Electric Fence Help

[aplusmnt]

I am thinking of putting up my first Electric fence. Any suggestions will be greatly appreciated. It will start at my barn (electric source) and end back at my barn probably cover 1-2 acres. Going to be to keep a bull in while not using him for his intended purpose.

Probably going to throw up a temporary wire cattle panel fence to go along with the electric. Since three sides are all ready fenced.

I know nothing about electric fences except how bad they hurt to get stung by as a kid.

 

[Rookie]

I prefer the 110v plug in type. I run 5 strand with 3 hot and 2 ground strands.Ya dont really need the ground strands but it be a good idea with a bull cause if he gets his nose against the hot and ground both it'll light im up bigtime Good luck

george

 

[Bama]

Biggest problem folks have with electric fences is the ground. Make sure to ground it well and you wont have near the problems. Best system is a three rod delta system. It will show you in the instructions.

 

[VanC]

Aplus- I'm not qualified to give much advice on these boards but I will offer this: don't forget to plug it in! ;-)

 

[Texas PaPaw]

I prefer the 110v plug in type. I run 5 strand with 3 hot and 2 ground strands.Ya dont really need the ground strands but it be a good idea with a bull cause if he gets his nose against the hot and ground both it'll light im up bigtime Good luck

george

Donald

I agree with Rookie on the 110v plugin charger. Grazing consultant Jim Gerrish recomends 1 joule output per mile of fence. That being said do not skimp on the size of charger, especially to contain a bull, get one powerful enough for any future additional fencing. I personally use the 6 joule charger from TSC (they rate it for 100 miles). It will knock the snot out of anything touching it & costs about $170. They have a 2 joule (50 mile) for about $100. IMO-the extra $70 will be well spent. The extra power is really important when your fence gets over grown with tall grass, weeds or brush. Don't skimp on ground rods either. A minimum of 3' of ground rod per joule of output. For 6 joules, 3-6ft rods spaced 10ft apart will do the job. Check out this link for fence materials. They have a free catalog with lots of good fence tips and sell quality products at competitive prices.

http://www.kencove.com/

BTW-the kencove 6 is the same charger as the 100 mile TSC.

IMO-If your bull is hot wire trained before being confined by an electric fence, a 2 or 3 wire electric fence should hold him. I would put 1 wire 48", 1 at 32" & 1 at 16". To train your cattle put a single hot wire across a corner or other area where cattle will encounter it. To attract them put some hay or feed on the opposite side of the wire or tie thin aluminum foil strips to the wire. As these strips flutter in the breeze, the cattle will sniff them with their nose & ZAP!! Mission accomplished. An offset hot wire in a corral or barbed wire trap can also be used for a training area for newly acquired animals. You want this first experience to be very painful.

Just my 2 cents worth.

Good luck & happy trails.

Brock

 

[msscamp]

Don't forget to fence train him before turning him out. Upon encountering an electric fence, most animals jump through it as opposed to away from it. Just my thoughts.

 

[IluvABbeef]

Get an electric fence tester and yeah you could put that aluminum foil on, but we put strips of white plastic bags (grocery bags work best) on the top wires between each of the posts so's the cattle see them if and when there's a stampede. It's worked on about three different herds of steers every time (average of 70 head), and it's never failed! Once they're fence trained, that is. The nearest they'll get to the fence is only a foot away once one of them learn the hard way! PLUS they'll see them white things fluttering in the wind: a clear sign: DO NOT TOUCH ME!!!
That's my advice ;-)
Karin

 

[Ranchcop]

OK, I have a question on Electric Fencing. I "TRIED" to get a few goats this week. I read all about them, the experts said that a 5 strand fence was best with one ground wire. Well within 2 min. one nanny jumped the fence at a stand still, then the other one walked right through it. This charger is good up to 30 mile of fence and I just have a 40x40 area! (the experts suggested a small area to start with to introduce the electric fence) Ok, then Friday I spent another 300.00 added T-posts and made the fence 6 foot high and 7 strands with two ground wires and 3 6ft grounding rods, even wet down the ground around the rods. Put in the two nannies, within a min. they were leaning up against the fence, you could here the zapping and the tails were twiching, then the just walked through the fence you could hear multiple zaps. Any other Ideas.
Brad
Oh and after chasing the goats around for hours, they went back to the previous owner!

 

[dun]

OK, I have a question on Electric Fencing. I "TRIED" to get a few goats this week. I read all about them, the experts said that a 5 strand fence was best with one ground wire. Well within 2 min. one nanny jumped the fence at a stand still, then the other one walked right through it. This charger is good up to 30 mile of fence and I just have a 40x40 area! (the experts suggested a small area to start with to introduce the electric fence) Ok, then Friday I spent another 300.00 added T-posts and made the fence 6 foot high and 7 strands with two ground wires and 3 6ft grounding rods, even wet down the ground around the rods. Put in the two nannies, within a min. they were leaning up against the fence, you could here the zapping and the tails were twiching, then the just walked through the fence you could hear multiple zaps. Any other Ideas.
Brad
Oh and after chasing the goats around for hours, they went back to the previous owner!

