Home Forums Miscellaneous Topics Rural Living Electric fencer?

What brand is the best?

I don't know about best, 110 volt, solar, battery? What is it you need?

We have a few speedrites, which work well. They are easy to get rebuilt if needed.

I'd get one a size or so larger than you need, so if grass grounds it out there's still enough power.

For now a 110 one will work...only need a mile or so....

I agree on getting one larger than you need and one that is easy to have rebuilt, especially if you get a lot of lightening. What you're keeping in/out makes a difference as well. Our horses don't need much at all...I think static electricity would turn them around....on the other hand, our goats require something that will HAMMER them to turn them around.

I just looked at one of ours. Enforcer Dare. We buy what the local farm store sells. There is a pile of some note of old fencers close under the pole.

Ford vs. Chevy thing for some.

Zareba has been good for us. A lot depends on what type critter(s) you're trying to keep in (or out), power source, weather exposure, terrain, and your budget.

Rule of thumb for the majority of critters is 1 Joule output for every mile of fence. Some critters don't need nearly this much, but overcoming weeds that grow up into the fence, poor ground, and the occasional big, ugly critter makes it a minimum.

For your reading pleasure, here is a good article and review; LINK

Ed

Good info there thanks....
Dad sold all his livestock in the 70 s and when I was a kid I tore fence out and pulled posts what seemed like forever...we had a huge stack of hedge posts , I built a buzz saw and made firewood out of them...he heated his house for some years off that pile...
Dad vowed to never have another head of livestock....now that I'm taking over things are changing...
I did find dads old fencer in the barn today...it has hung there for 45 years....I plugged it in and it seems to be working....it is a pemark
I doubt I will use it I would hate to burn down the barn...

I've used electric fencers for a good many years, battery powered, solar powered, and electricity powered. They all have their uses. It really doesn't take a lot of shocking power to turn livestock, as they learn pretty quick, though I have seen some cows that it didn't seem to faze. I currently have two electric fencers in use......a solar powered Zabera on a stretch of fence that one old cow kept pushing through the wire and eating on the other side, and one that I'm running my horses behind. That one runs off electricity and will absolutely knock the living chit out of you.......I can personally attest to it. Not sure of the brand, but will look sometimes and post it here, as it's a good one. I've found that most work as advertised, as long as they are grounded good enough.


Edit.....fencer brand is Parmak.

And THAT is the key to them all!

Ed

Spot on Ed, I/we, use a galvanized rod, an old silo rod, ten feet is good, a copper wire for the ground. It may be hard to over do it. (Even hayseeds know that much)

Gallagher used to be the best but they are expensive. I think the cheapest one was about $400. Parmak is also good, especially their solar chargers. Like others have said, a good ground is essential. Have to be able to complete the circuit. Some applications run two wires about 4" apart. One for hot and one for ground. The animal has to touch both wires for it to work.

After having some problems with a good ground that allowed the kids hogs to get out, I bought a copper-clad ground rod with the copper clamp and ran copper wire from the charger to the rod. Next time the hogs touched it they got sizzled. I have the same ground system on other hot wire fences.

We run 3 6' ground rods in line about 10' apart. We generally have fairly damp soil, really dry soil can make a difference.

Same here. We have a sand layer with a clay cap that runs anywhere from 18" down to over 6' down. Ground rods set like yours handle it really well. Others might have to put more, and deeper ground rods in, or more hot with ground lines between them with ground rods spaced at intervals.

Ed

And when the snow builds to a certain level, it all goes to hell!

Or when ya pee on 'em...

Ed

I'm thmart, Ed. I doesn't pee on the wire!

So what do you use for a ground rod? Most guys around here just drive a fence post upside down...I'm thinking a copper rod would be better but we do have a clay base soil that holds moister pretty well but this time of year the top foot or so is pretty dry...
I did buy a pemark dolor unit...the bigger one....

<$20
Anything else is a compromise. As I mentioned above, I learned the hard way. I needed two ground rods for two locations, so I cut it in half. It worked fine, but we have wet soil.

Around here, copper rods are scarce, but the galvanized steel rods and copper connectors seem to work about as well, so that's the way we do it.

I don't know if there would be too much resistance with a plain steel post or not. The current will flow on the outside of whatever conductor you use and zinc is right up there with lead and copper for conductivity. If you gold plate your ground rod, you won't have ANY problems with a bad ground.

Ed

I've used re-bar and it rusts very easily. With that coating, it's a terrible conductor.

That's what I get for trying to ground cheaply.

Is that the reason you now try to live by your sig line?

Ed

I need three ground rods, The copper ones are easy to get here. Over the years I have had several different brands of chargers.Doesn't seem to make a difference. I am only running about 4000 feet of fence though. Poor grounding will make fellow chase lot of ghost trying to figure out the problem.
I saw an article a few years back about putting a flourescent light tube on the fence to see if it is always working. I forget now though if it was in paralell or series

Hydro One, the power company in Ontario, wants galvanized ground rods. mostly elsewhere, the copper clad are the norm. Different soils must have different grounding problems?

Soil moisture seems to be the real issue. Soil acidity could cause more corrosion, affecting the current flow, but copper is still a better conductor.

The only reason I can think of them requiring galvanized ground rod is that they are steel and more likely to be able to be driven into badly compacted soil to the depth they need, rather than the copper rods, which are softer. That way, regardless of the soil density, they can be assured of the best ground possible.

Ed