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Uses and Benefits of Electric Fencing

Animal control is perhaps the most widely recognized reason for power fencing. Not only does power fencing keep domestic animals and livestock contained, it has various other important uses, including:

• Keeping wild animals out
• Separating different groups of animals
• Allowing rationing of crops and pasture
• Fencing animals off from eroding areas, trees, rivers and roads

Power fencing has revolutionized pasture management techniques and better pasture management means better profitability for farmers. Permanent or portable power fences are used to subdivide pasture to ensure even distribution of manure over grazing areas. In this way, pastures are kept fresh, short and palatable which ultimately leads to increased milk and meat production. 

Other key benefits of power fencing:

• Affordable
• Easily constructed and maintained
• Durable, because of low physical contact
• Light weight and easily transported
• Easily modified
• Less animal hide and pelt damage
• Deterrent to trespassers and predators

For convenient, economical animal control, improved pasture management and more profitable farming, a Gallagher Power Fence System is the trusted solution.

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The high tensile non-electric fence uses 8 strands of 12.5-gauge high-tensile wire on 4-inch diameter pressure-treated wood posts. Posts are 20 feet apart. Bracing utilizes three 8 inch diameter posts and two 4 inch diameter cross braces on each end. Wire tension on this fence is maintained with springs and ratchet-type tensioning devices.

An alternative would be to set posts 30 feet apart and place two stay rods in the wire between each set of posts. Cost would be reduced about $70 for every 1,320 feet of fence, or $0.07 per foot.

Maintain good conductivity throughout the fencing system by always using the correct wire or cable.

High powered energizers require large capacity wire or cable. Small diameter cable will restrict current flow with subsequent voltage loss on the fence.

NEVER use household electrical cable. It is made for low voltage use only. NEVER use copper wire/cable because electrolysis (electrical corrosion)

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 A new horseshoe-shaped insulator went on the market last June and has been an overwhelming success. “We exhibited at a major 12-day livestock show last fall in Louisville, Ky., and brought 55,000 insulators.

We sold out 3 days before the show ended and had farmers buying 1,000 insulators at a time because they liked the product so much,” says Nick Hiner, inventor of the LockJawz T-360 insulator. The patented insulator consists of a horseshoe-shaped hard plastic “jaw” that snaps into place on T-posts and can be used on poly rope, dual strand barbed wire, and 12 to 14-ga. high tensile wire. No tools are required to install or remove it. “Because it can be mounted in 6 different positions around the post it doesn’t matter which direction the post faces, whereas conventional insulators can only be mounted on one side of the post. You can even alternate mounting the wire on front and back of the posts in order to strengthen the fence,” says Hiner.

The insulators are made from high quality HDP plastic with a heavy ultraviolet inhibitor in it, so they should last at least 5 to 10 years. And they’re easy to take off and reposition so you can use them over and over again. “LockJawz insulators were designed to give instead of break like other more rigid insulators do,” says Hiner. “The sun and large animals are always going to win; our goal is to improve the longevity and odds for your fence to stay intact when these events occur.

Due to the design and strength of the insulator, you can make 180 degree turns with LockJawz at the end of a pasture without needing a special insulator. You can even use it on outside fence corners.” Hiner is an engineer who lives next to a farmer who became his friend and business partner. “Wade Simon was in the process of ‘restarting’ a farm that belonged to his wife’s family, and he told me what he didn’t like about fence insulators on the market. So we put our heads together and tried to solve as many of the problems as we could.” You can check out of a video of LockJawz T-360 electric fence insulators at www. FARMSHOW.com. A bag of 25 LockJawz sells for $9.99 plus S&H. Volume discounts are available. 

Terms you should know when planning or installing electric fence:

Alternating current
Current that flows back and forth, changing directions rapidly. AC current is typically used in households in the United States and Canada. It reverses directions 120 times per second or 60 full cycles.

Amperage
A measurement of electrical current; what you feel when you receive a shock. The higher the amperage, the more intense shock the animal will feel.

Baiting
Used to train wild animals to avoid an electric fence. Turn off fence controller. Smear an aluminum pie tin with the bait (peanut butter, honey, rancid bacon, molasses, etc.). Connect pie tin to an electric fence wire using metal wire. Locate several baited pie tins around the perimeter of the fence. After baiting is completed, turn fence controller on and monitor bait stations regularly.

Capacitive discharge
A term used to describe electric fence controllers that pulse electricity at regular intervals through a fence, typically at one-second internals.

Capacitor
An output capacitor is used to store direct current (DC) electricity between pulses through a fence. Alternating current (AC) can't be stored using a capacitor.

