The Hammer Trick

Instructions unclear, I now own 47 hammers and 46 of them are stuck in my fence.

It never ceases to amaze me that the older I get, the smarter my dad becomes. Well done.

71 years old and learned a great trick before breakfast. THANKS!

I don't have a ranch and I have never worked with barbed wire - and unlikely will ever do so - but I still watched this from start to finish. 😂 Thank you sir.

This is the type of content that I've always thought makes KZhead special.

I like the fact that his dad taught him this skill. Dads are important!

I’m 74, lived on a farm growing up and helped my uncle run fencing for the cow pastures. We used stretchers to tighten wires but I never saw this trick before. Pretty slick

I have, at present, no practical need for this information. And yet, im glad i watched. Something to file away, just in case. Excellent video.

lol im a townie with no real need for this knowledge but for whatever reason i found this really satisfying to watch

I’m 70 and you taught me something new today. Thank you.

Good demo. I'm 86 and been stretching barb wire this way for a looooong time.

I love that he’s handing down knowledge that his father showed him. The older you get the more you realise what a privilege it is to have things like this to draw on from people you care about and to be able to share that knowledge with others 🙌💕

i'm not a rancher. i've never messed with barb wire. this just seems to be one of those 'nifty' tricks that is good to know. good job showing how to pull through the loop and then how to roll the hammer back over the loop to lock it in. this was cool. nice video.

Done it with a hammer, modified fence pliers and home made t handles. The wrapping trick is the key and your explanation was excellent. Some will say it weakens the wire but then again doesn't everything. Years of mending fence says this works very well.

I aint a rancher but I do like watching people being clever, this is awesome! Never would have thought it in a million years.

Getting the wire tight by hand is never enough. I'll be using this trick. Thank you and your dad.

I learned that trick working on a cattle ranch in Southern Colorado about 45 years ago. Thanks for sharing so others could learn.

Some many “amazing” technique videos on KZhead are a complete waste of time / impractical. It is lovely to finally find one that is so useful, thank you.

You get fewer gouges on the forearms if you start on the lowest wire first.

I'm 72 but a newby to fence fixin and have been trying to use a fence stretcher to tighten up the fence I built a few yesrs ago, just me & my tractor. Now THIS method looks much more affective! Thank you!

I’m 143 years old and i learned something new today

I moved onto a remote 1883 farm with about all the skills of first visiting my uncle's dairy farm as a kid. What a learning curve just for basics! I've almost got coiling down but nothing close to the stunning tight coils of those before me. Learned I had made a hash on DIY tightening as the elderly owner came out and slung around a heavy "goldenrod" like a maestro and schooled me right. Also very impressed with an old fencing wagon that was abandoned and melted into the grass. Tripped over metal and recovered 4 pre-1900 iron straighteners I thought were some kind of steampunk industrial come-alongs. Holy hell, how did they even LIFT those things much less WORK them? Good tip. 5,765 more lessons to go to just attain greenhorn status.

Its really good you shot a video about essentially tying knots from 25 feet away. Good job!

Wow, I don't have anything to do with fences, but I believe this could come in handy for many other applications. It's one of those tricks you want in your bag of tricks. Especially when SHTF. Thanks for sharing.

There are tricks to every trade, thank you, this is a great idea. We’re from Missouri, the show me state. Appreciate your efforts to make the video to show us how it’s done.

No more buying strainers for me thanks to your method, definitely going to save me money Thank you for sharing.

Pro tip. Start at the bottom and work your way up so you aren't chewing on the top wire while you're working on the wires below it.

It would be interesting to know the history of some of these tactics. I am 51. My dad showed me this and I am sure his dad showed him. I am 51. From Alberta, Canada. Thanks

Thank you, for sharing your Dad’s great information on splicing barbed wire fencing back together. My wife and I inherited the small family farm. We are dealing with unscrupulous hunters that cut the wire to poach our deer and other animals that we have posted no hunting on our property. I need to repair the fencing that they cut, I really appreciate the tip that you have demonstrated in your video that your dad taught you, it is great. Thank you, and I really appreciate it very much and glad that your dad took his time and his patience to teach his skill onto you so that you could pass it on also.

I don't farm or ranch, even though i would love to. I really like learning tricks like this to help with certain situations 👌. Too notch material!

