Being a frugal rancher I’m always on the lookout for saving a few dollars. I’m of the mentality “why spend it if you don’t have to.” Throughout the years as my electric fencing system and skills have evolved I have made some slight changes to my designs. Some of these changes have been successful and others have not.

For many years I used expensive, porcelain insulators for ending (or insulating) a strand of fence on an H-Brace. Ten years ago these could be purchased for about $1.00 each, and they now cost somewhere around $1.47 each. When I do spend money I always try to purchase the best quality that I can afford. Our golden-standard for many years was the Porcelain High Strain Insulator from Gallagher. They come in a pack of 10 and can usually be found at most farm and ranch supply stores. These insulators still serve many purposes on our ranch, but a few years ago we made the switch to Insultube. We use the heavy wall tube for wrapping wire around H-braces and the thinner wall tube for everything else. The heavy wall tube is $49.50 for 100 ft coil (that’s $0.49/ft). The thinner wall tube is $92.50 for 500 ft coil (thats $0.18/ft). Quite honestly I have used the thinner wall tube for everything from wrap-around on H-braces to underground wires and it seems to be working fine. We use both 12.5 guage hi-tensile and aluminum wire. Disclosure: Kencove doesn’t recommend using the thinner wall Insultube for wrapping around H-braces. I use wood cedar posts for my corners and H- braces, thus there will never be a problem with the wires shorting out regardless if the Insultube were to fail. I prefer to hold the tube in place on the post with a single, barbed fencing staple.

From my personal experience the Insultube is tough and durable. Insultube is made of UV-stabilized HDPE. It is possible that with the punishing temperatures and sun of South Texas that it will slowly wear out over the coming decades, but for the price you can’t beat it. It is very cost-effective if you are building miles of multi-stranded electric fences. The cost comparison between porcelain insulators and insultube is significant. Hundreds of dollars can be saved on big projects. It is easy to cut to length with you standard fencing pliers and the wire threads through the tube with no problems. I prefer to purchase Insultube from Kevcove.com. I am sure there are other places to purchase it from that I’m not familiar with, but I usually bundle together a big order from Kencove so that I can get free shipping (any order over $75).

I hope this helps anyone getting started on a new electric fencing project make better decisions. And I hope it encourages you to try something new. Being frugal is a way of life and absolutely necessary in the ranching business.