Continuous current
Refers to a continuous output of alternating current (AC) rather than a pulsed or cycled output. Continuous current fencers produce very low voltages and extremely low amperages in order to keep them safe. As a result, these fencers do not work well on long, weedy or wet fences. Continuous current fencers are not UL listed.

Corner posts
Sturdy wooden posts driven deep into the ground to provide extra support for the tension put on a fence line as it changes direction. Corner posts are not only used at corners, but also for gates and end posts.

Direct current
Current that flows steadily in one direction, typically produced by batteries through a chemical reaction.

Direct-discharge fencer
A type of fence controller that does not require a grounding system to deliver an electrical shock. Direct-discharge fencers are most effective on short, weed-free fences.

Distance ratings
A way of comparing the relative power of fence controllers. Ratings are based on a single strand of 17-gauge steel wire strung 36 inches above the ground under ideal, weed-free laboratory conditions.

Fence load
Any number of conditions that cause current to be drawn from a fence wire. Weeds touching the fence, broken insulators, rusty fence wire, and even wire splices all increase fence load and reduce the fence's voltage and amperage. Fence load is measured in ohms.

Ground wire return system
used where dry or sandy soil conditions do not allow a traditional ground system to work. Consists of running a ground wire parallel to a hot fence wire, delivering at the point where the animal touches the two lines.

Ground System
Necessary to create a complete electrical circuit: when the animal touches the electrified wire, the electricity travels through the animal, into the soil, back to the ground rods that are connected to the fence controller, resulting in the animal receiving a brief shock. A ground system consists of ground rods (3), hookup wire, ground rod clamps and line clamps.

High tensile
An affordable, long lasting electrified fence system that is an excellent choice for perimeter fences, providing a barrier to contain or exclude animals. These sturdy, permanent fences require braced corner and end posts in wood along with special insulators, hardware, and tools that maintain constant high tension on metal wire.

Insulator
A nonconductive material (plastic or ceramic), typically used to offset fence wire from a fence post. Insulators prevent the current from traveling through the post and into the ground, short-circuiting the system.

Joules
A measurement of electrical energy used to rate low impedance fence controllers. The effective power the controller delivers to the fence, independent of other factors that can drain voltage. The higher the joules, the more intense shock the animal will feel. (1 joule = 1 watt of power for 1 second)

Line posts
A post used to support electric or non-electric fence wire. Line posts support the fence line, and have far less tension put on it than corner posts. As a result, they can be made from a variety of materials, including metal, wood, plastic and fiberglass.

Low-impedance fencer
Low impedance fence controllers increase the joules (energy or shock) on the fence line if weeds or other vegetation touch the line. Available in AC, DC and solar powered models.

Mob grazing
The tendency among certain species of animals to graze vegetation down to the dirt. May cause animals to reach vegetation outside the fence.

Ohms
Ohms are used to measure resistance to the flow of an electric current. A low ohms reading represents a heavy fence load, and a high ohms reading represents a light fence load.

On-time / Off-time
On-time refers to the duration of the electrical pulse produced by a capacitive discharge fencer. Off-time refers to the length of time between the pulses. Zareba fencers have electrical pulses that are only microseconds long, followed by one full second of off-time between each pulse. This long off-time enables an animal (or person) to easily break away from the fence.

Pulse width
Pulse width refers to the duration of the electrical pulse produced by a capacitive discharge fencer. (See On-time / Off-time)

Resistance
Resistance is any force that resists the flow of electricity, consuming power from a circuit by changing electric energy into heat. Electricians measure resistance in ohms.

Rotational grazing
A system for livestock grazing, using internal temporary enclosures (within a boundry fence) to control the specific areas where the animals graze. This allows the vegetation in the previous enclosures to grow back. Typically is 1-strand of wire at 40" or at animal's nose level.

Solid state
Solid-state fence controllers deliver a medium amperage shock in pulses of medium duration. They are best used to control shorthaired livestock, small animals, and pets where light weed conditions exist.

Splicer
A component that joins together separate strands of fence wire, tape or rope without breaking the fence's electrical circuit.

Temporary fencing
A one to three-strand electric fence system that is used for rotational grazing or other short-term uses. It typically uses step-in poly posts or rod posts, and a DC or solar operated fence controller for portability and flexibility.

Tensioner
A component used to tighten fence wires, typically polytape, to increase tension on a section of the fence line.

Transformer
A device that increases or decreases the voltage of alternating current.

Voltage
A measurement of electrical pressure. It functions similarly to water pressure in that it "pushes" amperage down the fence wire.

Watt
A unit of measurement for electric power equal to voltage times amperage.

