How Much Does a 50-foot Roll of Chain Link Fence Weigh?
When you first start looking into the cost of fencing, you probably focus on the big picture – things like the cost of materials and labor and whether you plan to pound posts or use concrete.
However, there’s a lot more that goes into chain link fence, and one of the things you might need to know is how much a 50-foot roll of chain link fence weighs. So, let’s take a closer look.
Why Do You Need to Know How Much a 50-foot Roll of Chain Link Fence Weighs?
The first thing you might be wondering is why you even need to know what a roll of chain link fence weighs. There are actually several reasons.
First, if you are installing the chain link fabric, you need to know if you can stand the rolls up and handle them during installation or if you will need to hire help or use a machine.
Then there’s the cost of transporting your chain link mesh. If you only have to move one or two rolls, you might be able to do it yourself, but if you have a lot of chain link mesh to transport, you might need to hire a freight company, and in that case, weight and volume are both factors that affect cost.
You might even be building a fence on a structure that has a maximum weight-carrying capacity, and in that case, you might need to calculate the weight of the fence you plan to install to ensure it falls within those limits.
What Affects the Weight of a 50-foot Roll of Chain Link Fence?
The problem with answering the question of how much a 50-foot roll of chain link fence weighs is that there isn’t a single answer.
The weight of any roll of chain link fence will vary depending on several things, such as the height of the fence, the gauge of the mesh, and the size of the mesh apertures.
All of these things will affect how much wire is required to manufacture your roll of chain link fence, and that will affect the weight of the mesh.
Calculating the Weight of 2” Aperture Chain Link Mesh
In the chain link fence world, 2” mesh, or 50mm mesh if you work in metric, is the most commonly used type of chain link mesh. So, we’ve based this section on that kind of mesh. If you are using a different chain link mesh size, you will need to ask the supplier of the product what the weight of a roll is.
Each wire gauge used to manufacture chain link mesh has a different weight per square foot of mesh; these are:
- 483 lbs per square foot for 11 gauge mesh
- 717 lbs per square foot for 9 gauge mesh
- 277 lbs per square foot for 6 gauge mesh
Once you know the weight per square foot of mesh, calculating the weight of a roll is very simple. Here’s the formula:
Roll Height x Roll Length x Weight Per Square Foot = Weigh per Roll
Once you know the weight per square foot for your mesh, you can use this formula to calculate any height and length of chain link mesh roll.
Chain Link Mesh Weight Table
To make things a little easier, we’ve put together a chain link fence weight table for 2” aperture mesh that you can use to look up the weight of a 50’ roll of mesh.
It’s important to note that some types of mesh, which manufacturers know are heavier than usual, might not be sold in 50-rolls. Instead, they’re sold in 25’ rolls because those are easier to handle during installation. Always make sure that you’ve been quoted for 50’ rolls when you are working our your chain link fence material needs. If you use the wrong roll length, you could find yourself underestimating your chain link mesh needs a lot!
Fence Height |
11 Gauge Mesh |
9 Gauge Mesh |
6 Gauge Mesh |
3 foot |
72.5 |
111.5 |
191.5 |
4 foot |
96.5 |
149 |
256 |
5 foot |
120.5 |
185.5 |
319 |
6 foot |
147.5 |
223 |
382.5 |
7 foot |
172 |
260 |
446.5 |
8 foot |
196.5 |
297.5 |
510 |
10 foot |
246 |
372 |
637.5 |
All of these weights are in lbs, and they are for 50-foot-long rolls of mesh in the heights listed.
Ask Your Supplier
If you still aren’t sure what the weight of your chain link mesh is, or you’re using something other than a 2” aperture product, the best thing you can do to be sure how much your 50-foot roll of chain link mesh weighs is to ask the manufacturer or supplier to confirm it for you.