Judging Details

Judging points taken may be scaled to fit within the points allocated to each discipline

Strainers – 40 points

Height taken from wire side of strainer (Judge height to level ground).
Plumb wire side and back of strainer, forward lean has double penalty points. Exactly plumb has no penalty points. 1 point – 1 mm

Strainer twist, the stay should be centred when looking down from the top of strainer. 1 point – 1 mm
Chamfer (top of strainer) 20mm wide on a 45° angle. 1 – 2 points, 3 points no chamfer

Foot wire (s) stapled off either below or between line wires, spiralled around strainer to prevent twists. Preferably in space in front of strainer where tie off does not touch strainer. The position of staples must be 45° across wire at the top of and at each side of wire curve (11 o’clock and 1 o’clock) with a 10mm gap between inside legs of staples. Staples must be driven in full depth, avoiding embedment of foot wire. Excess wire broken off leaving no protrusions.

Height Approximately half way between ground and top of strainer. Top of stay mortice 20mm under wire.
Shape, trimming Stay should be trimmed to keep in proportion withstrainer diameter but maximising bearing surface. Trim cuts to be of equal length and all chainsaw marks planed out. 1 point – fault
Mortice to be minimum 12mm depth, no gaps, splitting or binding of stay when fitted in mortice 1 point – gap or bind
Line of stay should be parallel and perfectly in line with wires with the bow downwards. 1 point – 10mm

Stay Block positioned square to stay, centre of stay to be positioned in centre of blocks length and width. Stay end face and block face must fit square to each other. 150mm minimum depth (measured at back of block). No penalty if deeper.
Block hole must be left open and clean so that all workings are clearly visible.
Stay must not be shortened 1 point – 10mm

Breast Block positioned square to wire, centre of blocks length to centre of strainer. 50mm minimum depth, no penalty if deeper.
Block hole must be left open and clean so that all workings are clearly visible. 1 point – 10mm

Height and plumb taken from the wire side. The twist of post measured from under the top wire.
1 point – 5mm

Contour of posts, must be 90° to wires or bisect angle of the line wires on rises or dips. 1 point out of contour
Spacing determined by ground contour, not exceeding maximum distance apart and tightly rammed.
All posts must be used.
With even spacing, measure each gap individually from the start end. No penalty within post width, then 1 point – 100mm.
Last panel not measured

Foot wire to be fixed as close as practical to wire side of fence, no rise posts to be footed
Maximum height of footwire knot 200mm. The position of staples must be 45° across wire at the top of and at each side of wire curve (11 o’clock – 1 o’clock) with a 10mm gap between inside legs of staples. Staples must be driven in full depth avoiding embedment of footwire. Excess wire broken off leaving no protrusions.
Line of posts, perfectly straight when eyed from behind strainer

Gauge of wires at strainer taken from wire side, then level around back and other side. 1 point per wire out
At posts exact gauge is essential. 1 point per wire out

Staples must have adequate skew to hold wire as near to gauge mark as possible without binding. Staples driven to maximum depth, but must not bind wire to post. Staples in a line down the post, all skewed the same way, not staggered.
1 point per fault

Insulators 5mm gauging tolerance, in line down the post. Stapling on the correct side of the insulator, all staples at the same angle approx 45° or all
level.
1 point per fault

Latch Post

Plumb of Gate = Taken at hinge clamps of gate when closed. 1 point – 5mm

Gudgeon Line Position = 20mm toward the fence off the 45°. This allows for zero binding with maximum gateway opening.
Gudegeons must also be in line when looking down from top to bottom. Hinges must bear on both gudgeons.
Look for gate end aligning with back of strainer.
1 point – 5mm

Contractors Knot shape length wrap, eye of the termination knot must not be drawn too tight so as to induce wire fracture, first easy wrap to lead onto wire at 30 degrees no longer than 50mm, finishing to be minimum 2.5 times tightly around line wire and broken off leaving no protrusions.
Knot style must be consistent and tied in line with fence direction and plumb, all knots should be in a perfect line, including eyes when looking down from the top.
Position of knot Eye of the termination knot tied close to the strainer approx 20mm so they will not knock in, positioned 1/5 to ¼ diameter of strainer.

End insulator distance = 125mm from the face of the strainer using a square to measure distance (note book square) 10mm tolerance then 1 point – 5mm
End insulator ties, minimum of 6 tight wraps either side of insulator pulling from the centre of insulator. The insulators to all be aligned the same way so when looking down from the top you can see the eye of all end insulator
Clamping should be neat and tidy, clamped tight wires broken off with no protrusions.

Switch and cabling, switch should be positioned mid-way between first and second wire and centred. Cabling level across from top of switch, then staple vertically down outside of termination knots.

Spacing – Evenly spaced (max 1100mm taken at 4th wire from top ).
Height – 50mm above top wire of fence.
Staples — skewed at alternating angles to gain maximum twist across wire and staggered from side to side, staples positioned at 25% of face width from outside edge.
Wire embedment – staples to be driven until wire is embedded into wood.
Gauging or sag – Zero sagging of line wires , gauging to be exact .
Batten at stay – Batten bottom above stay to be trimmed on stay angle, excess batten to be fitted under stay, with top trimmed to match stay angle.
Cut batten to be double stapled top and bottom, staples to be at opposing angles.

All rubbish to be in one pile 1m behind peg or latch post.
Wire to be tied off and removed from Jenny with no off cuts left on the fence line.
Earth around strainers and posts to be level with the ground.
Stay block hole to be open and clean and dirt left in one pile.
All tools and equipment left tidy.
10 points maximum.