- Location
- North Wales
Oh right. So not the size of two or three crash barriers linked together or a large metal gate or old metal tank then?
Hot wiring farm
- Thread starter Dave6170
- Start date
- Location
- Easter ross
M-J-G
Member
It's all about surface area, hence the old field gate or crash barriers give a lot of earth contact, galvanised is also best as corrosion will allow less conduction.
Dave6170
Member
- Location
- Watten, caithness
Better get the chapper out again
Dave6170
Member
- Location
- Watten, caithness
Havent got a photo have you?
- Location
- Easter ross
you won’t see much as they’ve been battered in to ground level with a mini digger and post chapper. Will send a pic of ours if I get a chance
- Location
- Hertfordshire
I’ve just taken on a block of land and have hot-wired the whole area. Approx 5km of HT wire and about the same of poly wire used, plus most of the 250m-roll of lead-our cable (taken through road underpasses, dug under hardcore-covered green lanes, under lots of footpaths etc etc!) My earth is attached to an old roll of galvanised sheep netting which sits deep in the river so should be ok...
I’ve messed around for years, on land that’s only grazed under licence, with battery energisers and it’s a pain in the neck. Stock would escape several times a year. The worst was last summer when I’d bought four new i/c herefords. Phone call came at 11.30pm that four cows had been seen out on the road (which leads on to the M1 some half a mile away). I hunted for them for 2 hours, in the dark, before giving up for the night. At 4.30am the next morning I found them and managed to catch them up, but it was the last straw.
I’ve now got two big (for me...) blocks of land properly wired up with mains energisers and it’s revolutionised things. No stock escaping, easy to move them with a cold wire if needs be.
I sleep more soundly at night as a result!
I’ve messed around for years, on land that’s only grazed under licence, with battery energisers and it’s a pain in the neck. Stock would escape several times a year. The worst was last summer when I’d bought four new i/c herefords. Phone call came at 11.30pm that four cows had been seen out on the road (which leads on to the M1 some half a mile away). I hunted for them for 2 hours, in the dark, before giving up for the night. At 4.30am the next morning I found them and managed to catch them up, but it was the last straw.
I’ve now got two big (for me...) blocks of land properly wired up with mains energisers and it’s revolutionised things. No stock escaping, easy to move them with a cold wire if needs be.
I sleep more soundly at night as a result!
dt995
Member
- Location
- Carmarthenshire
What's the general approach? Are fields connected together with the HT, and you tap polywire off that into the fields, a bit like a water supply would work, with the lead-out cable just for getting from energiser to fields?
How is the HT run? Along existing fence lines, or new ones put in to transport it?
(Our cows and sheep live pretty much all year inside electric fences, but we're small enough to manage with doing everything portably with polyposts, polywire and batteries, not that it isn't a pain in the... neck sometimes. Only the chickens are loose.)
- Location
- Hertfordshire
I’ll have a run of HT along at least one hedgerow or boundary of every field, linked up with lead-out cable between fields (because most cross a public footpath, bridleway etc). I then come off the HT with poly wire to form my daily cells (I’m mob grazing so move cattle To fresh grazing every day)
Some of the insulators are on existing fences but I’ve had to put up a lot of new fencing too (it was used for hay for many years so not stockproof on much of the block.
- Location
- Buxton, Derbyshire
Sorry to hijack. What's the rough cost per metre of hot wiring? Our main block of grazing is 60ac next to the farm and I'd like to fence along the existing stone walls, to enable us to start rotational grazing. Would I need to fence both sides of an internal wall or will one side do? Walls are very dilapidated so a lot of gaps as it has been set stocked for several yrs.
Dave6170
Member
- Location
- Watten, caithness
If i chap in some crash barrier for the earth, whats the best way to join them together?
Kiss
Member
- Location
- North west
I’d do both side of the wall would make it far easier for setting a fence unless they’re low enough and can go above them.
Make an eye with underground cable and bolt and washer them together
Make an eye with underground cable and bolt and washer them together
- Location
- North West Wales
Some nice heavy wire with crimped ends or weld a piece of bar from one to another when they’re in the ground?
Dave6170
Member
- Location
- Watten, caithness
Another stupid question, could i dig a trench and lay a crash barrier in it for the earth?
Or would it be better chapped in deep as possible?
Or would it be better chapped in deep as possible?
- Location
- North Wales
Are we talking spade depth dug by hand or dug with a digger? As long as it's a big object dug in deep enough to remain in moist ground..
Don't be afraid to locate the earth in a wet spot and run lead out cable back to the energizer.
Connecting the earth wire can be with any galv wire or if your posh ALU coated galv. The connections want to be good and clean and preferably covered in some tar/type bitumen product to stop the joint rusting which will affect the performance 5-10 years in the future when the rust will create resistance, you'll be back here asking why the electric fence isn't working and your losing lower, even though nothings changed and was working fine last year.
Dave6170
Member
- Location
- Watten, caithness
Was meaning digging a scoop with the loader and laying crash barrier in flat. Think i ll just chap them in as deep as i can.
Never realised there was so much to this job.
Never realised there was so much to this job.
- Location
- North Wales
Electric fencing can go horribly wrong if there isn't power in the fence and stock get through. You just need to minimise the risk by building the system right at the begining, one-off cost, and it'll be a great fence. Too many people buy the biggest energizer and forget about how important the earth is.
Dave6170
Member
- Location
- Watten, caithness
Think mine is 7 joules. How many metres will that do?
- Location
- North West Wales
You'll do well to lift the turf with a loader bucket it's so dry now!!!!
Dave6170
Member
- Location
- Watten, caithness
Not here its not
