Wild Hog

Wild Hog makes two things builders use in the backyard: LINX steel brackets that turn plain 4x4 or 6x6 posts into a pergola, and the black hog wire panels that fill a deck railing, stair rail, fence or gate opening inside a wood frame. They’re welded from 6-gauge steel rod, stiff enough to stay flat across the opening and open enough to keep your view. Contractors and do-it-yourselfers set them with a matching Hog Track Kit.

Wild Hog Products started in 2014 in Sonoma County, California, and its roots are in building materials. The company has spent over a decade focused on wire mesh panels. Its line now includes the Hog Track mounting system, woven panels, marine-grade stainless panels and the Wild Post fence post.

LINX pergola brackets

LINX is Wild Hog’s pergola system: black powder-coated steel brackets that join 4x4 or 6x6 wood posts to the beams above, so you can frame a pergola with square cuts and no joinery. The TriFit is the corner piece, tying a post to the two beams that meet over it. The other shapes (UniFit, L-Fit, T-Fit, TetraFit, PentaFit, 45Fit, CoLinx and RafterFit) handle the other joints in a frame. Sketch the pergola on paper first, mark every joint, and count the bracket each joint needs before you buy.

Choose 4x4 or 6x6 before anything else, because every bracket is sized for one or the other. A 6x6 frame is heavier and stiffer and suits a larger pergola or one carrying a shade top in wind. Fasten with the black LINX screws so the heads match the powder coat, and set the posts on proper footings or post bases, since the brackets tie the frame together but don’t hold a post up out of the ground. Check the frame for square by measuring both diagonals before the last screws go in.

The LINX sunshade kits, in beige or grey, stretch a shade top over the frame in 8x8, 10x10 and 12x12 sizes. Build the frame to the kit size, and take the shade down before heavy snow, because a loaded cloth pulls hard on the frame.

Picking a panel size

The 6-gauge panel is black welded wire in a 4x4 grid, and it works on residential decks, commercial barriers and garden enclosures, indoors or out. Most deck rail jobs use the 3-foot panels, and the 5-foot panels go on fences and gates. For a stair run, start with the 5 by 6 Stair & Rail Panel. Frame your openings so you use whole panels wherever you can, because every cut adds a track cut, a touch-up and a set of Tusks.

Black steel out in the weather

The worry with black steel wire outdoors is rust. The answer is the 6-gauge panel’s 2,000-hour salt spray rating. It gets that rating from how the wire is finished: it starts out pre-galvanized, runs through a 4-stage phosphate bath, and then gets a zinc-rich primer with a professional-grade powder coat over it. The tracks it sits in are aluminum, so they hold up right along with the panel. The 6-gauge panel carries a 15-year limited warranty, and registering the panel activates it.

Hog Track Kits

Hog Tracks are black channels of extruded aluminum with powder coat on every surface. They come pre-drilled and countersunk, so everything sits flush, and once the panel is in you see a clean black line along the rail. Each kit has two tracks, one for the top rail and one for the bottom, plus black stainless steel Stardrive screws. The kits come in three sizes, and you can use them as they come or cut them to fit. Buy the track size that matches your panel size. Wild Hog puts a kit at under 30 minutes from box to finished railing once the wood frame is built.

If the railing has to pass inspection, install every panel in Hog Tracks, because the panel’s standards listing applies to the panel installed in the tracks. The kit is made for a wood frame. The panel itself also mounts to metal, but on a steel frame you’ll need your own plan for attaching it, so settle that before the first cut if the job will be inspected.

Cutting panels and Hog Tusks

The 6-gauge panel cuts with standard tools to fit stairs, curves and custom openings. An angle grinder with a metal cutoff wheel cuts rod this heavy cleanly, and heavy bolt cutters work too. Cut the track to the same angle and length so the panel sits fully in the channel. A fresh cut is bare steel, so give every cut end a coat of cold-galvanizing spray before the panel goes in. Hog Tusks keep a panel that’s been cut to a custom size from rattling in the track. The mistake that shows up most is a cut panel installed without them, and that railing buzzes every time the wind blows. Put Hog Tusks on every panel you cut.

Stainless, woven panels and Wild Post

For salt air, docks or a job where you’d rather not count on a coating, Wild Hog makes a welded 6-gauge panel in 316 marine-grade stainless steel, plus a marine-grade stainless panel with a black powder coat for the black look. The Smoky Mountain Hog Railing Panel is woven and crimped rather than welded, then powder-coated, for indoor or outdoor rails with a softer look than the square welded grid. Wild Post is a galvanized steel fence post that sits hidden behind the boards and is meant to still be standing after those boards rot out. The line also includes LINX brackets for 4x4 and 6x6 posts.

Wild Hog specs

Item	Spec
6 Gauge Panel	Black welded 6-gauge steel rod, 4x4 welded wire mesh
Panel sizes	3 ft x 6 ft, 3 ft x 8 ft, 5 ft x 6 ft, 5 ft x 6 ft Stair & Rail Panel, 6 ft x 8 ft (black only)
Primer	Two coats
Salt spray rating	2,000 hours
Standards	ICC-ES AC273, 2018 IBC, 2018 IRC, when used with Hog Tracks
Use	Indoor and outdoor
Frames	Wood or metal (Hog Track Kit is made for wood frames)
Hog Track Kit sizes	3, matched to panel size
Hog Tusks	Stop a custom-cut panel from rattling in the track
Stainless panels	Welded 6 gauge, 316 marine-grade stainless; marine-grade stainless with black powder coat
Smoky Mountain Hog Railing Panel	Woven, crimped, powder-coated; indoor or outdoor
Wild Post	Galvanized steel fence post

Frequently Asked Questions

What are Wild Hog Tusks for?

Hog Tusks keep a panel that’s been cut to a custom size from rattling in the track. A full-size panel set in its matching track doesn’t need them. Once you cut a panel down for a stair or an odd opening, have Tusks ready for it before it goes into the frame.

What do Wild Hog Tracks look like?

They’re black aluminum channels. After the panel is in, they show as a thin black strip tight against the wood rail. Powder coat covers every surface, including the inside of the channel, so no bare metal shows where the wire meets the track. If you cut a track to length, the new end is raw aluminum, so dab it with black touch-up paint to match the rest.

How do you install a Hog Track Kit?

Build the wood frame and square it up first, with the opening sized to the panel. Screw one track to the bottom rail through the countersunk holes, set the panel into it, then cap the top edge with the second track and fasten it to the top rail. Keep the two tracks lined up with each other, or the panel will sit crooked in the frame.

Will the black Wild Hog railing panel rust?

The wire is pre-galvanized before it’s powder coated, and it also carries a proprietary nano coating. Wild Hog says the panel reached its salt spray rating and then went past 3,000 hours with no more signs of corrosion. The weak spot is a chip in the coating, so touch up any nicks from the install right away, and keep de-icing salt from piling up along the bottom rail.