Educate me on electric fencing

[bullbreaker]

I use aluminum wire (12 g) 14 minimum for smaller areas to confine livestock. For horses I like to use 7MM rope . For lots of bang for the buck I like to use Parmak electric chargers with a minimin 50 mile rateing. On occasion Kencove has great prices in their clearance section. Chargers should use 3 ground rods /10 feet apart. Might sound like hogwash to some but I like to also install a lightning diverter (3 separate ground rods for LD also). Kencove has some videos explaining installation. Along with other good brands mentioned above the Taylorfence.net - AC Fence Chargers also makes some kickbutt units .

 

[Walkin Horse]

How does lightning protection work. I have lost 2 50 mile chargers to lightning. I can tell you if you ever take one apart be careful. They can bite you when they are dead.

 

[ustmd]

We have had the Horseguard tape for 9 years with no issues and it has held up well. No breaks or decay of the nylon tape, but it has grown lichen in some places. The neighbor has rope for 12 and it is doing fine. Since you have a vinyl fence for the visibility, wire would be fine for the horses. We put up the tape for the appearance and visibility.

In terms of chargers, we had a series of solar chargers. Either the solar cells or batteries on solar chargers would seem to fail after about 18 months. About 5 years ago we switched to a Gallagher electric charger and not had an issue since.

The thing about electric fences is that you need a "medium" smart animal. If you get one that is too dumb, it won't learn about getting shocked and eventually it will get out. If the animal is too smart, it will continually test the fence to see if it is on and the one time they test and the fence is not on, they are out.

Just as an example, when one of my wife's horses was first exposed to the electric fence, we watched as it experimented touching different parts of its anatomy to the fence to see it would get shocked.-first an ear, then a butt, etc. I will leave it up to the reader to decide if the horse was too dumb or too smart :laughing:.

 

[oosik]

I've used both solar recharge and "normal" 12V fencers to keep cattle out. I have not had good luck with the solar unit - probably didn't spend enough $$$ on the unit. The normal 12V unit was rated at 5 miles and I used it - successfully - on a half mile section of fence line. It went across the shallow lake where winter ice would take out any type of barb wire fence. Believe me, the cows notice when they touch the electric fence and are standing knee deep in water. All I've ever had to do with the ground is bare the last foot or so of the wire, dig a small hole in the lake side mud and bury the wire with a rock on top to hold it down. Soil depth over bedrock is much to shallow to even consider attempting to drive a ground rod.

 

[EarPlug]

I have a vinyl 3 rail fence and I use the steel wire. The clips are the short version screwed (not the stand offs) directly to the vinyl posts. I connect the wire to springs at the corners to maintain tension as the wire heats and cools. Once the horse gets hit one or two times he avoids leaning over the fence. I can actually leave it off for a couple of months until he tries again.

 

[Larro Darro]

Once the horse gets hit one or two times he avoids leaning over the fence. I can actually leave it off for a couple of months until he tries again.

I do the same thing with my dog fence. We have so much lightning here that if you are forced to keep your charger plugged in all the time, you will lose one every couple of years, even with the lightning diverter.

And even though the aluminium wire does break easier, it is nothing to patch back together.

Larro

 

[MossRoad]

Well, no matter what you do, some day, inevitably, you will reach over the fence to pet the horse... and then you can decide if you bought a strong enough unit or not.

 

[quicksandfarmer]

Well, no matter what you do, some day, inevitably, you will reach over the fence to pet the horse... and then you can decide if you bought a strong enough unit or not.

If you're petting the horse when you touch the wire the horse will never let you pet him again!

 

[bullbreaker]

How does lightning protection work. I have lost 2 50 mile chargers to lightning.
Lightning Diverter


Product Video Resources

I do the same thing with my dog fence. We have so much lightning here that if you are forced to keep your charger plugged in all the time, you will lose one every couple of years, even with the lightning diverter.



Larro

Have to agree. However up till now I've never lost a unit nor the ones I've installed due to a lightning strike . I don't believe any LD system out there is bulletproof.
However I install them/sell them when ask for one almost like a psychological deterrent. With the cost of regular LD and extra ground rods /wireing /etc you will add $50 to $60 to your electric fence investment.

Heres two other "high dollar" lightning diverter systems.

Premium Lightning Diverter < Electric Fence Accessories | Zareba

Lightning Diverter and RFI Filter

 

[EddieWalker]

I have a vinyl 3 rail fence and I use the steel wire. The clips are the short version screwed (not the stand offs) directly to the vinyl posts. I connect the wire to springs at the corners to maintain tension as the wire heats and cools. Once the horse gets hit one or two times he avoids leaning over the fence. I can actually leave it off for a couple of months until he tries again.

This is kind of what I'm thinking of doing. They have the clips in white that will match my fence and I'm planning on screwing them right into the posts. I'm planning on putting the ones that are right up next to the posts at the bottom and then the ones that stick out five inches into the pasture at the top. My thinking is the extra distance at the top will keep the horses that much farther away from the fence.

Do the springs in the corners make a difference? I hadn't considered that. I was just going to pull it tight by hand and hope it stayed that way.

Eddie