fence chargers

[trin]

i have 30 acres and i need a real good fence charger. need your advice

 

[gertguy]

i have a couple diffrent ones but my best is a Stafix. A M6 would do you fine and have some extra power if your pasture gets bigger

Make sure you get a surge protecter and a lighten diverter.

 

[Angus Cowman]

check with powerflex fence co and be sure to use plenty of ground rods The stafix is one of the best chargers on the market

 

[dun]

We use Gallaghers. As was mentioned, use enough ground. The most frequent cause of weak shock or fences failing is an inadequate ground system.

 

[SRBeef]

i have 30 acres and i need a real good fence charger. need your advice

I use a Gallagher M600 Fence charger and think it is a good product from a good company. The M600 is hot enough to really keep stock away from the wire and also hot enough to shock even when there is some grass or weeds making contact. Yet it is not so strong as say the M1000 which produces such a hot wire that it can be more likely to jump a gap etc in a rain or almost dangerous if you should happen to grab a wire which you thought was disconnected but is still hot.

As Dun mentioned the ground is a key - with the M600 use 3 or 4 8 ft galvanized ground rods connected as they show in the manual.

One thing I found the hard way (and corrected with help from Dun and others) is to include lightning chokes between the fence and the charger AND a good appropriate capacity 120V surge protector between the charger plug and the 120v socket. The lightning chokes or Gallagher lightning diverter require another separate 8ft ground rod. I burned up two M600's before I figured this out.

Amazingly Gallagher replaced both of them at no charge since it was within the two year warranty period. It is still a pain in the neck when they go out (cattle especially calves figure out the wire is not hot quickly) so add the lightning protection even though Gallagher says it has internal protection.

I would also use a couple disconnect switches and have a good test meter. jmho. Good Luck.

 

[dun]

I would also use a couple disconnect switches and have a good test meter. jmho. Good Luck.

Ah yes, the test meter. Get a good one. It will run you another 100 bucks or so and is worth every dime. The digital ones that don;t require to be grounded to work will tell you the voltage and some will point you in the direction of a ground on the hot wire. There are some that claim they can tell the difference between 1000 volts and 5000 volts without a tester. 1000 volts won;t do much to keep a cow in but 5000 volts will.

 

[RICHARDL]

What about solar chargers? anyone use any of those. I have one but seems to require constant maintence. . think mind is a crappy fishock from lowes. there has to be a better one.

 

[dun]

We have one made by Gllagher with the seperate solar panel and the whole thing hooks up to a battery. We only use it for temp stuff away from the main backbone but for 4 years it was the only charger, did around 5-8 miles of fence with it. Kept our cows in and the neighbors braunvieh bull out.

 

[RICHARDL]

that's all i need. i have *(2) 5 acres pastures away from the electricity. it works & the cows respect it but i noticed the other day they were grazing along it and hit the dang thing and they never blinked. so i touched it and nothing. its suppose to blink when its working. wasn't blinkin. so i had to once again shut it down and walk the fence line removing twigs from it and just re-connecting the wires. it blinking now. but... frickin wind blows its off :cowboy:

 

[m&kCattle]

Test meter? Whats that? Use a piece of grass :lol2: :lol2:

 

[KMacGinley]

Mine is a hammer!

 

[RICHARDL]

JUST grab the thing ha ha i made the dog touch it :cowboy:

 

[Bez+]

There are a tonne of good ones out there.

Secret is to buy one that does more than you need.

We run Gallagher, Red Snapper, Parmak and a grey one - I think it is a Fence Master.

At one time or another they have all caused us a little grief - so we always keep a small one on stand by - cows can lose their training as fast as they are trained. Fact is the more you use them - just like cars - the greater chance you have of one breaking down. The standby model is a Bayguard - works good.

You put in about 4 x 6-9 foot ground rods spaced about 10 feet apart and use copper to connect them - you will blow any animal off the fence in a heart beat.

If they are not electric fence trained, do the following:

Take some light wire and hang a few aluminium pie plates off the fence. They will come and sniff to plates. Take pics if you want - you can call it farm entertainment.