I learned this hack way back in 1978. My Dad taught us all how to splice barb-wire fences that were damaged/broke/cut. This is the first time I've seen it demonstrated.

I've been using 2 screwdrivers as a windlass, but I love how you use the hammer. Very clever, and thank you for sharing.

As soon as I heard the accent I knew I was going to see something new to me. Great trick, howdy from West Texas.

I'm a city girl but for whatever reason I've been binging these kind of videos.

I don't have a ranch, farm or do anything that involves fences, but I watched the whole video and it was very entertaining ..... cheers from Mexico

Thank you for a clear and concise tip.

I learned that 45 yrs ago . Shocked many people when I did it

Uncle Ben taught us this. My brother learned it but I forget it every time. Nice job explaining,I’ll try learning again.

Damn, I have not seen that method used since my dad taught me 70 years ago. As I recall, we doubled the splice wire and only used the hammer on one strand so the other strand could easily be folded back and twisted. Then the hammer could be easily unwound and that strand also twisted around the spice wire.

I learned this trick at nine years old from my nine year old cousin in 1969 when I spent the summer on his families’ Iowa farm.

great hammer trick,,,,ive spliced many broken fences,,,bit iam an old timer and love learning new tricks

Very nice trick! So wish I learned this years ago! Doubt I'll ever forget it now. THANKS!!! Made this old man's morning!!

Love THAT ! No nonsense! Straightforward “ field “ genius !

That's a great tip! Here's one that helped me: Get some compound diagonal cutters. Cuts through double strand like butter. My forearms actually got smaller after I bought one, it's amazing how much force you have to use to cut wire.

Good fence fixing hack explained very well! May have to practice it a couple of times . Thanks for posting it .

This is such a cool trick! I used to do something similar with pliers but I just couldn't get it out in the same smooth way. Hammer saves the day, once again.

This is the type of skill that has been handed down for generations and built this country that is sadly disappearing little by little. Thank you for the detailed demonstration

I'm 57 years old and know absolutely nothing about barbed wire fence, but I can offer another great tip... next time tell your camera guy to GET CLOSER !!!

😊hey Neat Trick !!!!! I’m going to use it . I’m always having to fix my fence. Thank you so much & God bless you

Core memory unlocked. My dad taught me this when I was in high school.

This method my grand father used back in the 1920s on the ranch and I always did it this way neat to see you showing it. It is the best way wire won’t slip back.

Been doing this for many many years. Yes the loop ends are sharply bent and weaknd but usually the fence is old and weak anyway. Otherwise would not need fixing. Actually used this method just yesterday.

That is ingenious! I would have gone for a fence stretcher instead but they are much more cumbersome than a hammer and still leave a bit of slack. Thanks, I'll be using that technique on my next fencing project.

I've never thought of using a hammer as a winch before. Thanks for sharing.

I fix fence all the time and was very excited to see this, can't wait to try it out.

Taught by my uncle back in '61 (after Carla hit) and sent out to repair "several" breaks. And yes, he inspected the first 20. Paid me a $ for each one and trusted me for the other 25. Whole lot of money for a 10 year old 😅

We used to loop and get as much out as possible and then put something smooth metal between like a piece of conduit and turn that until tight then back off 1/4 and slide out. I like this trick and will try this next time. Never too late to try something new

This right here, is why youtube is handy, clear video example, no fluff, to the point

Very nice! Thanks for sharing! After I get the splice done I usually just bite a piece anywhere down the length between the posts in question, and twist my lineman pliers (I think the tool is actually called a fence multi-tool pliers, but look a lot like lineman pliers), and make a "fold" or a "Z bend" then I can crimp it shut to flat. This can be done anywhere on the line, but they will occasionally cause the old, crappy, rust fence, that we've adopted on our 24 acre property, to break clean at the crimp point. I think your spice system might be a bit better, since I can use the mechanical advantage of the twisting with the hammer to get tension back to the next barb on both sides, thus avoiding the weak point(s) that I'm creating down the length of the fence. Cool idea, and thanks!

Lee Valley Tools sells a kit that uses the same principle to make hose clamps. When done right, the result is a clamping effect that's smooth and pleasing to the eye , and when wrapped with tape is almost invisible.

Thanks buddy all my hammers are now stuck in my fence haha

Thanks for taking the The time to share a great trip, I’m just learning how to do fence thank you again

I only clicked because I miss working on a ranch from when I was a teenager. Definitely a good tip. Now instead of dads, we have youtube.

