Temporary electric fencing for rotational grazing

[canoetrpr]

Hello all:

I am pondering starting a small Galloway or Highland herd this coming spring and I am doing a bunch of research before embarking on said venture.

I have about 12 to 14 acres in pasture with two permanent paddocks - about 6 acres and about 8 acres. Permanent paddocks are well fenced. The front (6 acres) has nice cedar and oak board fencing (our property is really nicely setup for horses) - which I would like to perserve!. The rear has page wire.

What I would like to do is every spring, without ridiculous effort, subdivide my permanent paddocks for rotational grazing. I expect I am only going to have to use a single strand for each sub-pasture. I would like to leave them subdivided this way all season so that I can just move cattle from one pasture to the next without moving fences. Then int he fall, when things are done, I can just take all my temporary fencing and put it away.

I can run a hot steel wire along my permanent fences from my barn to both my front and rear paddocks. I will have to use insulated ground wire and bury it where there is a gate. So far so good.

I have several questions

1. What would you recommend using for the temporary paddocks. I thought steel wire might not be the best to work with and either poly wire or tape might work better for ease of setup and tear down. I've seen step in posts as well and I am sure that I have seen spools of some sort that have a racheting and mechanism to keep the line tight.

What has worked well for you?

2. Also can I just switch from steel wire to poly wire or tape once I have run steel along my permanent paddocks and gotten it to where I want to start running the temporary wire? On the other hand, do I need to run steel wire along my permanent paddocks for best conductivity ? or should I only use steel underground wire under gates and then use poly or tape along my permanent oak boards to get the power to my pastures.

3. I am also thinking of running a single strand all across my nice oak board fence to avoid damage to the fences? What height should this be at ideally?

4. What height should the temporary strand be run at? I'd prefer not to shock my dogs if they touch it but I suspect that they will learn pretty quick as well. My dogs never run out on their own but it is always a concern for me.

I'll appreciate any thoughts you might have.

 

[canoetrpr]

Some additional questions:

I have no idea how to estimate how many miles of fencing I will need from my acreage. If any of you have used a formula then please share. I suspect that my 12-14 acres will be subdivided into 6 or 7 temporary paddocks of 2 acres each.

Any recommendations on a fence charger - generically i.e. so many miles or anything specific? I was thinking something that handled 10 miles of fence?

 

[JRGidaho`]

canoe....

We have been using temporary electric fences for nearly 30 years and have tried just about everything out there. This is what we have found to work most effectively across the widest range of conditions.

Reel: O'Brien 3:1 geared reel. After the first of the year the O'Brien patents expire and you will start seeing various other companies building equipment identical to the original O'Brien stuff. The original O'Brien has 5-yr warranty. Not sure what the knock-off stuff will have.

Conductor: PowerFlex PolyBraid. Braided polywire is so much more durable, conductive, visible, and just flat out more effective than the older twisted polywires. The 9 stainless-steel stranded stuff will do anything you need to do on your small place.

Step-in posts: We have been using the O'Brien TreadLine post almost exclusively since the late 1980's. We still try new things when they come out but we keep going back to these posts. We winter graze in a lot of sub-zero (F) conditions and these posts are very durable even when it is frigid and the ground is frozen HARD. As with the reels, there will be competitive products after the first of the year.

We generally run single wire fences at 30-32" height for cattle. Doesn't matter whether it is temporary or permanent, that's our target height.

I like the idea of a hot wire around your entire perimeter. It will make both the board and page wire fences last much longer as it takes animal pressure off the fences. It is animal pressure that causes fences to rapidly deteriorate, not sun, wind, or snow load. Although in Ontario you are in a region where snow load will be a factor.

As far as getting distances for your fences, Google Earth is a real easy way to do it once you locate your property.

Good luck!

 

[dun]

What he said, plus if you run the hot eire all the way aorund it makes convem=nent points to come off of the wire as drops with the poly, just use gate hooks (with a conductor through them type) to hook on the hot and at the other end hang the reel on the not hot stuff.

 

[SRBeef]

Good information above. I would run a single 14 ga steel all the way around on the inside of your wooden and other perimeter fence on 5" standoffs at 32" high. This is a more or less permanent setup. It's high enough to let cattle get the grass under the wire. And far enough away to keep pressure off of your other fences.

I have tried a number of different setups for the interior wire and by far my favorite is aluminum wire on Gallagher reels with Gallagher pig tail type white top metal step ins. They are more expensive than some others but last almost indefinitely. Aluminum wire is lighter than steel but conducts better than plastic polywire and can be reeled in and out many times without splintering the way the polywires sometimes do. Aluminum doesn';t stretch the way some polywires do also.

As far as a charger I would forget the "mile" ratings and go with a 4-6 joule charger no matter what length wire you have. A Gallagher M600 (overkill) or maybe an M300 would be my choice. Just put in a very good ground system as described in the charger instructions with whatever charger you buy. It is well worth the time and expense to get a good ground. jmho.

Good luck.

Jim

 

[canoetrpr]

Excellent information! I think I will stick with the originals if they are just coming off patent - so long I can easily source them here in Ontario - or online of course.

