We are installing electric fence for the first time on our farm. We have a five strand barb wire fence now, but we are trying to keep the bull from the heifers.He rode the fence over a few months ago and we had to put him in the barn. Trying to keep him to get a few more heifers. Everything that I have read tells me that the ground is the main thing. I have also read several ideas about how to ground. Any tips??
Best way to ground electric fence??
- Thread starter wvcowgirl
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Crowderfarms
Well-known member
Preferably get a Copper Ground Rod. Drive it in the dirt at least 2-3 feet(unless you hit rock) if possible, and attach your ground wire with a grounding strap. You should be good to go.wvcowgirl":3suvawkl said:
A minimum of 3 ground rods, 6 is better. Rods that are actaully made for grounding electric fences. Keep the ground away from the power company or any building grounds. If you can get them in to their full length, usually 5-6 feet all the better, if not, put them in at a shallow angle so that the most rod is in the ground.. Dasiy chain them together and to the fence ground. If you're putting the cahrger in a building, putting the ground rods in under the roof dripline may help with the conductivity. Space the rods 5-10 feet apart if possible. Get one of the fencetesters that displays the voltage and not just the lights that tellk you if there is power. They're pretty pricey, $90-100, but worth the expense. If I remember correctly, alwasy a dangerous concept, the Gallagher fencing manual at their webiste deals with groundgin systems and I think has a deal on how to check to see if your ground is ok.
http://gallagherusa.com/
dun
http://gallagherusa.com/
dun
jkwilson
Well-known member
When putting the ground rod in, there is a very easy way if your soil type is right. Get the ground wet and either drive or push the rod in about 6 or 8 inches. Wobble it around just a little, and lift it up some. Pour a few ounces of water down the rod so it goes into the hole. Work the rod up and down some more, occasionally adding more water when progress stops. In ideal soil conditions, you can put an 8 foot rod into the ground in just a minute or so this way.
What it does is force the water in the hole to make a path for the rod to move through the soil. Really works, and even if it doesn't in your soil, you aren't out anything for trying.
What it does is force the water in the hole to make a path for the rod to move through the soil. Really works, and even if it doesn't in your soil, you aren't out anything for trying.
Bama
Well-known member
jkwilson":k42qy06b said:
That old trick helped me out several years ago. I was a young whippersnapper just out of college. I was "Educated". I was on a job as a electrician. One of the jobs that day was to drive several ground rods. I picked up a sledge hammer and headed out. A old man that had been in the business for several years stopped me. He had not even had much high school, much less college. He said " take this bottle of water I'll be out there in a little while". He showed me how to drive em like you described. The biggest lesson I learned that day was my formal education didn't hold a light to that old mans education. I'm sure he is dead and gone now but the lesson he taught me that day still lingers.
Sure doesn;t work like that around here. We usually have to use the posthole auger to get as deep as we can then drive it a little more.. As alwasy, it depends on the soil, or what is called soil in the area.
dun
dun
jkwilson
Well-known member
dun":2by32ce9 said:
Our soil is HARD clay. In the summer, I have to use a jack or the tractor loader to pull electric fence posts, but I can put a ground rod in without a hammer. Well worth trying.
J
Well-known member
At my place I drove about 8' of a copper rod with a tee post driver. The last 2-3 feet was with a sledge hammer but I got it all the way in. I live in sandy soil with a hard layer of clay about 2' down.
A
Anonymous
Extremely dry times the ground rod wont work. We use one wire as a hot wire and one as a ground. We stagger all the way that way when he touches one he has to touch the other.
lcupit":257czcsq said:
In some instqances that may be required, but we've never had a problem with the ground system when using enough ground rods. Granted the furthest end from the ground rod is only about 3/4 of a mile, but we've had very little voltage drop at that distance even in severe drought. Maybe it's the type of soil (laugh here) in this area. But I wouldn;t expect clay and rock to be all that good of a conductor.
dun
