Poly post or steel fence post
Updated: October 2026
A poly post or a steel fence post is the right question only after you name the conductor. Steel U-posts here have metal hooks for wire or mesh you leave in the ground. The Rutland poly post has plastic clips for polywire and 12 mm or 20 mm tape on a line you can lift. A steel hook can short a live wire. A poly post is too light for a panel. This page is that split, not a timber-versus-concrete guide and not an energiser manual. Named packs sit on the [fence post comparison](/hub/fencing-and-wire/fence-post). Peter F. used the amazon.co.uk listings. There is no lab test.
A poly post or a steel fence post is the right question only after you name the conductor. Steel U-posts here have metal hooks for wire or mesh you leave in the ground.
A poly post or a steel fence post is the right question only after you name the conductor. Steel U-posts here have metal hooks for wire or mesh you leave in the ground. The Rutland poly post has plastic clips for polywire and 12 mm or 20 mm tape on a line you can lift. A steel hook can short a live wire. A poly post is too light for a panel. This page is that split, not a timber-versus-concrete guide and not an energiser manual. Named packs sit on the fence post comparison. Peter F. used the amazon.co.uk listings. There is no lab test.
Our top picks
| Badge | Product | Post type | Wire attachment | Listed use | Note | Price | Offer |
|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|
| Best overall |  Rutland Rutland 84 cm poly post (10) | Poly post | Clips for polywire and 12/20 mm tape | Electric tape and polywire | 9.4 | about £27.99 | View offer |
 ARIFARO ARIFARO 121 cm U-post (10) | Steel U-post | Adjustable hooks | Wire and garden fence | 9.2 | about £59.99 | View offer | |
| Best value |  Sptchapn Sptchapn green U-post (10) | Steel U-post | Tabs and clips | Wire, netting, garden | 9.0 | about £48.75 | View offer |
On this page
What each post is built to hold
Look at the clip before the colour. Kingido, Sptchapn, and both ARIFARO lengths are powder-coated metal U-posts with hooks. Those fittings grip plain wire and mesh, and they are conductive. Dalton Supplies’ point is that steel and timber need insulators, while plastic moulded clips do not. Rappa says poly stakes are non-conductive. AHDB’s failure mode is a metal stake shorting a frayed live conductor. None of these steel listings includes an insulator, even where Kingido mentions electric fence wire.
Rutland holds polywire and 12 mm or 20 mm tape on a galvanised nail with a single step. You tread it in. If the tape is wider than 20 mm, the listing does not claim it. Who each pack is for is on best fence posts.
Choose steel when the wire stays
Choose a steel U-post when the wire or mesh stays and it is not live. Sptchapn is the lowest stored steel price at about £48.75, with 4.5 from 58 reviews, and 1.9 mm alloy steel. ARIFARO 121 cm is about £59.99, with 121 cm and 122 cm sitting close. The 215 cm pack is about £89.99, two sections, with a maker’s 33 cm bury for 155 cm welded wire. Kingido is about £69.94 from five reviews. A panel belongs on the fence post buying guide.
Sptchapn’s title says 118 cm and the dimensions say 91.2 cm. Kingido’s title says 152 cm and the dimensions say 183 cm. Do not average them. Clips bend if the driver hits them. A Sptchapn reviewer said horses would flatten the posts. A thin U-post is also a weak gate post.
Choose poly when the line moves
Choose Rutland when the line is tape or polywire and you will lift it. The stored price is about £27.99, with 4.7 from 262 reviews on this listing. Reviewers describe temporary tracks for ponies, goats, and sheep. One verified review calls them flimsy and bendy, fine only because of the price. A post you can pull up on a Friday should not carry strained mesh.
AHDB treats plastic stakes as the temporary option and says the ends and corners need a stronger anchor. The title says 84 cm, the technical details say 108 cm, and a size field says 10 inch. The quantity fields say 1 while the title says 10.
The pick with a condition
Use the poly post if the conductor is tape or polywire and you will lift the line. Use a steel U-post if the conductor is non-live mesh that stays. Put a live wire on steel only with an insulator these listings do not include. Between the steel packs, the best value on stored price and an own review sample is Sptchapn. The top pick for the electric job is Rutland.
Buy neither for a 1.8 m panel, a gate, a strained horse paddock, or a rotten timber post, and buy neither if you still do not know whether the wire is live. How you drive or tread the post is on how to install fence posts. A qualifying purchase through the amazon.co.uk links can earn us a commission at no extra cost to you.
Common questions
Can I clip electric tape onto a steel U-post hook?
Not if the tape is live. A metal hook can short the conductor, which is the point Dalton Supplies and AHDB both make about steel stakes. The Kingido, Sptchapn, and ARIFARO listings sell hooks for wire and mesh, and they do not include insulators. Kingido’s text mentions electric fence wire without showing an insulator. Add a proper insulator, which means a different fitting, or use a poly post for the tape.
Do poly posts need insulators?
No separate insulator, if you use the plastic clips the post is moulded with. Rappa’s components note says poly stakes are non-conductive, so the clip itself is the insulator. The Rutland bullets cover polywire and 12 mm or 20 mm tape. They do not say the same clips will hold every rope diameter, and they do not turn the post into a steel hook.
Which post do I move every few days?
The Rutland poly post. Reviewers use it as a temporary electric line and pull it for ponies, goats, and sheep. The steel U-posts are driven to an anchor plate so the wing locks. You can get them out, and Kingido reviewers mention lifting posts around fruit trees, but that is not the same as a tread-in stake you shift along a paddock.
Which one holds chicken wire?
The steel U-post. The hooks and holes are what reviewers use for wire and mesh, including pond and puppy barriers. The Rutland clips are for tape and polywire. Chicken wire on those clips is the wrong fitting, and the post is too light for a mesh that stays up as a boundary.
Are poly posts strong enough for ponies?
Some reviewers use them for ponies, goats, and sheep on a temporary system, and some say the feet have lasted. One verified review calls the economy post flimsy and bendy and only acceptable for the price. That is not an approval for every horse, and it is not a strained-wire paddock. AHDB still wants a stronger post at the ends and corners, where the pull is higher.
What do I use at the corner of an electric line?
A stronger anchor than a line post. AHDB says the ends and corners take the strain. A run of poly posts can divide a temporary grazing strip. The corner, where the tape turns and an animal can lean, needs a post that will not walk out of the ground. These listings do not include a strainer, so do not invent one out of the lightest stake in the pack.
Related pages
Sources
Public UK sources listed in the research digest. Listing prices, stars, and review counts are the stored amazon.co.uk figures for these ASINs. A later deal price is not the stored figure.
- GPDO 2015, Schedule 2, Part 2, Class A — England (retrieved 19 October 2026)
- Planning Portal — fences, gates and garden walls (retrieved 19 October 2026)
- GOV.WALES — planning permission for fences, gates and garden walls (retrieved 19 October 2026)
- mygov.scot — building a fence or wall at your house (retrieved 19 October 2026)
- Northern Ireland GPDO 2015, Schedule, Part 3 (retrieved 19 October 2026)
- LSBUD — search before you dig (retrieved 19 October 2026)
- HSE CIS65 — avoiding danger from underground services (retrieved 19 October 2026)
- AHDB — types of electric fencing for cattle and sheep (retrieved 19 October 2026)