Handy Homemade Wire Unroller

2012 - Volume #36, Issue #3, Page #20

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Idaho rancher Lynn Thomas needed to build several miles of barbed wire fence so he came up with an easy way to unroll the wire.
  He started with a homemade unroller that a neighbor had given him; a device that attached to the rear bumper of a pickup. It consisted of a U-shaped piece of metal a little bigger than a roll of barbed wire, with a metal rod running through the middle to hold the roll.
  The idea was to park the pickup and pull the wire out from it, or drive the pickup along the fence line and unroll the wire with the end of the wire affixed to a post. But wire tended to catch on sagebrush, creating a jerk, and then the spool of wire would unroll too fast and get tangled up.
  Thomas created his own version by using one of the round metal plates from the device as a starting point. The plate sets on the wheel rim of a tire and has a hole in the center. The roll of barbed wire sets on the plate, with the bar going through both the roll and the plate and down into the ground a few inches to hold everything in place.
  Thomas used the 13-in. tire off a small car. “It works best to leave the tire on the rim in order to provide more stability,” he says. “The main reason this idea works so well is the friction between the plate and the unrolling wire creates a bit of drag that acts like a brake. That way the wire won’t go spinning off out of control,” says Thomas.
  He used the method last year on about 4 miles of 5-strand barbed wire fence, using up more than 20 rolls of wire. “I make sure the rim doesn’t stick up higher than the plate so the wire won’t catch on the rim,” he says.
  He says the tire should be level and that the wire should be unrolled either on flat ground or heading downhill; it doesn’t work to pull the wire uphill. Even in uneven, brushy terrain 2 people can readily pull the wire – with one person starting down the hill with the end of the wire, and the other person taking hold about 75 or 100 ft. back to give some added pull.
  “Over the last 45 years we’ve built more than 20 miles of fence on our ranch, but we’ve never had anything work as well as this,” says Thomas.
  Contact: FARM SHOW Followup, Heather Thomas, Box 215, Salmon, Idaho 83467 (ph 208 756-2841).

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Handy Homemade Wire Unroller FENCING Miscellaneous Idaho rancher Lynn Thomas needed to build several miles of barbed wire fence so he came up with an easy way to unroll the wire He started with a homemade unroller that a neighbor had given him; a device that attached to the rear bumper of a pickup It consisted of a U-shaped piece of metal a little bigger than a roll of barbed wire with a metal rod running through the middle to hold the roll The idea was to park the pickup and pull the wire out from it or drive the pickup along the fence line and unroll the wire with the end of the wire affixed to a post But wire tended to catch on sagebrush creating a jerk and then the spool of wire would unroll too fast and get tangled up Thomas created his own version by using one of the round metal plates from the device as a starting point The plate sets on the wheel rim of a tire and has a hole in the center The roll of barbed wire sets on the plate with the bar going through both the roll and the plate and down into the ground a few inches to hold everything in place Thomas used the 13-in tire off a small car “It works best to leave the tire on the rim in order to provide more stability ” he says “The main reason this idea works so well is the friction between the plate and the unrolling wire creates a bit of drag that acts like a brake That way the wire won’t go spinning off out of control ” says Thomas He used the method last year on about 4 miles of 5-strand barbed wire fence using up more than 20 rolls of wire “I make sure the rim doesn’t stick up higher than the plate so the wire won’t catch on the rim ” he says He says the tire should be level and that the wire should be unrolled either on flat ground or heading downhill; it doesn’t work to pull the wire uphill Even in uneven brushy terrain 2 people can readily pull the wire – with one person starting down the hill with the end of the wire and the other person taking hold about 75 or 100 ft back to give some added pull “Over the last 45 years we’ve built more than 20 miles of fence on our ranch but we’ve never had anything work as well as this ” says Thomas Contact: FARM SHOW Followup Heather Thomas Box 215 Salmon Idaho 83467 ph 208 756-2841

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