Electric Fence Question

Tractor supply sells solar fencers. I starting playing a radio in my garden at nite last year because of the deer and ****. I don't think they liked the music because they never came back. If your 4 foot fence is on metal posts that would give you a good ground and the ***** should get a good shock.

What little I know of electric fences we seem to have good luck with the electric one around the garden. The electric wire is mounted on 4" long standoffs on the posts. The net, which is 3' high, is topped by two runs of barb wire set 3" and 9" above the net.

The thing that seems to make this work in our very dry area is I have the ground wire for the charger hooked solid to the netting.
When checking the fence if I just test from the ground to the hot wire I get very little result. Going from the net to the hot wire is super hot.

I suspect a raccoon crawling up the net would do a couple of flips on the way to the ground. It sure keeps cows from trying to reach over the fence and get to the corn.

Mike

redmule --> Thanks for the Tractor Supply lead. I'll head up there in a day or two to see what they got + I'll check their web site. My fence has wooden posts and runners so I'll have to get the fence mesh hooked up some how. By the way, what kind of music do you entertain the critters with? :00000033:


Tencubed --> Thanks for the reply. Looks like I'll need to ground my mesh. I also have some deer that like to stick their heads over the fench to munch on the various greenery. Sounds like the hot wire will take care of business.

I should have mentioned that the plastic standoffs are just at the top of the net. Any tall critters that want to reach over have to be in contact with it and the upper barbed wire.

Deer would just hop over our garden fence, none around where the houses are thank goodness. The hoofed rats give enough problems elsewhere.

Mike

I've been using electricl fence around the vineyard for many years. Three years ago I started growing sweet corn and found it also needed an electric fence. I guess I do overkill. I put one wire at 5" and one at 12". One thing I do know is the constant charger works better than the pulsing one.

For over 20 years I have had electric fence for my goats. I have the wires 1', 2' and 3'. It keeps the goats in and the coyotes and dogs out.

Thanks BillTheTractorMan and RDR! So do any of you have a recommendation for a good solar charged controller for a small garden, 1,000 sq ft? I've looked at Zareba and fiShock and the reviews are all over the place. Some folks have good success and others claim DOA right out of the box. I just don't know who to believe. I don't mind spending some $$$ for a good quality unit. I just don't want any problems.

I've been buying the constant fence chargers at McCoy's lumber yard. They used to be $19.95 but now are $29.95. I've run Christmas lights using a 12 volt battery with a clip on cigarette lighter socket with a 750 watt inverter. Put everything in a cooler or something else to keep it dry. You would only have to have the charger on at night.

One of our buildings is right next to the garden, so we run a pulsing fence charger that plugs into the wall. It's good for... I don't know, a lot of miles! I know this fence is capable of putting a person on their butt. I've also seen it send a cat 10ft straight up in the air, and make a dog flop like a fish out of water. Not sure what it does to a raccoon or deer, but they stay out of there.

After researching this for a couple of days it seems that the general consensus is these "all-in-one" solar fence controllers are a bit light duty and not fully up to the task. I read in another forum that for solar applications it's better to get a standard 12 VDC fence controller, a deep cell marine type battery, and a solar trickle charger... essentially configuring your own system. By doing that you can confiure the system to your liking and also have control over spare parts and repair. That makes a lot of sense to me. So I am off in that direction.

I went by Tractor Supply yesterday to look over their selection, which was mostly Zareba. I explained to the clerk what my requirements were and I actually asked who their resident electric fence expert was. He declined to let anybody else assist me and it was obvious to me that I was a bit more educated in their products than he was, since he had to keep refering to the pamphlet and a chart to figure out which controllers were for DC, etc. Sheesh! :duh: He actually suggested I go to a competitors store to see if they had a better selection. Anyway, it was his lack of confidence that spurned me to look elsewhere. I did pick up some wire and some insulators at TS. So the journey continues.

edit: PS I appreciate the suggestions on plugging the controller into a 120V outlet but stringing a drop cord across the yard isn't going to work out for me. It will be a big fat hassle come grass cutting season so I don't even want to go there.

I have a 60' X 90' garden that I have fenced in using a Zareba SP10B fence charger for $199 that I installed last spring. Click link for features. http://www.tractorsupply.com/zareba-reg-10-mile-solar-low-impedance-charger-3616266 You might get by with the SP3 model if your patch is fairly small.

In order to keep critters out big and small I have six foot (above ground) posts with fence wire at the following height in inches: 3, 6, 12, 18, 30, 42, 54, 72. Charger is solar-powered so no issue with electric cords and I can speak from experience that the charger is strong enough. Use 17 gauge wire for better flexibility over 14 gauge. Use 4X4 treated posts at corners and t-posts in-line.

