Fencing Materials Calculator
Enter the fence length, corners and gates to get a materials list for a netting, high-tensile or electric fence, with a cost you can adjust.
Before you can price a fence you have to know what is in it. Most of the cost is not the wire: it is the strainer assemblies at every corner, gate and long run, because they carry all the tension. This calculator starts from the length of fence, the corners and the gates, and works out the strainer assemblies, line posts, droppers, wire or netting, insulators and gates, then adds a cost from prices you can change.
Fencing Materials Calculator
Choosing a fence type fills in typical wire strands, post spacing and droppers, and you can change any of them. Prices are placeholders: replace them with a quote from your rural supplier.
Strainer assemblies: —
Line posts: —
Droppers: —
Plain or electric wire: —
Netting: —
Insulators: —
Gates: —
Estimated materials cost: —
Full guide, more detail, and a printable version at https://hollyshomestead.com.au/tools/fencing-materials-calculator.html
How It’s Worked Out
The gates are taken out of the fence length first. Strainer assemblies go at every corner, at both sides of every gate, at the two ends of an open run, and in line wherever a straight run is longer than the maximum you set. Line posts fill the gaps at your chosen spacing, droppers are added between posts, and wire is the length of the fence times the number of strands plus a wastage allowance and a few metres per assembly to tie off. Netting is counted in 100 metre rolls. Electric fences add insulators on every line post and two at each strainer assembly for every strand.
Wire quantities assume 2.5 mm high-tensile wire in 1,000 metre rolls (about 38 kg a roll). It is a materials list, not a design: soil, slope, animals and local rules all change what a good fence looks like. Treat the numbers as an order of magnitude and a checklist, and ask your supplier to confirm quantities.
Where the Money Goes
Strainer assemblies are the expensive, important part. Skimping on them is the usual reason a fence sags within a few years. Fewer, longer runs cost less in assemblies but need stronger ones; a corner built well will outlast the wire. Wider post spacing saves posts but needs droppers to hold strands apart, and netting fences use closer posts because the netting itself has no stiffness. Electric fences need far fewer materials per metre but need a good energiser and earth, which this calculator does not cost.