Electric Fence Advice

[clarkmorefarm]

I know a lot of this has been covered before and read some of the threads, but what is the best way to start an electric fence from scratch?

I have new 5 strand barbed wire fences that have 6" perfect wood anchor post and h braces, and T post every 8' with a 6" perfect wood post as a line post at a maximum of 100 ft for all my cross fences that are clear of any vegetation currently.

Some of my perimeter is much older and grown up, but I have 5 to 6 barbed wires in most places and any rotten wood post have been pulled and replaced with T post to strengthen it back up.

My cows and calves currently respect the fence and gates pretty well, but I know when the grass is growing, they'll want to lean on it and get every blade of grass they can.

I will have 110v at my barn soon and it pretty central to my pastures, I can easily branch off from it I believe. I have some chargers I've inherited, not sure on the specs, but I'm not opposed to buying a new one that will have enough joules for all of my fence.

I will end up subdividing and rotating my cross fenced pastures mostly in half, so I can do that with step in or fiberglass post, I think I can figure out the reels and poly wire fence for that. It can feed off of any permanent fence if I understand correctly.

My biggest question is what type of insulators and wire does everyone use on a permanent fence? I assume any wire stretched for electric will need an inline tensioner on it.

My local soil conservationist recommended these insulators to get cattle away from the fence, but that seems pretty high dollar when you have to put it on both sides of cross fences.

HD T Post Offset Insulator

Electric fence insulator that holds low-tension conductors 10" off of steel T posts.

www.premier1supplies.com

I've also seen the lock jawz and they seem like the would work well and use the same insulator for both sides of a t post.

LockJawz T-360 Electric Fence Insulators

Universal T-Post Electric Fence Insulator Designed from the ground up to be the last t-post insulator you will ever need! Fits all standard t-posts (1.25-1.33 lb) 6 position 360° mounting options In-Line as well as T-Post corner insulator Easy "Weave-In" wire installation Poly Rope Poly Wire...

www.lockjawz.com

I believe II would put in switches so I could turn off pastures not in use as needed, but looking for any advice you all have.

 

[Travlr]

Just remember that electric fences became popular a long time ago with simple glass insulators and a single wire, and a 110 volt source. They worked then, and they still work. Anything beyond the simple stuff is extra expense for very little bang for the buck.

I'd use the old chargers you have if you can use a110 source and they work, and of course plastic insulators have replaced glass. Otherwise, the only real improvements have been a plastic, spring loaded handle to disconnect wire, often used for a gate, and the light duty posts that are easy to move.

 

[JW IN VA]

Switches help when working on a short or break.
I like the lock jawz but also use others.
Getting ready to try some screw in offsets for wood posts. Look to be tough.
I can see using perimeter fence for a carrying wire but,unless you border other cattle, if they can't stay in with 5 to 6 wires, they need a new home. Just sold a cow and calf last week that made a habit of trying fences.
You need to add up the total length of the fence to determine joules needed. If you use two strands of poly wire, add the length of the second wire.
Use good 9 strand poly wire. Especially if you are running over a couple hundred yards. Lighter wire has trouble carrying current long distances. Kencove has some wire that looks real good. Even if you use good poly wire, take it down if it isn't charged. Calves love to chew on it.
At the least, buy a five to seven light tester. Better yet,if you can afford it now, get a Gallagher tester which shows fault direction as well as voltage. If you have to chase a shorted out wire that 100.00 plus will seem cheap.
Just my advice. Your decisions should be based on your needs and budget.
The best electric fences hinge on having good grounds and connections.

 

[chevytaHOE5674]

I hate lock jawz with a passion. Put in 3 miles of 4 strand HT wire with them. 2 years later I went back and removed any remaining ones and replaced with pin lock insulators. Between the deer and the snow the little locking teeth were broke off a majority of them in no time flat.

 

[Little Joe]

Get a gripple tool and gripples to add your tension and to tie off to the end insulators.

 

[sstterry]

I'd use the old chargers you have if you can use a110 source and they work, and of course plastic insulators have replaced glass. Otherwise, the only real improvements have been a plastic, spring loaded handle to disconnect wire, often used for a gate, and the light duty posts that are easy to move.

It depends on how old the chargers are. The old weed burner types electric fence chargers are dangerous. They can start fires and burn plastic insulators. Their amperage is too high. As I recall a lot of insurance companies will not allow them anywhere near the vicinity of a building. The newer models (anything newer than the late 80's) don't do that.

 

[sstterry]

Get a gripple tool and gripples to add your tension and to tie off to the end insulators.

But make sure you leave enough wire on the gripple to re-tension. Don't ask me how I know

 

[anewcomer]

Get the wire offset brackets from Premier Fence to run your offset hot wire. They are expensive, but you only need them every 50 feet or so, on flat ground. They will be there when you die, the others won't be. Use 12 and 1/2 gauge aluminum wire, made by Tipper Tie, available from Lowes, as your offset wire. A bit of a learning curve versus high tensile, but, trust me, you will never use high tensile again. Do some reading and figuring on charger size, but buy the next size bigger than what you think you need. Again, I recommend Premium Fence. They are not the cheapest, but everything they sell you will do what they say it will. You can't have too many cut-off switches. Pay a little more to buy good quality, it will pay in efficiency and longevity.

 

[Little Joe]

Get the wire offset brackets from Premier Fence to run your offset hot wire. They are expensive, but you only need them every 50 feet or so, on flat ground. They will be there when you die, the others won't be. Use 12 and 1/2 gauge aluminum wire, made by Tipper Tie, available from Lowes, as your offset wire. A bit of a learning curve versus high tensile, but, trust me, you will never use high tensile again. Do some reading and figuring on charger size, but buy the next size bigger than what you think you need. Again, I recommend Premium Fence. They are not the cheapest, but everything they sell you will do what they say it will. You can't have too many cut-off switches. Pay a little more to buy good quality, it will pay in efficiency and longevity.

