The New Fence Magician is called the Merlin. The tool is very easy to use and makes light work of tying off High tensile wire up to 3.15mm. The Merlin has been specifically designed to be able to get into tight spots and tie off equine or horse mesh (also known as no climb), as well as exclusion netting and wallaby wire. It can also attach heavy duty woven barbed wire such to posts.

The rotating head makes it easy to control. It does a nice tight wrap effortlessly, which is difficult to do by hand, especially in tight spots. On horse mesh the Merlin is an enormous time saver. We’ve had contractors tell us it’s reduced a single tie off of 13 line-wire, from 40 minutes down to 11 minutes. If you are doing 5 strains a day that's well over 2 hours saved, in a single day.

Typically speaking what contractors tell us is, even if it hasn’t saved time, it’s allowed them to work longer because the tying off is that much easier. And they’ve saved on joiners like gripples while getting more out of new employees, because it’s less of a problem to get them to tie off neatly.

To Operate

Pull the trigger to open the jaws, Push the tool on to the wire, Release to grip.

To make a standard termination knot; Gently pull the drill trigger to move the tie bush into place and make the first 3/4 bend.  Manually bend the wire tail upward (The magician can be left on the fence), then rotate the drill in the opposite direction to engage with the wire then twist the tail to compete the wrap.

Rotate the grip hubs so the release plates line up with the trigger springs then pull the trigger and pull the Merlin off the wire.

Things you need to be aware of!

Always  make sure have the drill on one of the torque settings with the torque ring set to one of the high numbers. NEVER use it in the drilling position as there is enough power in the tool to break your fingers, and the tool itself due to the 20 to 1 step-down ratio.

It does take an hour or two to get used to using the Merlin. When you first use the tool, always have the drill on the slowest speed. As your trigger control improves you can move to a faster speed, but even then, you need to go slow at first then speed up when you’ve completed the first full wrap of the wire.

You MUST also ensure the wire is being held by the small brass jaws on the winding arms. If the wire escapes the brass jaws, move the winding arm back to the open position and get the wire back into the jaws. If you find it’s jamming or difficult to use, you’re probably not using it correctly. If the wire does get jammed, stop, reverse the direction of the tool, get it off the wire and start again.

Presentation matters!

A fence is usually the first thing people see when arriving at a property so, as a contractor, if you want repeat work, presentation matters.  Because when someone looks at the finished job, the quality and consistency of the tie offs is bound to leave a lasting impression. Tight and tidy is always going to be better than loose and lazy.

There are farmers who don’t like to see wire tightly wrapped as they want to be able to undo it, if it becomes loose. Most however, put a lot of store in the quality of a fencing job by the way the wire is tied off. 

Power ON!

The battery drill and nail gun have revolutionised the building industry by making things faster and easier to put together. Screwdrivers and hammers will always have their place. But you can be very sure that a guy using a nail gun and a battery drill is going to be putting things together a lot quicker than the guy who only has a hammer.

When you’re at the end of a hot day, trying to tie the bottom wires of exclusion Fencing, it’s hard enough to get a fencing tool between the wires, never mind getting a neat tie off. Anything that makes life easier when fencing is a good thing. The faster you do the job the more you earn, it’s a simple as that. If you want to power on and get to the next job fast, get a fence magician.