Does welded wire mesh w/ 4''x4'' squares and at least 5ft high exist???

[tlatham72]

@res Thank you so much for your detailed recommendations!

• Fence will be 900 linear ft around my back yard.
• I will never have cattle or horses, etc.
• The primary purpose is to contain my 3 indoor dogs (80lbs each) that are allowed outside at will via a doggie door.
• Secondarily, I hope to have 2 pygmy goats (that will have a moveable electrified fenced area), but will be allowed to roam within this larger area when I'm out and about in the yard.
• I had been considering deck board and tried to research today what makes them better or worse, but was coming up short on info. Thanks for the clarification!

Couple questions:

1. How would I set line posts if I don't use concrete? (As a side note, I did consider the round posts, but I don't like the aesthetic of them even though they are less expensive. And good to know to avoid landscape timbers.)
   
   
2. Good points about the bottom rail. I was trying to minimize gaps where the dogs can scoot through and add a wire mesh apron later to prevent digging. But you have convinced me to go ahead and tackle the gaps and digging from the start and allow for more flexibility in where the bottom rail lands.
   
   I fear the wire I've chosen is too expensive for me to purchase in a height taller than 5ft in order to trench it into the ground 18-24 inches. Is it okay to have a second (less expensive) wire mesh that gets attached to the line post and bottom rail where the primary wire mesh ends and extend that second wire into the ground?
   
   
3. If I will never have livestock, do the H braces (not at the gates) need to be permanent or just when installing and stretching the wire? I do plan to have rest for the gates and today I was thinking that maybe we should install 2 gates that meet in the middle instead of one big gate. If we were to do this, do I need to have the H braces at the gates permanently?

 

[Folly's place]

I second everything that res mentioned above. Read your book on fencing! Where ever we 'cheated' on her recommendations, things didn't go well.
You do need good corner bracing!
Concrete will not be good for your posts!
Learn to love the look of round fence posts...
Ground level is the most difficult area to manage, because fencing in the ground will rot much faster than the part above ground. It's also miserable to manage the leaves and stuff that accumulates behind ground level fence wire, and small critters will be trapped there too, not a good thing.
I depend on the Invisible Fence collars to keep my dogs away from their fence, which is a few inches above ground level. It's worked great for two decades, until last month, when a collar failed, idiot dog got out, and killed many of my chickens. A very bad event, now fixed. She would have dug under any fencing I could have put up anyway.
Mary