Did you put a meter on the fence to real the real voltage? Are these hair goats? Once a goat, they're even worse about it then cows or horses, discover a way to get out, they're nearly impossible to retrain. They're either to smart or too dumb.

dun

 

[Ranchcop]

I have a fence meter that went clear to the top on the light type scale. I just dont know how many volts. They were Boer goats, with just medium hair. You could hear them get zapped!

 

[dun]

I have a fence meter that went clear to the top on the light type scale. I just dont know how many volts. They were Boer goats, with just medium hair. You could hear them get zapped!

If you're gonna mess with electric fence, get a digital meter type of tester and throw the light type as far away as you can. A gent up the road runs a couple of hundred head of Boer and Boer crosses, the only fencing he uses is electric.

dun

 

[dj]

I can't get a reading on my digital. I figured the response time is what is throwing it off. The reading is never the same.What setting do you use on it.
Keep in mind I know nothing about how these things work.
But if I see it done I can copy it pretty well.
My son gave me this but he isn't around to show me how make it work.

 

[IluvABbeef]

I can't get a reading on my digital. I figured the response time is what is throwing it off. The reading is never the same.What setting do you use on it.
Keep in mind I know nothing about how these things work.
But if I see it done I can copy it pretty well.
My son gave me this but he isn't around to show me how make it work.

Does an owners manual come with it? If you have it on hand, it'll maybe say something about the setting. If not....well..... sorry, I can't help you cause I've never used a digital tester before (nor I don't think I've ever heard of one....)

Karin

 

[Texas PaPaw]

I can't get a reading on my digital. I figured the response time is what is throwing it off. The reading is never the same.What setting do you use on it.
Keep in mind I know nothing about how these things work.
But if I see it done I can copy it pretty well.
My son gave me this but he isn't around to show me how make it work.

dj

Is your tester an electric fence tester or one of those multi meter testers used for electronic testing? IMO a tester specifically built for electric fence is best. With the extremely short pulse time of these low impedence fencers a multi meter probably won't give an accurate reading.

My Gallagher tester has only 2 settings, amps(current flow) or volts (pressure). When set for amps it also has a scale showing voltage at the bottom of the screen.

Just my 2 cents worth.

Good luck & happy trails.

Brock

 

[TheLazyM]

OK, I have a question on Electric Fencing. I "TRIED" to get a few goats this week. I read all about them, the experts said that a 5 strand fence was best with one ground wire. Well within 2 min. one nanny jumped the fence at a stand still, then the other one walked right through it. This charger is good up to 30 mile of fence and I just have a 40x40 area! (the experts suggested a small area to start with to introduce the electric fence) Ok, then Friday I spent another 300.00 added T-posts and made the fence 6 foot high and 7 strands with two ground wires and 3 6ft grounding rods, even wet down the ground around the rods. Put in the two nannies, within a min. they were leaning up against the fence, you could here the zapping and the tails were twiching, then the just walked through the fence you could hear multiple zaps. Any other Ideas.
Brad
Oh and after chasing the goats around for hours, they went back to the previous owner!

Aight you said you have 2 ground wires out of 7 strands. what you did was split the ground up so your not getting a good "zap". i know this makes no sence but its true. i've had friends with same problem and after they went to the way i did they get a good "zap". i run all my strands hot. at the charger i run a ground wire from the ground post to the ground rod i only use a 8' rod. what i've found is the current will travel thru the animal and complete at the feet. by running hot and ground strands you are depent on the animal touching both strands{the hot and ground}. well if they touch the hot pretty good but only little brush the ground strand its just a tingle and then they can add more and more building a resistence to the charge. but every animal will have a good connection with the ground under foot or hoove.

 

[Howdyjabo]

New goats need a physical fence to break them to the idea of staying home.Especially if they didn't come from a hot wire place. After that a couple of hot wires will keep them in-- as long as theres something to eat.

Goats kinda concider wether getting the shock is worth it or not

 

[LonghornRanch]

Goats are to smart, most will figure away round something. Until you have a fence that can hold water, you will never be able to hold goats in.

 

[arkcowman]

Make certain you keep the grass cut or killed under the bottom wire. Grass growing up onto the bottom wire can short out your delivery.

 

[kostiuk]

Get a fused controller. It will protect it if it gets hit by lightening.

 

[TheLazyM]

Make certain you keep the grass cut or killed under the bottom wire. Grass growing up onto the bottom wire can short out your delivery.

oh so true. on one side i have a neibor that does nothing with his field. no animals he has no tractor he dont cut it. i have to weed eat that side or use a riding lawnmower to keep the weeds from grounding out my fence. i've offered to bushhog for him "no way". he wont even let me rent the field to put animals on.