Styx Solutions profile

Designed and manufactured in New Zealand, the Styx Batten is a great alternative to traditional wooden battens, metal lightning droppers, or end-of-life insultimber battens

Close up of Styx Easy batten on a 7 wire Beef and Sheep fence- 3 wires hot

Designed to suit wire spacings from three to nine, the battens are made from a high-quality UV-resistant plastic material with 50% virgin and 50% repurposed plastic that won’t rot, splinter, or leach like some treated timber products do and are completely recyclable at end of life, which means no plastics destined for landfill.

Styx Battens is proving to be successful in all areas of animal farming and suitable for all livestock types, along with ease of installation, either by hand or with the batten tool for larger projects.

Whether on flat or troublesome terrain, old fence lines can be replaced or repaired quickly and cost-effectively.

The Styx Batten eliminates the need for using barbed wire on the top and lower wires, which is often only used to stop wooden battens from moving along the fence line. The patented Styx Batten design not only stops the battens moving along the fence but also allows individual wires to be restrained without pulling the battens/droppers out of alignment.

7-wire fence for sheep using Styx Battens

Barbed wire can cost upwards of $1.14 per liner meter compared to HT 2.50mm diameter wire costing around $0.19 per meter, coupled with the extra labour costs of installing barbed wire versus smooth HT wire, the overall reduction costs per meter is a no-brainer especially with the Styx Batten not moving.

Staples are also not required, as the Styx Battens are designed to interweave down through the wires effectively creating a woven structure, whereby battens cannot be released from the fence by stock pressure. The removal of staples results in average savings of between $0.90 and $1.40 per batten depending on the type of staple used and based on using 10 staples on an 8-wire, 2.50mm high tensile fence whereby at least two of the eight wires are double stapled.

Customer feedback on the product has also highlighted that fewer battens are used between the main support posts, and in some cases, the main posts are pushed further apart, resulting in more savings for customers by reduced driving costs and materials.

“Styx plastic battens are the go-to for new fencing. The best thing is being able to run hot wires without insulators or outriggers,” says one customer.

“I’d be looking at the Styx Solutions battens. Easy to uninstall and remove and don’t slide up and down the fence line.”

Minimal surface area on the battens for animals to push against

Freight costs also continue to escalate. The Styx Batten weighs only 0.315kg compared to a dry 50mm x 40mm wooden batten weighing 4.4 times the weight at 1.4kg. Not only does this mean freight volumes and weights are down, but the batten is also lighter to carry and install on steep and difficult hill country and reduces the sprung weight on the fence wires. Every Styx Batten is identical, negating the need to sort battens and sift out wooden battens that may fail due to knots and splits by the fencing contractor or farmer before installation.

Attaching battens has a high labour component with carrying equipment (nail guns and staples) and installing battens can often involve two people. With the Styx Batten, one person can carry 50 battens easily regardless of terrain and install a batten in less than a minute. This can be further reduced when two people work as a team.

Styx Solutions takes customer feedback into consideration, which is then applied to its product development process. Over the last 24 months, feedback has resulted in the new batten design, which will include: