Invisible fence

[quicksandfarmer]

Haven't seen any post on this, but thought I'd ask. Considering an invisible fence (DIY). Has anyone come up with something for a compact tractor to break a small trench without tearing up your whole yard? Looking for suggestions, ideas, or something maybe you've used. Going to be maybe an acre in size. Yea, I know about using edger's, but that's too much like work. LOL.

One that drove me crazy when we were shopping for invisible fences was that they always quoted the size in acres, which is a unit of area, when the dimension that matters is the perimeter of the area, which is a unit of length. An acre is 43,560 square feet. Is your area a rectangle 21,780 x 1 feet, a square 209 feet on a side, or a circle of 82 feet radius? Because they're all one acre, but the amount of fence they take varies enormously.

 

[tjkubota93]

Ours worked fine for 4 years after I installed it with an edger. It's been messed up for almost a year now, something broke the wire and I haven't found or fixed it. And 3 months ago I re-graded some areas and sodded. When I did that I got the wire with my box blade. The dog hasn't disappeared yet.......she used to wander around and test it, then take off after a smell if it wasn't working. Might be getting old.

 

[tjkubota93]

Ours worked fine for 4 years after I installed it with an edger. It's been messed up for almost a year now, something broke the wire and I haven't found or fixed it. And 3 months ago I re-graded some areas and sodded. When I did that I got the wire with my box blade. The dog hasn't disappeared yet.......she used to wander around and test it, then take off after a smell if it wasn't working. Might be getting old.

Getting some gray after 11years and all the food the little kids drop is closer to the house.

 

[ray66v]

What? "Those I know who tried doing it all themselves, have all failed."

I guess you don't know my wife and I. We put our own invisible fence in about 6 or 7 years ago and it's still working very well. It's at least an acre in size. Part of it is through woods all dug by hand by my wife and myself. We're still on the original base unit and have replaced one collar thanks to one dog removing it from the other and chewing it to pieces.

Kevin

I repeat: Everyone I know that has tried to self install and train, has failed. And, I will add, it's an expensive mistake.

Since, a lot of people can't even train their dogs to do basic things like, pee outside, it shouldn't be that hard to believe.

I never said, nor did I suggest, everyone who has ever tried failed. Nor, did I suggest I knew you.

Hope that clears things up.

 

[jaxs]

I've got a wire around about 4ac; it's attached just above ground level to a perimeter fence for the most part, and barely under ground where it crosses an unfenced area. In that section, the wire goes across, jogs over about 10 feet, comes back, jogs over 10 feet more, and crosses one more time, so there's an entire zone of "do not cross" - I found a single strand wasn't sufficient to keep a running cat or dog from crossing the line as they'd be at the wire before the warning even went off. With three strands they've got time to reconsider if they really want to get across...

This system has worked for me for seven years now; I'm on my second controller as the first died from who-knows-what. They sent me a replacement which unfortunately only has a light come on when there's a loop signal; if there's no loop, the light goes out and no alarm sounds, so I need to look at the unit every once in a while to make sure it's still working (original unit sounded like a smoke detector if the loop was broken).

I would like to hear more about thatI always figured if there was a fence(not neccessarly pet tight) they had to slow down for,that would give them a chance to reconsider.:stopsign::roadblock:

 

[Stancoll]

View attachment 572475

Picture from FB showing how subsoiler was modified.

I like that setup!

 

[Stancoll]

OK. Thanks for all the suggestions. I made my mind up, going with the wireless.

 

[widefat]

I know it' s expensive. But, I suggest you consider getting it professionally installed, with professional training.

Those I know who did that are happy, and their dogs are safe.

Those I know who tried doing it all themselves, have all failed.

They either couldn't get the DIY systems to work properly, or their dogs trained to use it.

These systems are also fairly frequently struck by lightning, so a warranty is a good idea.

That being said, I literally do everything myself.

Count me as another that successfully went the DIY route. Our hounds NEVER cross the boundry, even when they see deer, foxes, rabbits. ~~ 2 Acres

I tried walk behind edger, it was a PITA. I ended up using a subsoiler, which worked great. No mods needed.

Lost the controller to lightning - PetSafe replaced it free of charge.

 

[widefat]

One that drove me crazy when we were shopping for invisible fences was that they always quoted the size in acres, which is a unit of area, when the dimension that matters is the perimeter of the area, which is a unit of length. An acre is 43,560 square feet. Is your area a rectangle 21,780 x 1 feet, a square 209 feet on a side, or a circle of 82 feet radius? Because they're all one acre, but the amount of fence they take varies enormously.

The difference is the type - wireless or wired (buried).

The buried wire fence is based on the length of the wire, which when measured LxW=acreage, is valid. The shape does not matter.

With the centralized wireless unit that transmits a signal that the collar senses, the shape does indeed matter. The hub can only transmit a certain radial distance, so a long rectangle vs. a circle is a valid concern.

 

[ning]

I would like to hear more about thatI always figured if there was a fence(not neccessarly pet tight) they had to slow down for,that would give them a chance to reconsider.:stopsign::roadblock:

I used a single wire against the fence; it keeps the pet away from the fence. As you figured, the fence has enough presence to keep the pet from expecting that it can blast through it - I wouldn't expect this to be true for a simple wire fence but we have some chain link... poorly installed a long time ago with some gaps underneath it.

I used a triple wire (snaked back and forth with a good gap) across an open space, since they're more likely to be running fast in that area chasing something and rather than making a "red line do not cross" it's more a "zone of don't even". My cats will patrol to within about 30 feet of the beginning of the zone; they're very respectful of it.