High-tensile, smooth wire, electric fencing is the fastest and most affordable fence that I know about, and its technology has drastically improved over the past 10 years. But many folks are hesitant to use it because they remember old failures -- wires breaking, chargers starting fires, wet vegetation shorting out the fence and other troubles.

With a little commitment and a modest investment in time to learn how to use this new technology, you can save thousands of dollars and hours of maintenance time by making electric fencing work for you. So you won't have to learn the hard way, here are 17 common mistakes that you should avoid:

Poor earth grounding. Lots of folks (including me) still think you can skimp when it comes to adequate earth grounding. What we must all learn to do, is install several ground rods -- at least three that are 6 to 8 feet long, galvanized, and attached with good ground clamps. The electricity must complete a full circle back to the charger through the ground. Poor grounding gives weak shocks.

Using different types of metals. Don't do it. When you hook up steel wire to copper something call electrolysis happens and the metal becomes corroded, making a poor contact and weakening shocking power.

Inadequate animal training. Each and every animal must learn that the fence hurts. So please build a handy training fence, preferably on heavy wet soil. Flag the fence for visibility, and force the animal to try and cross the fence.

Fenceposts too close together. Well-intended government agencies recommend lots of fenceposts in their fencing specifications. Fifty-foot spacing on flat land is just too close. You want the fence to act like a rubber band. When something runs into the wire, you don't want to break all the insulators or knock posts out of the ground. If the posts are spread apart far enough -- say 80 to 100 feet -- the wire will just bend to the ground and pop back up.

Too many wire tie-offs. Again, fencing specifications may call for braces every quarter mile wire to tie the wire off. But I have found that even 5,000 feet is OK, and actually adds more elasticity in the fence wire. This reduces the chance of wires breaking.

Wires tied tight to each fencepost. To maintain elasticity (the rubber band effect), wires must float past each line fencepost.

Building new fences near old existing fences. Old fence wires seem to be always moving somewhere and coming in contact with the new electrified wires. This almost always causes a complete short in the fence, and away the animals go.

Bottom wire in contact with heavy, wet vegetation. Wet grass will suck lots of juice out of any fence charger. Hook up the lower wires separate from the other wires, and install a switch for the lower wires that you can turn them off when the grass is tall.

Poor-quality insulators. Be careful here. Sunlight deteriorates plastic. So buy good-quality, long-lasting insulators. Usually black ones are treated to resist degradation by ultraviolet light. I have found that poor quality insulators turn white or clear after a few years in direct sunlight.

Staples driven in all the way. When using plastic tubing as an insulator, don't staple it too tight. I once spent several hours trying to find a short in a gate. Finally, I discovered a staple had damaged the tubing next to a ground wire, causing a hidden short.

Solar panels not directly facing the sun. This seems almost too obvious to be a problem. But a solar panel won't function at its potential if not properly installed. Please read the instructions. Don't just guess if you have done it right.

Kinks in high-tensile wire. A small kink in stiff wire will always break. Also avoid hitting this kind of wire with a hammer, as this will easily damage the wire causing a break. Always cut out a damaged section of high tensile wire and splice it. Incidentally, I have found that a hand-tied square knot makes the strongest splice.

Installing in-line strainers close together. Wires will flip together once in awhile. If in-line strainers are installed one above the other, they will sometimes hook up. Separate in-line strainers by a fencepost and they will never catch on each other.

Wires too close to each other. Keep them at least 5 inch apart.

No voltmeter. Without a voltage meter to check how hot a fence is, you're just guessing.

Wire too small. The larger the wire, the more electricity it will carry. Don't skimp.

Inadequate charger. A wimpy fence charger gives you a wimpy fence. Don't skimp here because animals will think a smooth wire fence is a joke without a strong bite, and they'll walk right through it.

Your fence charger should be low-impedance, come from a dependable supplier, and have a warranty and replaceable components. Please buy one that puts out lots of power. During a rainy year, you may have lots of plant growth touching the wires. That's when you will need extra power to shock through the heavy, wet vegetation. It's also handy to find folks with an extra charger they can loan to you while yours is being repaired. Expect some breakdowns, especially from lightning. Certain fence suppliers offer lightning protection with their warranties.

Don't be afraid to try electric smooth wire fencing. Find a good fence suppler and learn some of the tricks of the trade. I know folks who hate electric fencing. But their pocketbook is not big enough to build a conventional fence, which may cost up to $1 per foot.

The next time your bulls get in a fight with the neighbors bulls and tear down all the fence, remember that most animals will learn not to touch a wire with 5,000 volts running thorough it.