Talk to me about electric fencing

[Andrew]

All our fencing is 3-5 strands of HT barbed wire. Last time we used electric was probably 20 years ago with the little blue plastic posts.

Always been very wary of it. However, we have just put a new hedge in. Cattle will be in fields both sides of it. Both sides are fenced 4 strands of barbed with clipex beefy posts every 5m. 200m straight run. Thinking about putting a strand or 2 of electric to stop them from nibbling the hedge plants.
So it'll be a permanent install really. No mains power.

The clipex insulators say suitable for super poly wire, stranded wire and electric rope.
What wire do I want?
Can anyone recommend a good unit to use?

I've seen these, https://mcveighparker.com/fencing/electric-fencing/energisers
The smallest one looks OK for what we want, is there any benefit to going to a bigger unit or would we just be wasting money?

 

[Limcrazy]

Hi not sure from your post what sort of electric fencer unit you want but I'd go for as big as possible. If your hedge grows well there will always be bits touching the fence so enough power to burn them off will keep fence from earthing.
Single strand tensile wire with tensioner wheels is by far the best and offset on the stock side of the fence a pig tail post height up preferably on its own posts will allow you to face the hedge easily.

 

[shields kaiser]

Personally i'd want an energiser with an output voltage of 9V along the line to give enough of a shock to cattle, and use 2.5mm High Tensile wire

 

[Kiwi Pete]

You aren't going to need much of an energiser for 2 200m straight runs. That little S10 will be plenty.

Fibreglass outriggers are probably the best combination of value and longevity, avoid the "pigtail" ones as the insulation will crack one day and require replacement - plastic clips if possible as wind vibration on those little clothespeg clips will wear the galv off the wire.

I would earth the barbs where you earth your fencer, as an aside - have you knocked the posts in yet?

A great earth system is to simply staple wires the length of the post before driving it, so all the wires are earthed out. Pays to do this around the metal gates we use down here, otherwise inductive coupling makes your plain wires and gates a bit zappy in the summertime

 

[Andrew]

You aren't going to need much of an energiser for 2 200m straight runs. That little S10 will be plenty.

Fibreglass outriggers are probably the best combination of value and longevity, avoid the "pigtail" ones as the insulation will crack one day and require replacement - plastic clips if possible as wind vibration on those little clothespeg clips will wear the galv off the wire.

I would earth the barbs where you earth your fencer, as an aside - have you knocked the posts in yet?

A great earth system is to simply staple wires the length of the post before driving it, so all the wires are earthed out. Pays to do this around the metal gates we use down here, otherwise inductive coupling makes your plain wires and gates a bit zappy in the summertime

Permanent fence is up one side but not the other. Metal posts, strainers, tensioners. Not a bit of wood or a staple in sight.

Personally i'd want an energiser with an output voltage of 9V along the line to give enough of a shock to cattle, and use 2.5mm High Tensile wire

9V seems a bit low, most fencers I’ve seen output a few 1000V?

 

[Henarar]

All our fencing is 3-5 strands of HT barbed wire. Last time we used electric was probably 20 years ago with the little blue plastic posts.

Always been very wary of it. However, we have just put a new hedge in. Cattle will be in fields both sides of it. Both sides are fenced 4 strands of barbed with clipex beefy posts every 5m. 200m straight run. Thinking about putting a strand or 2 of electric to stop them from nibbling the hedge plants.
So it'll be a permanent install really. No mains power.

The clipex insulators say suitable for super poly wire, stranded wire and electric rope.
What wire do I want?
Can anyone recommend a good unit to use?

I've seen these, https://mcveighparker.com/fencing/electric-fencing/energisers
The smallest one looks OK for what we want, is there any benefit to going to a bigger unit or would we just be wasting money?

for biggish cattle I would and have put up a single strand of poly wire on temporary pigtail stakes and keep it a couple feet away from the barbed, it won't be there for ever just a couple years till the hedge gets going

 

[shields kaiser]

9V seems a bit low, most fencers I’ve seen output a few 1000V?

Sorry - you are right, I meant 9000v!! 9000 V does ok here anyway(Sucklers and Bulls), reason I said that was because I'm sure the energiser in the OP is 7000v output

 

[Dry Rot]

I remembered there was something in law about barbed wire and electric fences so did a quick Google and came up with the comment below. The writer makes some good points. I hadn't thought of the Coronal Effect although I remember it being discussed on an electronics forum how a simple 9V torch battery could kill you. Might be worth a five minute read to possibly save a life.

May I use Barbed Wire on an Electric Fence?

In a nutshell - NO. It is currently illegal to apply an electrical current to a fence constructed with a barbed construction throughout Europe. The principal reason being that the animal (including people) must be able to escape the electrical current IMMEDIATELY.

www.agrisellex.co.uk

 

[Kiwi Pete]

Permanent fence is up one side but not the other. Metal posts, strainers, tensioners. Not a bit of wood or a staple in sight.




9V seems a bit low, most fencers I’ve seen output a few 1000V?

Well, you won't need to buy earthing rods!

 

[milkloss]

As long as they can't get a body part in the fence and then get a Shock you'll be fine....... talk about 'out of the frying pan and into the fire'!

I Think you'll need some sort of offset insulator to keep the, away from the barb, probably should have used net really to save the hassle.

Voss fencers have quite a kick for the money but go Gallagher if you want a premium zap with a good warranty. Reckon you'll want 2joules and under for not much vegetation but 3j and over for nettles, brambles and some hedge growth in a few years.

 

[toquark]

I'm also looking at electric fencing options, specifically energizers. Does anyone have any recommendations? I like the look of the solar ones but would they be effective in December in the cloudy west of Scotland? It would be for a field I'm splitting up into approx 1/2 acre paddocks.

This is just a trial, so I don't want any major expense or permanent infrastructure until I'm sure its going to work.

 

[Crex]

I'm also looking at electric fencing options, specifically energizers. Does anyone have any recommendations? I like the look of the solar ones but would they be effective in December in the cloudy west of Scotland? It would be for a field I'm splitting up into approx 1/2 acre paddocks.

This is just a trial, so I don't want any major expense or permanent infrastructure until I'm sure its going to work.

I've used the Gallagher S100 for the last year. Covering about maybe 500m at a time. Worked fine on the normal setting in winter, but would go flat on the higher pulse pretty quickly after a few bad days. This is only my first season with it.

 

[johnflimston]

Why not put the fence on semi permanent nylon posts (Kiwitech) 1 meter out from hedge then you can run hedge cutter between. Use 1.6 or 2mm HT wire.

 

[Will Blackburn]

Go for the smaller ht wire, especially if using plastic posts, nothing to gain from heavy wire.