reversing into one will crack it. So keep them out of the crush-pressure spots. Everywhere else, you've got two good ways to use them: a full concrete fence — standard posts in the line, concrete strainers at the ends — for the no-maintenance, fire-proof build; or concrete strainers with steel pickets between where budget leads. Either way the anchors are there for good.

Where TGRM fits in

Because we're a rural merchandise store rather than a single-brand reseller, we put the right system in front of you rather than pushing one manufacturer's product. We carry:

• Prefabricated mesh from tight 13/122/5 yardmesh (for small dogs) through 8/90/15 and wider 8/90/30 field fence (for horned stock), plus chainwire — Maxloc/Angas and Whites ranges.
• Barbed, plain and tie wire — including Waratah — for boundaries, dog top/bottom strands and mesh guide wires.
• Electric fencing — Gallagher and Thunderbird energisers, wire and reels, tread-in and permanent posts, insulators and accessories.
• Posts, clips and labour-savers — Waratah Galstar Jio posts and the heavier Galstar MaxY Jio, Jio post clips and star-post clips, Whites Jambro ring fasteners and pliers, Gripple Plus joiners and Gripple T-clips, and Easylock clips.
• ACP concrete posts and fittings — no-rust, no-rot, no-burn standard and strainer posts, pre-drilled for wire, with the full bracket, stay, box-strainer and gate-kit system.
• Strainers, steel rail and portable panels for tensioning and for yards and high-traffic areas.

Tell us the animal (and whether you're keeping it in or out), the job — boundary, subdivision or temporary — and the country it's crossing, and we'll help you land on a system, mesh spacing and clip setup that suits the property and the budget. Come and see us at TGRM Gympie.

This guide is general fencing selection advice. Fencing on a boundary is usually a shared legal responsibility with your neighbour — talk to them before you build — and always follow manufacturer specifications for wire, posts and energisers. Talk to us at TGRM for selection for your situation.