[nihicib2]

Hi all

Can anybody explain to me in easy terms how to correctly set up our electric fence, we have a portable machine (not mains) and want to fence small amounts of land (less than quarter of an acre).

We will be fencing for pigs, goats and horses, not all at the same time but during different times of the year.  So basically I need advice as to how to fence properly, I understand that you should not let any grass etc touch the wire as it will earth it, is this true?  Also can anyone explain to me how to use the earth rods, thats where Im really confused, one person said they should be every three metres along, we only have two rods so can we make our own? How do I correctly use the earth rods? and a last question, if we are running three strands of wire around the fence, how do we make sure the charge is going through all three if the machine is only connected to one of the wires.

Sorry for all the questions, but Id rather get it right first time, rather than end up chasing pigs/goats/horses around the parish if I do it wrong 

Thanks in advance

Brid 

[YorkshireLass]

I can run through what we did, whether that's by the book or not I'm not sure, and it may depend how much kick your widget has 

The key thing is you need to make a circuit. So we usually used a two strand fence - so the wire ran from the box/battery end to the opposite end, looped down to the next level on the fencepost, then ran back to the beginning. All your wires need to connect at some point, and it's usually easiest to wrap tail ends around each other at the each end of the fence. So anything touching your fence creates a smaller, "easier" circuit loop - so the current takes a short cut and your fence loses it's zap.

Our box had two clips for the two battery poles, one clip to attach to the fence wire, and one to clip to the earth. We only had one earth pole, and this was the support we attached the box itself to (like a chunky metal stake).

The box lit up and "clicked" with every pulse of charge. If you feel the need to touch the fence to check it (I'm sure you can get a widget to do this  ), flick the BACK of your finger onto it. Your reflex is usually to pull hand into a fist, so this way you pull your finger away from the fence. As opposed to touching it with your palm and then grabbing it 

I gather horses "prefer" a wide electric tape that's easily visible, and that pigs need at least one wire very low as they snuffle around underneath.
Be aware that horned beasties will only get a minor zap if they touch the fence with their horns.

Hope this helps, if it's confusing I can do some lurvely diagrams on Paint 

[robert waddell]

not sure about the portable units having an earth wire going to a rod from memory the old unit we had50 years ago was in a metal box on a metal pin which was pushed in the ground and just had the one wire coming out
the grass or vegetation is very important esp with a battery unit strim it to reduce the possibility
if it is wire you are using just connect the 3 strands with a piece of wire you do get special bolts for this but wire works just as good
again from memory the intermittent earth rods   you can have  a fence made of multi strands of wire the wire that carries the kick is referred to as the positive wire and the other going to ground as the negative wire  they cannot touch or it is rendered ineffective  just put 5 wires on the fence the bottom is live or + the next is your earth - next positive next earth  and the top one a positive  one  the theory is that anything touching both + and - will get a bigger kick  foxes badgers dogs etc never tried it
if you buy your unit new full instructions will be included with it to get the best out of it 

[Simple Simon]

Blimey, you've set yourself a challenge. 

All the big fence makers publish guides. Look at Ruland, Gallagher or Rappa - http://www.rappa.co.uk/advice-centre/20-how-electric-fences-work for example.  This will show that the animals you mention need very different approaches, but then they are sellers.

Pigs dig and demolish, goats jump and horses panic.  My horse is scared pigs, but they'll trash the grazing anyway.  Wouldn't you be better stock fencing it?  Lots of people use electric for subdivision but stock fence round the perimeter.   Netting isn't good for anything with horns.  Horses need to see the line, so white tape, pref 40mm.  Cheap tape gets UV damage. 

The circuit is made between the wire via the animal to earth. So the live feed from the energiser goes to the fence (which can be just to one end) whie the earth lead goes to earth via the stake.  Whilst a good earth is essential, for a small fence one stake well buried in moist earth will suffice.  For a beefier mains unit extra earth spikes are good, but still need watering in drought.

[colliewoman]

I use electric netting, and have used wires an tape in the past.
My biggest tip is, at the corners ram in wooden posts. Then you can tie a leccy fence post to it and get your fence really tight.
A tight straight electric fence is a marvelous thing, a crooked saggy one is more work than help.
My earth rod is fixed to the bottom of my energiser which is very handy.
I have bought an expensive tester, but lost it within a week. If you don't like the shock (I don't the 'thump' of the shock makes my boobs hurt ) test it with a blade of grass, it doesn't hurt that way but you can feel it
I have no idea about leccy fencing and piggers though!

[old ploughman]

Dont 'save' money by buying a small energiser - it will be more work than it will be worth and then you will have to buy a decent one in the end. Pigs especially will need a good kick to keep them in. Worst bit about a good fence unit is once they respect it you wont be able to get them to come out of the pen  .
I have just installed for a customer, a 1 joule electric fence energiser, c/w a small solar panel and a 95Ah battery in a security box for £500 which is running 2000m of high tensile wire - knocking out about 7000 volts. You could get away with a lot less but gives you some idea of whats involved.

