electric fence wire

[mrjohnniesue]

good morning and thanks for any help with this....

Our property (about 55 acres) has an existing fence around it now......
We're about to (finally) put some cows on it..
I want to run one strand of electric around the entire place before the cows arrive...
We're going to use a 12 V charger and want to use the right wire....

any thoughts on what gauge and what metal type to use (high tensile??).....it'll be a permanent fence..
I'll be grounding to a "no longer in service" well pipe.....about 70' deep

thanks again for any tips with this...(I hope I'm on the right board!!)

 

[mtncows]

For permanant fence,I would use 12.5 ga hi-tensile smooth wire and pin-lock insulators on posts with ceramic or tube type corners. :welcome:

 

[Beckett]

For permanant fence,I would use 12.5 ga hi-tensile smooth wire and pin-lock insulators on posts with ceramic or tube type corners. :welcome:

Yep, Yep,
Thats what i did and i will never regret it. Only thing differant i did that i wish i would have used ceramic insolators on the corners. Instead i used the plastic tube. I havent have a problem with them yet in the last 12 years, but i still worry about it. I thing it will be the first place i will have problems with and dont know how to fix unless i take the whole line down and put new tubes on. At that point i will change over to ceramic corners, and move them to the inside of the corner. Did i explain that right?

Beckett

 

[SRBeef]

I would not rely on any sort of electric wire as my only perimeter fence.

If I understand your post you have an existing, maybe barb wire perimeter fence and are adding a hot wire inside?

In that case I would use 14 ga steel. It is much easier to work with than 12.5 ga hi tensile which is intended to be just that - tensioned to hi tension and used as part of a permanent fence.

Maybe clean up the old fence as best possible and use 5" standoffs on the inside of the existing T-posts or wood posts with ceramic insulators (not plastic) on the ends and corners as Beckett describes.

I had some fence put up by a good contractor but he used plastic insulators at the ends and corners. They are forever shorting out. I have on espot that my meter says is the location of a short but it looks ok.

The plastic must have split inside and shorting out even though there is no visible problem. Replacing this area with ceramic insulators is on my to-do list for spring. I had to shut that section off for the winter.

By the way, if it is an old fence and on very old non std size tee posts the best insulator I have ever found for an old fence is a 9" heavy duty standoff. These will keep cattle back from pushing on an older fence.

Here is where I found these insulators: http://www.premier1supplies.com/detail.php?prod_id=24440&cat_id=46

Here is a picture of an older fence I stood up grubbed out and used these HD insulators on.

If this is what you are doing I would just use a good Red Brand US made 14 ga wire. It's more than enough electrical conductor and you really can't stretch it anywhere near as tight as 12.5 ga is designed for or you will distort your fence especially if you have any hills as shown or curves.

Good luck.

Jim

 

[wtrapp]

I would go to the Co-op and get the 12.5 gauge hi-tensil wire. I have that around a 13 acre field. Of course it's 6 strands, 8 inches apart and strands 1,2 4 & 6 are hot. It will do the trick.

 

[SRBeef]

I meant to say above that I have serious doubts about using a well casing as a high voltage fence ground.

There are just all sorts of possible issues here. Is there a pump at the bottom still grounded to the power company ground? Are there good electrical connections between sections? It is still only one point. Note some earlier posts by folks with problems using steel building footings as grounds, etc.

Why not just use the standard procedure of 3 or 4 8 ft galvanized ground rods spaced 10 ft apart. The ground is an absolutely critical component of an electric fence system. You also probably should add another ground rod as part of a lightning protection system. BTDT as they say. Good luck. Jim

 

[dun]

I would go to the Co-op and get the 12.5 gauge hi-tensil wire.

That's what I would do too. 12.5 is actaully pretty eeasy to work with and it's a lot stronger. You can use it for connecting your porcelin insulators at the corners/ends also. It doesn;t have to be stretched near as tight as some people like to stretch it, BUT it can be if needed.

 

[mrjohnniesue]

thanks again for the ideas and suggestions....
I think I'll try and go with the 12.5 HT....seems like I only hear good things about it other than being a little tougher to work with...

....we have some steep hills to whip...so I don't know how tight we can stretch this......

I'm assuming that a 12 Volt charger will push enough zap through heavy wire...

the (no longer in service) well casing is not connected to anything anymore...power or plumbing..

thanks for the pic. Jim.......it actually looks a little like the front of our place

it's been 40 years since I worked on the farm and helped my granddad with the cows so I sure appreciate all of the advice and suggestions on this board..again I hope I am posting this in the right forum...