What's the advantage of the tipper tie aluminum over the standard high tensile?

 

[chevytaHOE5674]

My experience with the aluminum 12.5g wire is it is easy to put up because it's light weight. But it doesn't have the strength of hi-tensile steel. Deer, trees, snow, moose, etc all tend to break the aluminum vs just stretching the steel.

 

[anewcomer]

Will not argue that, Chevy. I'm in central Alabama. Don't have many of the fence challenges you do. Aluminum wire is 1/3-1/4 less weight than high tensile, hence much less need for end structures, farther line post spacing, etc. it is 3-4 times more conductive than high tensile.A one mile spool of aluminum wire weighs 50 pounds, and can be played out of the front of a 4-wheeler, no spinning Jenny. It can be hand tied, no crips, etc, etc, etc. If you can get by with a fence that is a mental barrier and not a physical barrier, aluminum wire is for you.

 

[Mark Reynolds]

I know a lot of this has been covered before and read some of the threads, but what is the best way to start an electric fence from scratch?

I have new 5 strand barbed wire fences that have 6" perfect wood anchor post and h braces, and T post every 8' with a 6" perfect wood post as a line post at a maximum of 100 ft for all my cross fences that are clear of any vegetation currently.

Some of my perimeter is much older and grown up, but I have 5 to 6 barbed wires in most places and any rotten wood post have been pulled and replaced with T post to strengthen it back up.

My cows and calves currently respect the fence and gates pretty well, but I know when the grass is growing, they'll want to lean on it and get every blade of grass they can.

I will have 110v at my barn soon and it pretty central to my pastures, I can easily branch off from it I believe. I have some chargers I've inherited, not sure on the specs, but I'm not opposed to buying a new one that will have enough joules for all of my fence.

I will end up subdividing and rotating my cross fenced pastures mostly in half, so I can do that with step in or fiberglass post, I think I can figure out the reels and poly wire fence for that. It can feed off of any permanent fence if I understand correctly.

My biggest question is what type of insulators and wire does everyone use on a permanent fence? I assume any wire stretched for electric will need an inline tensioner on it.

My local soil conservationist recommended these insulators to get cattle away from the fence, but that seems pretty high dollar when you have to put it on both sides of cross fences.

HD T Post Offset Insulator

Electric fence insulator that holds low-tension conductors 10" off of steel T posts.

www.premier1supplies.com

I've also seen the lock jawz and they seem like the would work well and use the same insulator for both sides of a t post.

LockJawz T-360 Electric Fence Insulators

Universal T-Post Electric Fence Insulator Designed from the ground up to be the last t-post insulator you will ever need! Fits all standard t-posts (1.25-1.33 lb) 6 position 360° mounting options In-Line as well as T-Post corner insulator Easy "Weave-In" wire installation Poly Rope Poly Wire...

www.lockjawz.com

I believe II would put in switches so I could turn off pastures not in use as needed, but looking for any advice you all have.

If your cows are leaning that hard on your fence, you are not grazing properly! You move your cows to the next pasture when the height of the grass is down to 3-4 inches, NOT into the dirt! Additionally, if it takes longer to graze the pasture down to a height of 2-4 inches than a week, your pasture needs to be smaller.

If your cows are pushing that hard on your fence, I'll guarantee that they should have been moved to the next pasture before now.

 

[chaded]

If you have a fence that is grown up and barb wire you will want something that offsets the wire a bit off of the fence. Those lock jawz may put the wire too close to other wires and/or brush. If the fence is structurally fine I probably wouldn't even bother. Like Mark mentioned, they should be moved before they are leaning on a fence to get to the other side enough to damage it.

 

[chevytaHOE5674]

If your cows are pushing that hard on your fence, I'll guarantee that they should have been moved to the next pasture before now.

Spoken like someone who has never owned cows and watched them be stupid and act like cows.

I dont care how good your forage is eventually cows will test the fence for one reason or another.

 

[farmerjan]

We have several that HAVE TO reach out/across/under the wire ..... JUST BECAUSE.... A hot fence stops alot of that...
I like something that offsets the wire from the T-posts/metal posts, at least 4-6 inches...

 

[greybeard]

Spoken like someone who has never owned cows and watched them be stupid and act like cows.

I dont care how good your forage is eventually cows will test the fence for one reason or another.

crude, but...Exactky! A cow will lean on a fence while in good grass belly high if it sees something green in another pasture. So will most of a herd.....just for a single mouthful.

 

[chevytaHOE5674]

crude, but...Exactky! A cow will lean on a fence while in good grass belly high if it sees something green in another pasture. So will most of a herd.....just for a single mouthful.

The old saying rings true "the grass is always greener on the other side of the fence"..

But I've found it doesn't even need to be greener. Just needs to be different from what they have and their curiosity will take over.

 

[Ridgefarmer63]

I have a 3 joule charger for about 40 acres, two strand 12.5 gauge high tensile galv for the perimeter I divy that 40 acres into about 20 pastures with temp one strand poly. Your grounding is crucial. I don't like the 6 inch standoffs. You can get slightly shorter ones that are a stouter. 4 inches or so.

 

[Ridgefarmer63]

The old saying rings true "the grass is always greener on the other side of the fence"..

But I've found it doesn't even need to be greener. Just needs to be different from what they have and their curiosity will take over.

Always thought "the grass is always greener" saying originated from cows.

 

[anewcomer]

Ridgefarmer, agree on the short offsets. The wire offsets I recommended are about as far offset as are available, and are virtually indestructible. Look them up on Premier Fence (I have no connection to the company, just a long time customer). You will see what I am describing.