Electric Fence Experts

[Cuttin_up]

Like a lot of other folks on here we are having a hot dry summer which I'm sure is part of my fencing problem I'm having. I've got a polywire fence that I'm using as interior fencing to divide out pasture. It's a 3 wire fence with the middle wire being my ground wire. The charge is running anywhere between 6700 to 7000 volts. My ground rod is set in the pond. My problem I'm having is some cattle are slipping thru. My first assumption is my ground because I feel 6700 volts is plenty hot enough. How do you test your ground? I put my tester on the ground wire and I'm getting no reading, which tells me it is OK. This is the only way I know to test it. Should I make my middle wire hot and add 2 ground wires after my 1st and 3rd wire? That to me seems like over kill. Any thought/suggestions/recommendations as to where my problems could be? I know there are work arounds for you folks who have to deal with grounding problems everyday.

 

[ChrisB]

Why not make all three wires hot?

 

[dun]

From page 20 of the Gallagher fencing manual
http://www.gallagherusa.com/electric-fe ... loads.aspx

Test the ground system
This needs to be done once a short section
of fence has been built. It should be tested
at least once a year or at the height of any
dry period to ensure the grounding capacity
is sufficient for the joule rating of the
energizer.
Short the fence out at least 330ft away
from the ground system by using several
steel stakes between the hot wires and the
ground. Reduce the fence voltage at this
point to 2000V (2kV) or less.
Using a Digital Volt Meter (DVM) (G5030 or
G5035) measure the voltage between the
wire connecting through the ground rods
to the energizer ground terminal and an
independent ground rod. This stake should
be a galvanized metal rod, minimum 8"
long, and placed 3ft away from the ground
rods or as far away as your DVM cable will
reach (see Figure 4.9).
Note: If you are using a SmartPower
energizer the ground monitor/alarm will
indicate when the ground system requires
attention (see Figure 4.6).
There should be no reading on the DVM,
however up to 200V (0.2kV) is acceptable.
If the voltage is higher than this, switch off
the energizer, drive in more ground rods at
the recommended spacings and connect
them to the existing ground system until
the voltage is down to the acceptable level.

 

[Cuttin_up]

Why not make all three wires hot?

I had it this way for a long time and then it got really dry and I started having problems. So I decided then that I needed the ground wire. Maybe it doesn't matter, but I thought I would give it a shot.

 

[Angus Cowman]

Why not make all three wires hot?

I had it this way for a long time and then it got really dry and I started having problems. So I decided then that I needed the ground wire. Maybe it doesn't matter, but I thought I would give it a shot.

I have the same problem with mine and I also run a wire as a ground (it helps)
the problem I am having is thier isn't enough moisture in the ground for the current to really zap the cows
even with a ground wire you aren't getting the charge thru the animal as you will when the ground is wetter

 

[Roadapple]

When the ground [dirt] is dry, a 5 gal. pail of water works wonders. Poured around the ground rod. On my 1 pasture, with barb wire and steel post, I simply run the ground wire to a steel post, using extenders on a single 14 ga. hot wire.

 

[mack]

If you have a "TRUE" hot/neg system where the "ground" (middle) wire is connected to the ground system, then the ground is not the problem.

Although the ground system is EXTREMELY IMPORTANT, you may be looking in the wrong place for the problem. I would suggest looking at the polywire. It is very common to get good (5-7kV) voltage on polywire but have cattle simply slip through it. This is due to two main reasons:
1-resistance on the wire
2-broken wires in the polywire

If you are using common stainless steel polywire (six strands is pretty common), resistance is so high that when a load is applied (cow nose), the voltage will not maintain to an effective level. When you check the voltage, there is little or no load on the fence, so everyting appears fine. If you have broken wires, the same thing happens. When a load is applied, the great resistance will not carry the power.

You can check the conductivity of your polywire by applying a load to the fence then checking the voltage. A lot of gallagher dealers have load testers at their store to check energizers with. If you use the 500 ohm load, you should have atleast 3kV on the fence to control animals. If you cant find a load tester, then you can try something like a pigtail post and lay the post on one of the hot strands of polywire then check the voltage. If you have a big enough energizer and good polywire, then you should be able to maintain voltage(do not stick the post in the ground, just let the foot touch the ground). I do this with my poly wire cross fences all of the time and my voltage will drop 1kV at the most.

