Electric Fencing tips

[kymw90]

Im someone who rents a field so uses plastic fence posts and tape.

Is there a better way of attaching the tape to the posts other than tying in a knot.

Tips on setups would be good help and earthing. My donks respect the fences fine but I feel i'm wasting battery life with crap earthing or connections. I also have a goat now and could do with some general fencing tips to be sure he's kept in check and again I'm not wasting power. You can afford to be caught out with a goat

 

[JanetGeorge]

Knotting tape creates shorts very quickly - don't your plastic posts have space to put the tape in? If you're in a very windy area and tape is being blown off the post, plastic cable ties are a cheap and easy way of ensuring the tape doesn't come off.

Get a GOOD fence tester - one that measures voltage. Buy the best quality tape you can afford - the cheap tapes have 4 stainless steel conductors - the better ones have 8!

How much earthing you need depends on the power of your unit - most suppliers will advise you whether one earthing stake is enough or whether you need 2 or 3 - and in dry weather, chuck a bucket of water around your earthing stakes every day or two.

Keep vegetation clear of the fencing - any form of plant touching the tape will cause leakage - particularly in wet weather.

 

[The Fuzzy Furry]

Use wooden stakes (5 ft tall round narrow posts around 2 - 3 inches diameter, banged in to around 1/3rd of the overall height) on each corner & at the gate - this really helps to get a good tension on the tape.
Can also use them in the middle of a long run too as they do stop the tape tugging/billowing in the wind. Buy a bag of insulators & screw them into the wooden posts, like these: http://www.molevalleyfarmers.com/mvf/store/products/hotline-ring-insulator-100-pack
But I find types like these best: http://www.molevalleyfarmers.com/mvf/store/products/hotline-screw-in-tape-insulator-20-pack (dont get the nail on sort)

As Janet says, dont put knots in the tape, it shorts it out.

 

[TheEngineer]

I would echo the sentiment regarding wooden posts at corners and gates. You will most certainly get better tension on your tape and reduced whipping in the wind. As for knots, always avoid knotting tape and use tape clamp style insulators or proper tape connectors on any joins.

Such as these joiners:

http://www.jacksons-fencing.co.uk/p...-/-20mm-electrotape.aspx?tpc=AR&fmc=DP&fnc=AX

or these clamp insulators:

http://www.jacksons-fencing.co.uk/p...e-20/40mm-pack-of-2.aspx?tpc=AR&fmc=DP&fnc=AX

In windy areas, space your poly posts closer together, to stop whipping which will cause the wires within the tape to snap. If you can afford it, use "Turbo tape" or similar, which has more strands of wire within it and a wavy pattern which helps current stay strong by reconnecting the metal strands.

For earth stakes, as a minimum I would recommend 2 x 1m poles driven well into the soil and connected to the earth connection on your fencer using galvanised wire. In areas with well drained soil, ensure the soil stays wet by chucking a few buckets of water around the stakes. If you want to increase the efficiency of your fence for goats or stubborn horses, try multi strands of tape. In between the live strands, run another strand of tape, but ensure it does not touch the live strands anywhere, then connect this extra strand to the earth post of the fencer. This will provide an "Earth return" if your horse/goat etc touches both strands at once, creating a sharper more deterring shock.

Also ensure that any vegetation is cut well back from the fence and you use good insulators to anchor the tape. Doing all of this will ensure you get the best from your fencer.

Regards

The Engineer.

 

[kymw90]

Thanks guys that's great help. As for my plastic posts they don't have a starter bit. So if I want to start a fence off its goes - 1st plastic post with tape through holes around and a knot ( I KNOW YOU SAID BO KNOTS :-D) so would a connector be able to connect a end piece to itself.. As the starter post?? I want wood corner and joiner posts but am saving up for that atm. I like being able to move te paddocks around but I think it's time I made some permanent paddocks with the wood posts and use the tape inbetween. I didn't know about the having live strands and earth strands!!

Is rope or twine any good for horses then? Is there a rule - rope is better than tape, twine is better rope and wire is better than twine or is it to do with the quality of each?? I know tape is better visibility but waves in the wind whereas twin and rope don't as much but isn't so easily seen.

 

[TheEngineer]

As a rule of thumb, galvanised wire is best, then rope, then 40mm tape, then 20mm tape then poly wire. But! Galvanised wire is no good if you have horses that are label to stampede through the fence....big vets bills! Tape will whip in the wind and poly wire tends to not last as long. Also there a many suppliers of varying quality. Look for UV stabilised on the label and check the size of the metal strands that go through the tape/rope etc. as an example 6 strands of 0.1 mm copper wire will not carry the current as well as 6 strands of 0.2mm wire. Rope is good, but also not cheap. It will not break like tape/polywire, so again is better for horses who do not spook easily. Go for a recognised brand...IE Galagher, Hotline or Rutland and you will get better quality.


Good luck


The Engineer

 

[The Fuzzy Furry]

I've had the galvanised wire & also tape in differing sizes.
I removed the 40mm tape on top of my boundary fence last year as the whole fence (5 strands barbed on wooden posts) was being replaced. The tape was still taking a good charge through it & I have recycled the holders on top of the new fence.
That tape was brought & put up in.............. 1987

For internal fence tape (set behind the post & rail to keep the blighters from destroying the P&R) is anything from 15 to 1 yr old & I use the narrower tape (around 1inch wide)
I check the straining on it around once a month

The wire is still useful - I keep the remnants of it (was originally used on the top of the P&R to stop a fence muncher, would never use it on temp posts!).
The remnants get chopped up & are good for linking one paddock tape to another by wrapping round it & feeding it to the next piece of tape. This keeps lovely livery on her toes

Good luck - just make sure whatever you have is taut.