Find the fencer that suits your price range and be sure it will do about twice what you need - you will not be unhappy.

One final thing - put in lightening protectors - your hardware store will know - and you wil be happy you did when your fence takes a hit.

Bez+

 

[Toby L.]

I use Zabre, turns out there junk like every thing else they sell at the local fleet store. If I have a problem now with them pushing on the fence I'll plug it in. I have a 100 mile fencer hooked into about 600 feet of wire, it hits them pretty good. If I hook it up to the 10 acre pasture it doesn't work as well. It seems like if a twig or a piece of grass is against it , thats all it takes. Could be my ground too. I only have 2 six foot copper rods in the ground tied together with barbed wire. That reminds me, My wifes nephew used to touch the fence for beer. They would have a party next door, and every ten minutes he would ask for a beer, and I would tell him to touch the fence, he was desperate for beer so he would touch it. Makes for a good tester and some cheap entertainment. ( he was standing closer to the ground rods)

 

[RICHARDL]

COULD be my proble also, i only have 1-8' grounding rod. i was just looking at those. lowes has them for 50 bucks. i might go with gallagher instead. definetly not going back with solar. i'll just run the extra wire to the pasture. :cowboy:

 

[mobgrazer]

Most of my pastures are less than 200 acres each. I use 5 8' ground rods 10' apart. The top and bottom wire are grounded as well. At the corners I will sink a ground rod to help out with it being so far away. I use one of the hang on testers that has the blinking red light. As you drive by a quick look gives you an idea if it's working.

I did not have much luck with the solar chargers but I was using the early models.

 

[Bez+]

COULD be my proble also, i only have 1-8' grounding rod. i was just looking at those. lowes has them for 50 bucks. i might go with gallagher instead. definetly not going back with solar. i'll just run the extra wire to the pasture. :cowboy:

Fifty bucks!!??

I use one inch threaded rods - if I cannot get it I ues 3/4 inch - and connect to wire with copper attachments.

I am sure a chemist would tell me that is wrong - and some engineers as well - but it works well and it is far cheaper.

Bez+

 

[hersh]

I use Zabre, turns out there junk like every thing else they sell at the local fleet store. If I have a problem now with them pushing on the fence I'll plug it in. I have a 100 mile fencer hooked into about 600 feet of wire, it hits them pretty good. If I hook it up to the 10 acre pasture it doesn't work as well. It seems like if a twig or a piece of grass is against it , thats all it takes. Could be my ground too. I only have 2 six foot copper rods in the ground tied together with barbed wire. That reminds me, My wifes nephew used to touch the fence for beer. They would have a party next door, and every ten minutes he would ask for a beer, and I would tell him to touch the fence, he was desperate for beer so he would touch it. Makes for a good tester and some cheap entertainment. ( he was standing closer to the ground rods)

Thats the one I have (zabre 100mile) and it works great, trust me. I have high tensile 5 strand(3 hot) and a calf got through it. So I grabbed the wire, the jenny, staples and my son and step son to put an extra strand on. The jenny plants in the ground so I had my kid run up the fence line with the wire as he went to go unplug the charger. Well, he got to the end and the jenny started to unreel, so I grabbed it with both hands as my knee went down in the wet grass. The last thing I remember was my step son laughing before what felt like a hand grab me and pull me up to the heavens. My son seen me grab the jenny so he decided to throw the wire into the fence.I have several grounds planted off of the non-hot lines I use as a ground also.It lit me up. I test with a cheap tester and it lites the 5500v light up bright. I also use a hammer and it will 'weld' a spot on it. I notice the first zap is the strongest followd by two weaker ones then back to the stronger zap, like a rythm.

 

[RICHARDL]

Yes, 50 dollar range according to there web site. i think i was a 10 mile charger. i'm going to look at them in the store today. to see for sure :cowboy:

 

[Toby L.]

When everyone says the grounds are hooked up to the non hot lines, are those lines attached to the post with insulators or just wired on.