At Cox Fencing we often get asked, what’s the benefits of one wire stretcher over another? The walker or a ratchet?  Simply speaking, they both have their strengths and their weaknesses. It all depends on what length of wire you want to strain and how much fencing experience you have.

Our recommendation

We recommend fencing contractors have both a Strain Walker and StraineX style Wire Stretcher, simply because, even if you have had lots of experience using a chain walking type stretcher, it’s still much easier to control the tension on short strains with a lever hoist.

If you are not stretching fences on a regular basis...

We recommend the lever hoist tensioners, simply because they are much easier and safer to use. You can stand out of the line of the strain so, there is a lot less chance of being hit by anything should the wire break. 

A ratchet mechanism makes it much easier to tension accurately, as the minimum distance of movement on a ratchet strainer is about 1/4" where the smallest increase on a walker stretcher is about 1 1/2" mm which is 6 times more. 

This is not a problem when your doing long strains, but on short runs, a chain grab or walker stretcher usually leaves you feeling it should be a little tighter so, you go another link and over tension the wire, which can result in wire breaks in cold weather. 

Fencing contractors often use their hip to hold the stretcher in between while they tie off, but that’s difficult to do when on your knees trying to tie the bottom wires, or doing a really short strain.

Safety First!!

The real strength of a lever hoist is safety. The most difficult part of using a walker is backing off and there are two main reasons for this. Firstly, when you have tied off a wire and need to release tension from the tool, you need to increase load on the wire to get the arm off. As you're increasing the tension just after putting bends in the wire to tie it together, the odds of the wire breaking are greatly increased.

This is because every time you put a sharp bend in high tensile wire, microscopic cracks are created in the wire and it's overall strength is much reduced. This feature of the wire also has the benefit of making it easy to snap the wire off cleanly when twisted back on itself at a knot.

Secondly, when you back off with a walker, the chain naturally wants to fall away from the chain grabs. This doesn’t happen putting tension on, because the walker naturally moves to the next link. But, when you’re backing off, you have to make sure you keep the chain in line with the wire so the next link is hooked up by the grab; which is easier said than done.

Chain Wranglers

This is why strain walkers now have chain wranglers, as they keep the chain from falling away from the chain grabs and prevent the chain from wandering off-line. They also make it much easier to get the pawls or fingers of the grabs onto the chain in the first place. You can keep the chain in the hook of the chain wrangler while you get the first link hooked up.

Using a chain grab or walker stretcher is not an intuitive thing to do; you have to think, or things could get painful. But, with a lever hoist, you simply flick the switch and wind the other way, which is much safer.

Strain Walkers

Non the less the chain grab walking wire stretcher has been around for over 100 years. It has stood the test of time for reliability, and has proven to be the first tool in the bag for generations of fencing contractors.

Wireman did not start out making chain grab stretchers, but after all the conversations we’ve had with contractors, we are well aware of the benefits of the tool and why (when you know how to use one) they are going to be with us for a long time to come.

The reason contractors prefer a walker over a lever hoist is that you can simply pull the chain up to where you need to be then hook on. It's faster on long runs. With a lever hoist, you need to pull the chain back through the block by moving the switch to neutral and pulling on the chain, which can be time consuming compared to a walker type stretcher.

Chain Length

Another factor is length of chain. Most lever hoists are intended to be used to lift things by hand, so there is no point having the handle too high of the ground to prevent it being operated by a person of average height. Which means most lever hoists do not have a chain longer than 4 feet 11 inches. However, when you are straining wire over 2,000 feet long, you are definitely going to need more than 4 feet 11 inches of chain. 

On the other hand, a Lever Hoist is useful for all sorts of jobs on the farm, like pulling calves or lifting a load. 

Tension Gauges

The other big question we were asked is, should I use a tension gauge?  

The simple fact is, most people over tension.
It is the single biggest reason for wires breaks in cold weather. Tension gauges are important, especially when using lever hoists, it’s so easy to over tension the wire.

For the contractor, a digital tension gauge provides certainty that the tension on the wire is within manufacturer specifications, so if a client wants to know if the wire is at the right tension you can prove it with a picture.

But for everyday use, Die spring tension gauges are the best tool, as you can throw them in the back of the side by side, they don't run out of batteries and they’re accurate to within 11 pounds. 

If you have any questions about wire tensioners or any of the products in our range please give us a call or send us an email to coxfencing@yahoo.com