I don't think I quite understood the bit about using gate hooks but my next question was going to be how I would tap a reel into a permanent strand to start a new temporary strand. I figure the way I would set things up is that I would just tap in to the permanent strand as you have suggested but didn't quite know how to do that in a manner that will be easy to connect / disconnect every spring/winter.

Some more questions:

1. Does my permanent strand need to make a circle back to the enegerzier? (I have a stream along one part of my property and I have no fence line along it)?

2. If I hook in to the permanent strand with a temporary strand, does that need to circle back and join back somewhere?

I will try to do the above where possible.. I imagine circling back will keep the voltage drop to a minimum. However it may not always be possible.

3. How do I stretch my steel wire / permanent strand, while I am installing it on my permanent fence? Do I only stretch it when I am installing it, or do I install some sort of stretching device every so many meters?

I apologize if these are silly questions but I've never done this before and am not particularly handy - but I have had to figure out everything about living on an acreage from the ground up from good folks like yourselves. I never thought I'd be driving a tractor let alone doing maintenance, changing oil pans and gaskets and so on - but here I am. The next step is getting educated about fences and livestock.

 

[canoetrpr]

Jim - by 5" standoffs do you mean that I should hook the steel wire to insulators on my permanent fence 5 feet apart? Or is there something else that I am missing.

What is the space between the temporary posts that I need to have?

 

[SRBeef]

Jim - by 5" standoffs do you mean that I should hook the steel wire to insulators on my permanent fence 5 feet apart? Or is there something else that I am missing.

What is the space between the temporary posts that I need to have?

What I mean is the permanent perimeter wire is supported by plastic standoffs 5" inside your present wood fence with probably a standoff at each wooden/cedar post. Here is a typical 5" standoff for a wooden post:

http://www.gallagherusa.com/electric-fencing/permanent.component.aspx?mktprodid=4494

I would screw these to the inside of your current wooden posts or boards at about 32" high and run a US made brand steel 14 ga all the way around the inside. Use ceramic insulators at the corners. Terminate at each corner and tighten with a Gripple. Avoid the temptation to run it continuously around the corner.

There are 5" standoffs for steel T posts also if your page wire is on steel t's or use the same insulators on the posts as the board fence if wood posts. I really like the simple Gripple system for fencing. Let you tension/repair wires without crimping, pullers etc. Here is a picture of the Gripple system:

http://www.gripple.com/products/catalogue/agricultural/products/

As Dun mentions above, a good solid perimeter wire system (I believe it should be 14 ga US made steel) serves a s agood base and power supply for all sorts of interior dividers, semi permanent or just temporary.

Good luck. Jim

 

[canoetrpr]

Thanks for the clarification.

The Gallagher products are widely available in Canada. I can't seem to find much in terms of dealers of O'Brien's products.

 

[Angus Cowman]

here is a website everyone needs if using electric fence and you won't meet any nicer or more helpful folks anywhere
www.powerflexfence.com

 

[canoetrpr]

Thanks Angus.

Jim, I'm sure these are very green questions but why ceramic at the corners and why terminate the 14 g wire at corners? I imagine that if I terminate then I need to 'tap' into it again to continue on the next leg of fence?

EDIT: Here is a list of corner / termination insulatators. Which one of these would you use on each corner of the 14 g?

http://www.gallagher.ca/fence_components.aspx

 

[dun]

The gate handle hooks over the hotwire and the poly wire is tied to the loop that comes out the other end.
http://www.gallagher.co.nz/permanent-fe ... tcatid=233

 

[JRGidaho`]

Excellent information! I think I will stick with the originals if they are just coming off patent - so long I can easily source them here in Ontario - or online of course.

I apologize if these are silly questions but I've never done this before and am not particularly handy - but I have had to figure out everything about living on an acreage from the ground up from good folks like yourselves. I never thought I'd be driving a tractor let alone doing maintenance, changing oil pans and gaskets and so on - but here I am. The next step is getting educated about fences and livestock.

What happened is Gallagher bought out O'Brien and increased prices on O'Brien products by about 40% because the O'Brien equipment was so much better than the Gallagher stuff at a much lower price. Gallagher will continue to operate O'Brien as a separate label but the O'Brien prices will be much higher than they have been in recent years with Gallgher calling the shots. PowerFlex is one of the companies that bought the O'Brien dies and tooling so they will have the old O'Brien stuff under their lable in 2010.

Running your permanent perimeter line in a loop is a good idea. You'll maintain better current throughout the system with a loop compared to a dead end. It doesn't matter so much with the temporary fences due to the shorter length.

As dun described, we just tie a regular conducting gate handle to the end of the polywire so all you have to do is hook it to the steel ot wire anywhere and the temporary fence is energized.

 

[SRBeef]

Thanks Angus.

Jim, I'm sure these are very green questions but why ceramic at the corners and why terminate the 14 g wire at corners? I imagine that if I terminate then I need to 'tap' into it again to continue on the next leg of fence?

