Electric fence ideas

   / Electric fence ideas #1  

robbyr

Elite Member
Joined
Mar 13, 2011
Messages
4,073
Location
western east central texas
Tractor
ford and mahindra
We got lucky and found 40 acres 3 miles down the road to put some of our cows on. The fences on two sides are horrible. I have always said we had well behaved cows because they don稚 give me many problems. Wife and I patch on fence here and there every once in a while. The old barbed wire is rusty and brittle and in a tree line. Several spots were dead limbs or trees had fallen on fence. I have never used electric fence but my father in law did. He used the rods that look like rebar and the yellow insulators and ran wire to a solar unit. I saw my neighbor a few years ago used that 1 1/2 electric tape and it was connected to a battery. Was thinking about putting up an electric fence 15 or 20 feet away from the old one in hopes of keeping cows away from it. Can稚 afford to rebuild barbed wire fence. Any ideas on what some of y誕ll think is the best method to pursue are appreciated.
 
   / Electric fence ideas #2  
I've been using quarter-inch electric rope a lot, like this:
Amazon.com : Baygard Electric Fence 1/4-Inch White Rope, 656 Feet Model 795 : Agricultural Fence Accessories : Garden & Outdoor
I can usually find it quite a bit cheaper if I shop around.


I particularly like it for temporary and semi-permanent fences.

It's about six cents a foot, compared to about three cents a foot for high-tensile galvanized steel. But it's a lot easier to work with. It's lightweight. Cut it with scissors, tie it together with knots. The only tools you need for a day of fencing are a post pounder and a pair of scissors.

At the ends, you can use regular quarter-inch rope as an insulator and tie it to just about anything -- a tree, a post, a barrel full of rocks.

For line posts I really like a t-post with a Lockjawz insulator:
LockJawz - The Last T-Post Insulator You Will Ever Need

They stay where you put them. The only thing better for staying put is a wooden post with a nailed-on insulator but that's a lot more trouble. The catalogs are full of plastic wands and cheap t-post insulators, they're nothing but grief in my experience.

I find the fence is the most trouble-free if the rope is kept pretty tight. With a tight rope the line posts can be pretty far apart, depending on the terrain I'll sometimes only have posts at peaks and valleys. Just for fun one day I hooked up a scale to a rope I was tensioning the way I like it, the scale read 100 to 120 pounds of tension. To tension the rope, I use a trucker's hitch (Trucker's Hitch Knot | Knot Tying | Survival Knots). But I put two plastic donut insulators in it. They act as pulleys and reduce the friction, making it easier to get it tight, and also reducing wear on the rope. At whatever I'm attaching to I put a piece of rope, and run it through the center of one donut. The electric rope goes around that donut and it will spin like a pulley. The other donut has the electric rope go through it, and it sits inside the loop of the trucker hitch. So when you tighten the trucker hitch it's spinning on the two donuts. If that explanation doesn't make sense I can try to do better.

This is the donut insulator I use:
Plastic Donut Insulator Black

I can usually find them on Ebay in bulk much cheaper though.
 
   / Electric fence ideas #3  
I like 6' 3/8 white fiberglass posts with 3/4 or 1" electric tape. 3 lines are best. Use plastic insulators. They won't injure your cattle like barbed wire will if they run through it. Easy to fix. Figure the distance run of the wire and get the appropriate fence charger. I like Parmak.

They have it all here- reliable to buy from. Kencove Farm Fence Supplies

Electric Fence, High Tensile Fencing Supplies
 
   / Electric fence ideas #4  
For temporary fencing we use what we call hot tape which is white, orange or yellow tape about 3/4" (I have never measured it), I find that the horses touch it once and they know that it bites and they seem to pass the word around.
We have put it up without the energizer and they avoid it.
Posts are plastic coated steel poles with a pigtail at the top or a star picket (T post) with insulators for longer term fencing.
 
   / Electric fence ideas #5  
For horses we use a product called Electrobraid. 25 year warranty. T-posts for posts. Corners are wood. You can install with few tools. A pair of scissors and some wrenches for the split bolt connectors.
 
   / Electric fence ideas #7  
22 years ago I put up high tensile wire on 9/16 dia fiberglass posts every 20-30 feet. Corner posts are braced wood set 3 feet deep with insulators. The fence wire is completely insulated and fastened to the fiber posts with SS wire spring clips. When a tree falls on it or a tractor snags it the spring clips slide on the posts. Cut the tree or untangle the tractor... the clips allow me to slide the wire back into position without damage. Each strand is insulated so the whole fence can be hot or alternating strands can be hot. It has worked well for me.
 
   / Electric fence ideas #8  
I've used a 3 wire electric fence with teflon 4' posts in long runs and 4x4s at corners and ceramic insulators screwed into those for 18 years here. Works fine for keeping hooved rats out (some people call them "deer", no dear to a gardener).

Buy the teflon posts at TSC or Lowes/Home Depot. They have a metal bottom point with a stepping point to allow you to just push them into the ground with one foot.

I use the "15 mile" fence charger powered by a 12v utility battery kept charged with a little 50w solar panel. Battery typically lasts about 3 years. Charger goes for about 6 or 8 years. Solar panel is still good at 18. I just mount a bucket horizontally onto one of the 4x4 posts and slide the battery into the bucket with side holes for the wires, etc.

Maybe for cattle you need 6' like someone suggested. Think you still need 3 wires but could put the bottom wire higher than the approximately 4" that I use to keep critters out.

Ralph
 
   / Electric fence ideas #9  
IMO you have been given real good advice already . I like and use Parmak also . Cyclops also makes some units that when properly rigged will stand back an army or keep your livestock contained . Cyclops Electric Fence Chargers and Energizers | Mains Battery Solar – CYCLOPS ELECTRIC FENCE CHARGERS I dont like to buy my chargers from big box stores but research and order them . In the back of your mind remember to protect yourself from "theft" of high dollar chargers . Also keeping em hidin and protected from elements . And might wanna consider putting up electric fence warning signs and taking pics and fileing too cover your rearend from a lawsuit . Someone comes and urinates on some of the Cyclops riggs espeicially when there "on duty" there gonna know what a real weenie roast is !
 
 
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