My b.i.l. was having trouble with deer in his garden. I was going up there with the tractor and hipper to work up what wasn't planted. It is 130' x 60'. He already had a roll of 17 gauge that he was using for blackberries. I stopped at McCoy's and got a constant charger and some lengths of 3/8" rebar. We used my bolt cutters to make five 4' posts from each one. After I finished hipping I left. He drove the posts in the ground 1' and put one wire at 3' like I told him. That kept the deer out of the garden. They won't jump it or go near it after being shocked. He also put one wire at 5" and 1' to keep the rabbits out.

I've used the constant charger for over 21 years. I have a run of 950' on the north side of the goat pasture. I only use the rebar posts for the straight run and tee posts on the corners. Nothing is going to push on the posts. They don't have to be that strong. The wire doesn't have to be banjo string tight. I also move the fence at times to give them more or less pasture as needed.

I had a pulse charger for awhile. They don't work as well. Would you rather get an intermittent zap or an almost paralizing constant zap? Animals don't come back after the constant zap. I don't need large guard dogs or donkeys in the pasture to protect the goats. Knock on wood nothing has been in the pasture to bother the goats in 21 years.

I've had an extension cord running almost 100' to my barn for almost 2 years. I have to get off the mower and move it. I have a 25' cord going to the charger for my winter garden to keep rabbits out. I have to get off the tractor to unplug it and move it so I don't run over it. Maybe this has helped me wear the same size pants for over 25 years. Sometime it might be 3 days later when I remember to plug it in. No problem. The rabbits don't test it.

About six weeks ago I put electric fence around the vineyard so the goats would have more to eat and also clean the grass and weeds growing in this above normal warm weather. Yesterday morning it was protection for me. The morning before, about 9 miles away, a p/u was stopped. Around 15 "illegal aliens" piled out of it and scattered. There was also something said about drugs. I was about 60' from the fence with my back to it, pruning. I heard something and turned around. There was one of the illegal aliens. He wouldn't cross the fence. I was also suprised when he could speak English. He said he needed a favor. I said you aren't supposed to be here are you? He said yes. I told him to keep moving. After he got where he couldn't see me, I called the Sherriff's Dept. Being 16 miles from town I was suprised when a Deputy arrived a couple of minutes later. Now I wonder where the other 14 are.

I don't know how this will work for **** but it sure works for deer. I run a single wire 4' from the ground. I wrap aluminum foil around the wire about every 6 to 8'. I get a jar of cheap peanutbutter. Spread the peanut butter on the foil. (hard to spread it on the wire :thThumbsU) The deer love peanut butter and will lick at it and get nailed . I have had them bolt into the fence but it is nothing to put it back up. They will NOT come back. In fact after leaving the fencer on a couple weeks so all the deer in the area get a zap I have turned to fencer off and just keep a little fresh peanut butter on the aluminum pads. A wiff of it and they are gone .
You may try running a second wire about a foot off the ground and try the same thing with the ****. I know they will go to peanut butter as in my trapping days I have caught a many a **** using it for bait. Now if they learn a lesson like the deer do I can't say as I have never tried it. I don't bother to plant corn anymore I can buy it locally cheaper then I can grow it and don't have to worry about the hail, bores, and *****:trink39:

ALWAYS unplug the constant charger when working with the fence. As I was going to unplug the fence I noticed the cat's water dish was almost empty. I filled it and forgot to unplug the fence. As I was pulling one of the 3/8" rebar posts to make a straighter line before moving the wire out of the vineyard, I found out the fence was still on and working very well. After getting loose and catching my breath I did unplug the fence. I also unplugged the fence around the garden since one section uses the goat fence for the second wire. I had the wire from the goat fence touch the garden fence one time charging the goat fence when it was unplugged.

I have always had one wire at 5" along with one at 1' to keep out the possoms and ****. My brother-in-law did as I suggested and put one at 3' to keep the deer out. As rvgary said, once they get to know it they won't test it. Deer can jump a lot higher but are so afraid of the electric fence they won't go near it.

My older goats are used to me moving the fence. When I took a 300' section down and ran it down a vineyard row and continued around the vineyard, the older goats walked right through, even though the post were still there for the fence I moved. Some of the babies took 2 days before they would cross where the fence was.

Since I don't have a deer problem I only use two low wires to keep rabbits, **** and possoms out of the garden and vineyard. If three wires at 5", 1' and 3' don't work I would say the charger isn't as good as you think it is. I can't imagine needing 8 wires.