Was that one of the intended uses of that tool? Love the generational knowledge.

Great video, great idea ! Thank you !

Don't know why I'm watching this but this is great.

Watched the whole video . Don't know if I'll ever need this info but hey, the more u know! Thanks man.

Nice job! Seems like you could tie off that final loop with the hammer, too. After lifting and rolling back, instead of removing the hammer, take a couple turns around the standing wire to lock it off. Then remove the hammer. Less chance of losing the tension, less direct hand-to-wire contact, etc. Regardless, nice technique, and thanks for sharing.

Nice trick. In our country "barbless barbwire" is called smooth wire.

Thank you for taking time to document this nifty trick!!

Readily useful info! Thank you! I may just go back to my shoddy splices and tone them up now. It's hammer time... 🔨

Excellent. Pick up the cut ends and start with the Bottom Strand in a real situation.

It doesn't take too many times before you learn to do the bottom first and work your way up.

Definitely keeping this one in my back pocket for the next time I need to repair my aunt's goat fence. Not the same type of enclosure, but there's plenty of places I need to cinch down wire for the fencing and I think this method should work well for me. I've used a similar trick with large needle nose plyers, but I never quite got that "roll back" to keep the tension on the wire so I could never keep them quite tight enough. I think I should be able to adapt that trick to my plyer trick and have it work for my needs. Thanks for the vid!

I may never need to know how to do this, but it's cool that you've shared this trick.

Get yourself down to Texas and show the National Guard this trick!

Your video needed to be zoomed in when you inserted the hammer.

Neighbors' cows and my horses and donkeys keep me busy. Nice video. Thanks.

an original idea? Love seeing original fixer-up ideas

Yes. It works great. There are quite a few nay sayers. Lol

Watching from Trinidad and Tobago 🇹🇹, great job 👍🏽

My Dad taught me the same trick. I am glad you are sharing this with others !

Nice Demo Kevin - great content. I no longer live on a ranch, but that is great information. Lowell

Of course... this video comes out and the local farm supply store is fresh out of barb-less wire. Dang it all!! I will try this someday though. First... I need to get the barb-less wire. Thank you for sharing this with all of us sir. Salute!!

Brilliant working wisdom from those who KNEW HOW! This also showed me the value of a glove with a wrist and forearm-protective gauntlet, in doing this sort of work. Excellent video.

This is really cool.. I could have used this when I was still a city slicker learning all the "fun" things with keeping up the property... Earned a stripe or two quite a time ago, but not without of blood, sweat and hazing from relatives and locals.. Yeah, know your wire! I popped a few older older tensioning while repairing.. That can sting you if you push the old ones bast the limit.. I got bit.. Twice.. Anyway... There was no KZhead back then but this is great info! Thank you for sharing!

This is how Grandad taught me to fix breaks and slack lines... The only difference being he wanted three wraps for each eye and they had to be tight around the strand, with each wrap stacked one after the other. Cool to see a trick that I though was a family secret. 😃

Yep gave it a try today and I like it a lot. 👍 thanks for the tip.

That’s a really great, wish I had that knowledge years back when I built my fence!

No matter how much you know, there's always more to learn. Thanks!

Strong work and great illustration!

Great trick when you don't have your strainers handy. We used a Hayes brand of Fence Strainer, very simple and effective also, but nothing wrong with a handy trick like this when you don't have everything you need, thanks for sharing.

Very cool i pride myself on knowing every trick in the book but this is a new one for me.

Looks like unraveling the spliced wire from the hammer without losing tension is the trickiest part of the procedure, might take a few failed tries but thanks for the tip. I too am a non rancher, but always good to learn new things.

I learned something today. Makes the day worth getting up for.

Been building fence a many a year and never seen this one. Good stuffs and will def try this.

Nice. I doubt I’ll ever need to mend a barbed wire fence, but somehow this still felt like it will be helpful in my life at some point. 🙌🏻

Thanks Steven, I have been fencing on and for 20 years in NZ and never seen this

Nice clear instructions 👍 Thanks I'll keep this in my mental storage for later on

Peace and progress for all on earth. It is the way to be .... thanks for sharing your video with us ... the world is already better with people like you and I and many here in comments teaching us more ; )