[nihicib2]

Thanks all for the replies, maybe I should explain a bit better

We have the perimeter fenced with sheep wire and two strands of bull wire on top, we want to create separate areas or block off  certain areas  within the big field, we have placed posts at the corners of each sub-division and have the screw in electric fence holders on these posts.  During different times of the year (over the years) we will alternate different animals on the sub-divisions (pigs to turn over the land, re-seed and then use as grazing etc), our energizer is a Forcefield Paddock Pro, 12v Battery Energizer with a 0.14 joules output.

We will be using the thicker white tape for the horses and goats (I had the horses and goats in a friends field and they soon learned to respect it  , and a good strong wire for the pigs, pulled tight.

The energizer is mounted on the earth rod, but would I need another earth rod or rods and if so how and where would I place them?

Like I said I just want to do this right from the beginning rather then not have it set up correctly and the animals break out and not respect the fence afterwards

Brid

[colliewoman]

The set ups I have used have never used more than one earth rod.
I think perhaps the person who told you every 3 meters was thinking of fence posts rather than earth rods
My friend on his cattle farm uses thick metal 'pig tail' posts to support his wire but I'm sure they are insulated to stop them earthing.
Clear as mud

[old ploughman]

you would only need 3 earth rods on a scheme like I mentioned above. For a battery operated unit kicking out 0.3J or similar you would be ok with the integral earth spike/mounting peg but would get improved performance by using an earth rod driven deeper.

[Simple Simon]

I agree. My energiser produces 5 joules so I have 3 earth rods but that's just to get sufficient area in contact with the ground.   With a previous energiser some years ago the fence wasn't working well and a bucket of water round the single earth stake worked wonders.

We're in a drought area: most people on this forum aren't.

[Mel Rice]

Different animals respect/ignore electric fencing to different degrees. My ex-racer is happily in a field with no electric at all! Lekky tape down one side and just a bit of green rope over the gate. The hose I used to have with him used to test the fence and regularly pulled up the white posts with his teeth carfully avoiding the powered tape. We had to loop the tape around the top of every post....and hope for the best (always a full powered battery)

The sheep usually respect their electric netting but do test it if a human comes over to see them (humans = no power and they can run home to their stall!)

[chrismahon]

Well Simple Simon, a 5 Joule energiser is one hell of a beast. Our Texel got a 1 Joule shot and jumped several feet in the air. In fact it was on soft startup at the time which gives anything leaning on the fence a smaller part-shock first. I think 5 Joules would have killed her!

We have earth stakes at 15 metres apart -they are expensive and can't be removed. Haven't measured any loss of voltage at mid position and our soil is well drained sandy.

The Rutland book explains all well. But as said, get a big energiser as it will make up for poor earths or other losses in the circuit, the most significant being foliage touching the wires.

[Simple Simon]

Our land is in six different ownerships and we don't control most of the fencing - which includes a quarter of a mile of fast main road.  There's a lot of barbed wire from a former owners cows but we have horses and  sheep.  We also have a major fox problem with both urban and rural foxes.  This leaves us with a lot of subdivided paddocks, fences and gates to maintain.

We should have plenty of pasture but we're very short of rain and the grass hasn't really done much yet this year.  Most of the land hadn't been farmed or maintained for some decades so the sward is pretty crappy and we have a programme of re-seeding.  We want a better herb mix and drought tolerance, but it takes some land out of the grazing regime for a while.

Electric fencing is the only solution because we need to be able put up temporary fences and to remove it all if one of the landowners wants his bit back.  That includes protecting the animals against the barbed wire but it does mean we run a lot of fence with a lot of corners and connections.  This energiser will burn off vegetation quite effectively by sending heavy pulses through when it detects a current drain.  It also has a lower energy terminal which we use for the nursery paddock next to the house - still about 7000v but limited to 0.5J

For anyone with a complicated fence layout I recommend the electronic fence tester that gives a digital readout of voltage anywhere on the fence plus it tells you when you're leaking power on a scale from 1-9 and the direction to look.   Finding the problem across a dozen paddocks and several km of wire is damn hard without it.

My best cock-up was having one hand in the metal water trough while accidentally finding the electric fence with the other.  That put me flat on my back cursing the fool who put the tape where I couldn't see it (me). 

[Moleskins]

For the  you need to set the elec fence up and then have a temp fence just outside of it. That orange net stuff builders use is good. When pigs touch the elec fence first time or two they run forwards through it, the secondary fence prevents this until the pig has learned to go backwards not forwards, generally a couple of days is all that's needed. Then the temp fence can come down leaving just the elec one.

[nihicib2]

Well just to let you all know we have our fence up and the wee piggies got a nice wee shock off it yesterday and wont come anywhere near it now, not even for a bucket of feed, so thanks all for the advice 

Brid