If your voltage drops below a suitable limit, then the only other option is to replace the wire. Keep in mind that common six strand stainless has a resistance of about 12,000 ohms. A high conductive, non-stainless poly such as TurboWire, has a resistance of about 200 ohms... that is a HUGE difference when it comes to conductivity under a load(critter touching the fence).

once you get over a1000' on regular six strand stainless polywire, you have maxed out the conductivity. In this case, regardless of how big of an energizer you have you will not carry the juice when an animal touches the fence. a lot of farmers have become disgusted with electric fence over the years due to polywire.

 

[3waycross]

For what its worth I reaffirmed my expert status today by finding a wire that was well hidden in some grass. .

Sweet Jesus did that ever hurt.

 

[farmwriter]

http://www.tractorsupply.com/content/knowhow/fencing/fencing_install_an_electric_fence

Came across this today and I thought some of these graphics might be helpful if anybody ever starts plowing through the boards for fencing tips.

 

[Howdyjabo]

My son was having trouble where he worked with the dry soil. Getting the fence going better was critical as they are surrounded by Raleigh.
He ended up putting in a new ground rod (added to the three already there)
only this one was aluminum .He augured the hole then dug it deeper by hand- he filled the hole with layers of dirt and salt and left a depression hole at the top that he filled with water every day.
Solved his problem.

At his place the soil has a low mineral level so it doesn't conduct well under stress.
Our place is very high in minerals( esp copper) so ours works well even when its dry with just two ground rods and no ground wires.

I hate poly wire- its great when its new but it doesn't take long before wires start to break. Thats the beginning of the end.

 

[lavacarancher]

For what its worth I reaffirmed my expert status today by finding a wire that was well hidden in some grass. .

Sweet Jesus did that ever hurt.

There ya go, folks. Don't need no stinkin' tester when 3WAY is around. He'll test the fench. :lol:

 

[Anonymous]

For what its worth I reaffirmed my expert status today by finding a wire that was well hidden in some grass. .

Sweet Jesus did that ever hurt.

:lol: :lol: :lol: sorry but that's some funny stuff

 

[dun]

I hate poly wire- its great when its new but it doesn't take long before wires start to break. Thats the beginning of the end.

I'll have to watch for that. Most of ours is 10 years old at least and it hasn;t started breaking yet.

 

[3waycross]

For what its worth I reaffirmed my expert status today by finding a wire that was well hidden in some grass. .

Sweet Jesus did that ever hurt.

:lol: :lol: :lol: sorry but that's some funny stuff

It's funnier now :shock:

 

[Howdyjabo]

Come to think about it I rerolled mine and unrolled it again to put up somewhere else-- that might be what started my problems.

 

[3waycross]

Come to think about it I rerolled mine and unrolled it again to put up somewhere else-- that might be what started my problems.

I need to take down a couple of hundred feet tomorrow. I am guessing that the larger you roll it the less breakage you should have.

 

[hillsdown]

Use more ground rods, and make sure they are at least 6 ft down and do not use sucker rod make sure you use proper ground wire connectors as well. I would remove it from the pond as well and put it in normal dry ground.
A separate wire needs to be connected to the ground rod and your fencer. Do not use a wire that runs along your fence line as your main wire connected to your ground connection on your fencer and ground rods .


We had an unbelievable dry year last year, worst drought in 50 years, my electric fences all worked fine .

You can also run a meter on your wire to make sure it is actually is capable of conducting power. We had a dead high tensile wire last summer, kinda of a mystery. Tested it with the meter and it read zero (not a fence tester but an electrical multimeter) ,replaced it with brand new high tensile and had power going stronger than ever.

 

[Howdyjabo]

I had a ceramic donut that went bad. It took me forever to find because it looked fine. It had hairline cracks and when wet would short the fence(which last year it was wet ALL the time).

 

[dun]

Come to think about it I rerolled mine and unrolled it again to put up somewhere else-- that might be what started my problems.

That's the general idea. We put it up and roll it back up and move it (we have a dozen 1/4mile spools) 6-8 or so times a year. The idea is to start with a quality product