Electric Fencing : rope tape or wire?

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Hoofprints in the Snow

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I am wondering what people use, ie. rope tape or wire. Just wanting to know what people prefer and why. What experiences you have good and bad. Thanks in advance for you input.
 
I use the thick tape (about 1 inch wide) i find your more likely to get a good 'zap' from the tape than the rope - plus the thick stuff is more visable to the horse.
Never tried wire so can't comment :)
 
For my permanent fencing, I have wide green tape, and for the strip grazing, I use braid, which is easy to put up and take down, and is very wind resistant.

I get all my stuff from Rappa Fencing, who are brilliant and do next day mail order.
 
I use rope and those little screw joiners at frequent intervals and only ever hand tightened. I have witnessed my WB twice now kick out and catch the rope which has thankfully come apart at the nearest joiner giving him no damage. It is also ALWAYS electrified with a charged up battery :)

My perimeter fence tops are half round rails and 2 strands of poly rope below and the internal fencing is 3 strands of poly rope.
 
For permanent ie. round edges of arena or field - really thick tape (about 2" wide) for all other slightly thinner tape 1/2" to 1" as its cheaper - if you go for the thick stuff you will need a post rammed into ground every so far to stabilise it as posts wont keep it straight.

Colour wise - we all seem to think white is a good visible option but I did read research somewhere saying horses can much more easily see green or brown tape than white (makes sense as most of their surroundings are green or brown !|)

Wouldnt use thin rope as would worry about it getting wrapped round leg or in next door neighbours case horses chest as he went through it - he was ok but it didnt break and left a nasty mark !
 
I use the 4cm wide tape, in white, so they can clearly see it. I've not had any problems with this. I thread it through the top two sliders on the posts, so that foxes and the muntjac can safely run through without getting zapped!
 
Perimeter is post and rail with rope electric on top to stop my WB cringing on it and the fields are seperated by tape. Both good in my opinion. Interesting re the horses see green better than white tape, who would have thought it, you learn something new every day!
 
We have wooden posts and two rows of tape (2 inch? thickness) with 5 bar gates on every field. Hooked up to the mains and gives a HUGE kick! You have to sit down for a few minutes after getting a shock.

The only problem is, when not turned on, everything escapes. :rolleyes:

I have only known yards to use tape, have never seen rope or wire varieties so can't comment on them :)
 
MissMincePie&Brandy said:
I use the 4cm wide tape, in white, so they can clearly see it. I've not had any problems with this. I thread it through the top two sliders on the posts, so that foxes and the muntjac can safely run through without getting zapped!
Click to expand...

Same for the same reasons wide white tape hoping they will see it in the dark!!!
 
Just put up the rope style electric fencing, it was a pain as it doesn't slot into the hooks on the plastic poles. the poles are designed for the flat style tape to be threaded through it.
Id go for a wide tape so its visable and easy to put up.
 
Have had all 3.....
Tape is my preferred weapon..... ;)

My perimieter fences have the 40+mm tape on permanent holders.
On the sub-divided paddocks I have 20+mm tape on the plastic posts - this just keeps them off the P&R fencing (or for escaping under the main fences in the case of tiny fuzzy). I also have 3" round wooden fence posts on each corner or gateway to help keep tape taut.

I used to have the wire, and there is still one short line of fence with this running along the top, but this is going to be removed. (paddock been off limits for a long time due to next door horses trashing my boundary posts too, but they are going, another story - another time)
Its fine if taut and fence is on - its bloody dangerous if allowed to slack OR if fence is off, particularly with youngsters who will mouth on anything. When they have pulled out a tooth or lacerated lips etc, then you will also see how dangeous it can be...

The rope is not my cuppa, one past livery brought some of it it with her & I could only use it on 1 positon on my portable posts, I binned it soon after as it just was not for me.
 
We used to use tape, and still have some, but found it slackens easily and blows down much easier. We have certain paddocks fenced with electric rope - the fences are there most of the time, and we just electrify it when they are around. I find these much better. I've never had any problem with horses running through it, they seem to respect it more than the tape. Although the tape does snap it can cause injuries before it does - have seen this when elec battery failed and horses went through.


On our permanant fences we have stock fencing and a top strand of plain wire - which we have set up so that it can be electfified if need be. We've never used it with electric, but its still there six years on.
 
I have tape but will probably change it to rope - the cattle tend to plough through the tape and it's a nuisance for storage. Not sure I would feel comfortable with wire though unless it was on stock fencing as Honey08 does. Definitely not with plastic posts!!
 
poly wire is my preference it breaks when needed to, does not flap and loosen in the wind and does not lay flat on a thick winter coat instead it goes under the coat to the skin and gives a shock. i always put a top strand of electric tape on new fence lines though to make them more visible
 
When I moved here (30 acres) over 30 years ago, the fencing was virtually non-existent. I couldn't get a fencing contractor so did my research and opted for 2.5mm high tensile galvanised permanent electric fencing. That has worked well for my own stock (sheep, cattle, and horses) but not for my neighbours' sheep which are not trained to electric fences and used to walk through it.

I now have a Rylock (square mesh) ring fence with a 10 metre shelter belt inside that, then mains electric fencing using wire as above around most paddocks. To improve visibility, I cable tie cheap white tape to the top wire and that works well. I have arranged things so I can turn off the electricity to the lower wires (four and five wire fences for sheep) and put it all through the top wire (for horses and cattle). That has worked well. No major disasters even if a pony occasionally goes through a fence as some will over a few decades.

Another real advantage to permanent electric wire fences is that they are not difficult to erect yourself and once you have the energiser and tools, extra fencing costs pennies and you can attach a white tape/rope fence anywhere you want without worrying about energisers and batteries. I'd recommend Gallagher or Electric Shepherd.

I once worked out that I have erected nearly 2 miles of fencing on my small farm which sounds incredible but then I have shelter belts and ditches and almost every small field is double fenced. Frankly, I wouldn't have any other system.
 
twiggy2 said:
poly wire is my preference it breaks when needed to, does not flap and loosen in the wind and does not lay flat on a thick winter coat instead it goes under the coat to the skin and gives a shock. i always put a top strand of electric tape on new fence lines though to make them more visible
Click to expand...

This is what I've been doing this year after trial and error over the last 6 years. They often just go through the tape (one TB in particular is a past master at snapping tape and posts). The wire seems to give more of a zap, but I worry about it being visible. IT also gradually gets loosened by the wind (field is in a very windy location). So a strand of wire, plus a strand of tape to make it more visible is working really well. Not a single breakout all summer.
 
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