EDIT: Here is a list of corner / termination insulatators. Which one of these would you use on each corner of the 14 g?

http://www.gallagher.ca/fence_components.aspx

I don't like to have a continuous wire around corners because even if you have a gripple at both ends it gets hard to keep the wire uniformly tensioned around a corner especially on long runs. Maybe I did it wrong but that's been my experience. There is normal expansion and contraction of wore due to the seasonal temp changes. I use a cylindrical ceramic insulator like the one called the "turbo end strain insulator" on your link. Looks to me like Gallagher has different or fewer products on their Canadian website.

Basically I run a 3 or 4 ft long pc of #9 wire out from an end or corner post to one of these ceramic cylindrical insulators in each direction then take a piece of insulated wire and a couple bolt-type galvanized connectors (also not shown on the Canadian site) and connect the two straight runs. This gives you a Gripple to tighten or adjust each straight run. Some folks think I am crazy and maybe this is not necessary on your board fences but I use the same setup on the inside of a 5-wire barb wire fence. I am constantly fighting deer. I like this system because it keeps the cattle away from an old fence, lets them clean up under the wire and lets me get each leg tightened as it should be for the terrain.

If you run continuous around a corner you cant tailor the tension for the terrain on that run. Straight sections can be pulled tighter than sections going up and down. Why not go to a couple websites and down load their fencing manuals. It's hard to explain without some sketches etc.

By the way, when you bury insulated wire under a gate or driveway, I suggest running it inside a piece cut from an old garden hose to further protect it and insulate. Also install a couple shutoff/disconnect switches at place around the perimeter, maybe in each corner?

Good luck, Jim

 

[SRBeef]

Here's a picture of a 14 ga hot wire on 5" standoffs on a new area I fenced this past summer. It shows a little bit of the end termination. This is an outside corner. It looks like I haven't adjusted the end standoff yet but may give you an idea. As Dun mentions, I then stretch my aluminum divider wire on a reel across the width of this pasture. Water is behind me so I gradually move the wire farther away with a live gate handle on one end and hang the Gallagher reel on the barb wire near a post on the other end of the cross wire.

Here's a picture of some very long standoffs I found through Premier that I used to hold cattle well off of an older fence along a road. I rejuvenated this fenceline at much lower cost than replacing. Tension setting is important when going up and down slopes like this. These are nice heavy duty standoffs. Tightened up the old 4-wire fence and hopefully the electric on 9" standoffs will keep the cattle and calves off of the old fence.

Jim

 

[canoetrpr]

I really appreciate the time you folks have taken to post here. The pictures are great too. Great looking pasture!

I think I am getting the jist of what is being suggested here. Talked to one of the breeders of Galloways about how he does his temporary fences and seems like the gate idea is what he does too. Best I could understand he has a hot gate handle at each end of the polywire and hooks each end to a hot wire on the perimeter fence.

I walked my fence line today and it might be hard for me to do a loop in either of my pastures. This is because parts of the fence go over a small stream. One fence line is right int the middle of the stream. Don't ask me how they got the t posts in there but I don't feel like wading to get the hot wire installed! Either am going to have to install a new high tensile fence on my side of the stream, or I'm going to not have to run a loop, or take the hot wire to the end of my pasture on one fence line and bring it back on the same fence line to make a loop.

 

[canoetrpr]

There is one piece I am still missing (I'm sure there is more than one). What do I use to stretch the 14g wire?

 

[dun]

I don;t bother with looping it back. Our backbone is probbably only a mile and half or so and all of the temp polywire drops off of it to a non-electric fence. Once the aniamls are traiened to the hotwire there is very little problem with them challenging it, even smart bull will stand clear.
We use 12 ga rather then 15 and sstretch it with a come along much like you would with barbed.

 

[SRBeef]

There is one piece I am still missing (I'm sure there is more than one). What do I use to stretch the 14g wire?

This is where the Gripples are used. You can tie off one end (through the insulator then wrapped back around it self 6-7 wraps, preferably with the little round bar wire twisting tool) and use a Gripple on the other end. Or I usually put a Gripple on both ends. These are just little one-way devices that allow you to pull the wire end through in one direction but not the other. Using their tightener tool it is easy to tighten and hold a wire without a stretcher and crimper.

If you look at some of the videos on this page it shows how they work: http://www.gripple.com/us/products/...roducts/gripplepluswirejoinerstensioners.html

I did not follow the loop discussion very well. However you do not need to run an electric fence in a complete loop. Most of the manuals I've read seem to say that you only want to connect the charger to a fence in one place. Dead ends are fine. Use a very good ground system.

On your streams, Unless you need the stream for watering your cattle I would put separate T posts on the banks etc for the one hot wire. Again, not sure I follow. Good luck.

Jim

 

[canoetrpr]

The gripple is looking neater and neater. My longest fence run is probably no longer than 1500 feet. Sounds like I have several options. If I can fence without a loop then it will be fairly straightforward.

I guess I will be fine just stretching with a gripple on both ends without having to terminate and restrech at intermediate spots along the 1500 feet?

I don't really need the cattle to have access to the stream but the way things are right now in one pasture, the stream naturally divides the property line between a neighbour and me. I doubt that the pagewire fence that is run right in the middle along the stream will be challenged. Its been this way for a long long time. If I need to fence for some reason then I will fence along the banks. No point in me adding an extra fence unless I need it.