Energizers and fencing

ImLost

Member
Livestock Farmer
Location
Not sure
Just wondering what the cheapest energizer is for 250 meters of 3 reel fence. Im getting confused by all the options online(n)
Would be glad if someone could help(y)
 

David.

Member
Mixed Farmer
Location
J11 M40
I've got a Rappa 3 Joule one and it has been fine.
Have previously found gallagher ones don't last very well.
But they wont be cheapy/budget.
 

Paul E

Member
Location
Boggy.
Actually, you don't want one too big as they're trying to shove too much electric down a short wire, and burn themselves out.
Bloke at Rappa told me that, talked me out of buying an expensive unit, into buying a smaller output one at half the price!
:)(y)
 

P500Falcon

Member
Mixed Farmer
Location
Wales
In my opinion best all round 12v energiser is a Hotline falcon, good power output, reliable and British made. Ideal for three reel sheep fencing
I repair electric fence energiser's and have seen every make and model available, When the falcon's do develop a fault, repairs easy and cheap.
 

Bury the Trash

Member
Mixed Farmer
In my opinion best all round 12v energiser is a Hotline falcon, good power output, reliable and British made. Ideal for three reel sheep fencing
I repair electric fence energiser's and have seen every make and model available, When the falcon's do develop a fault, repairs easy and cheap.
i disagree, it hasn't got high enough power should be 2 or 3 joules at least.
i'm a sheep farmer.
 

AvonValleyFarmer

Member
Livestock Farmer
Location
Leicestershire
I have the above mentioned Voss unit which gives a good crack, also got one made by shockrite I think they're called. IIRC that's a 4J unit which also gives a fair old crack.

They're both around £100.

Just as a side note, the earthing is just as important as the energiser.
 

P500Falcon

Member
Mixed Farmer
Location
Wales
i disagree, it hasn't got high enough power should be 2 or 3 joules at least.
i'm a sheep farmer.
At 1.7 its not far off the 2 joule mark, we've had no problem keeping sheep behind 500m of 3 strand powered by a falcon unit.
With the higher joule units they draw far more current from the battery and to make full use of their output power you need sufficient earthing, ideally 1 meter stake per joule, on temporary fencing how many people bother to knock in 3 or 4 earth stakes
 

Bury the Trash

Member
Mixed Farmer
At 1.7 its not far off the 2 joule mark, we've had no problem keeping sheep behind 500m of 3 strand powered by a falcon unit.
With the higher joule units they draw far more current from the battery and to make full use of their output power you need sufficient earthing, ideally 1 meter stake per joule, on temporary fencing how many people bother to knock in 3 or 4 earth stakes
there is a difference between stored and output joules.

good battery power and earthing is a given.

The point is to be able to stop sheep in the real world.


will that hotline run off the mains as well as 12 v btw.?
 

steveR

Member
Mixed Farmer
I still use a 25 year old English Shepherds, ancient Elephant and what must be a record... a 1979 Gallagher, the last never having been touched! My neighbour has the curse of the "light fingered Fairies of the night" and has now given up on expensive units and I got some cheap Chinese units off eBay for him. Seem to work just fine although he did comment one was not producing much power, but they don't with a flat battery... ;-)

I buy cheap Maplins 12v solar chargers and they will keep a fence battery topped up around the year, with problems only coming about when the fence gets a bad short. I orientate them for max solar charge.

Totally agree on the necessity for good earths... I love the rusty 6" nail I came across once. My mains unit is well earthed and the temp fence use a MEB earthing rod well knocked in or a 1m galvanised steel rod.
 

sherg

Member
Location
shropshire
I've never bothered hooking up all 3 wires there's no need, we've used falcons to do a couple of kilometres like that and they've got plenty of kick
 

neilo

Member
Mixed Farmer
Location
Montgomeryshire
i disagree, it hasn't got high enough power should be 2 or 3 joules at least.
i'm a sheep farmer.

+1 I won’t use anything other than at least a 2J fencer (for sheep). Solar fencers are a good idea, but a 2J solar unit is big money. Most cheaper solar units are well below 1J when you look into it, so only any good for a short dairy/pig/horse fence imo.

As to earth stakes, most of my fencing is used over the winter, when it’s wet. For many years I have just used a fencing stake pushed a foot into the ground, with no problems whatsoever. I did buy a bunch of ‘proper’ VOSS Earth stakes from the website mentioned above last year, so that I can have a longer Earth, but nowhere near 1m/joule, and doesn’t need to be in the winter IME.

I have a mix of fencers, mostly cheap. I’d rather spend £120 on a fencer and throw it away, than spend £250 on the same output ‘premium’ brand, then pay premium prices for repair modules. They don’t last any longer before needing those repairs either ime.
 

yellowbelly

Member
Livestock Farmer
Location
N.Lincs
The OP only wants to run a 250m pull so, IMHO, a Hotline Falcon will be well boss of the job(y). We use Falcons on a lot more than that. For really long pulls go for a Hotline Buzzard.
Our Hotlines are very reliable - mind you our local 'thieving barstewards' ensure our fleet is fairly modern:eek::banghead::banghead:
 

milkloss

Member
Livestock Farmer
Location
East Sussex
Has anyone tried the Voss fencer units? Looking at 12v fencers and see a Gallagher b60 is a hundred quid for .5 j yet the Voss for the same money is a little over 2j. Not had good experience with Gallagher stuff lately, plenty of unexplained failures requiring expensive boards.
 

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Red Tractor drops launch of green farming scheme amid anger from farmers

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As reported in Independent


quote: “Red Tractor has confirmed it is dropping plans to launch its green farming assurance standard in April“

read the TFF thread here: https://thefarmingforum.co.uk/index.php?threads/gfc-was-to-go-ahead-now-not-going-ahead.405234/
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