Need to understand electric fencing!

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I'm going to be moving to a field soon and to strip graze the field I am going to be setting up electric fencing. Currently I just attach the tape to the original electrified fencing so have never had to bother about how to electrify it.

I'm very confused about whether I need both a generator and battery and how I hook it all up together?

I do not want to spend a lot as eventually it will just be dummy wire as they are very respectful and I just want the initial warning just incase they try to test it out to start with. In this case would a car battery be cheaper as it doesn't need to last, if so does it need a generator?
 
If you mean you have a good existing electric fence that is live, then you can attach a new line of fencing to it but the current may weaken over distance depending on the fencing. I would try this first and get a fence tester and check the current is good enough all round. Do this before you do anything else.
 
vmac66 said:
You will need an energiser to power the car battery. The energiser has 4 connection clips that connect to the battery, fence and earth stake.
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IME it is cheaper to buy a battery with your energiser than to buy a car battery specially to do the job. We have a small energiser that takes 4(?) D batteries if you only want to use a short fence.
 
Lady Jane said:
If you mean you have a good existing electric fence that is live, then you can attach a new line of fencing to it but the current may weaken over distance depending on the fencing. I would try this first and get a fence tester and check the current is good enough all round. Do this before you do anything else.
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Sorry i mean the yard I'm in now it is attached to the mains. Where I'm moving to has no electricity
 
You need an energiser which is what sends the current along the fence.
Then you need a source of that current - battery, mains or solar electricity. With a battery you will need to charge it every few months. The longer the run of fence you need the more powerful the energiser and power source needs to be
And to make the circuit - energiser>fence>ground - you need an earth rod (in the battery powered ones it is usually the bit that sticks in the ground). Without it the current won't flow.
Then insulators to stop the current leaking away into your fence posts unless you have 100% poly posts.
Good luck - I can't imagine life without mine now
 
A leisure battery, as has been said, will be superior to a car battery. There are a few electric fencing fencing suppliers online and it may be easiest to phone one of them to discuss what you need.
 
Thanks everyone, think I understand it all better now! I'll look into the different options. My current horse is terrified of electric tape so I wouldn't need to even electrify it if it was just him, but I'm getting a youngster and I'm not sure whether she would respect a dummy fence!
 
Over time they will regularly test whether the electric is on. One day they will touch it accidentally and realise it isn't on and then they'll be through it and away whenever your back is turned. Getting tangled in electric fencing (which is the risk of not having it hooked up) can cause some pretty nasty injuries.

Buy something now that will last - not quite sure why you wouldn't have it on once you had it all set up?
 
I have 2 separate elec fences, one off a leisure battery and one that's a little all-in-one solar powered affair. The solar one is great as it's always on, never have to think about charging it up as it has 2 rechargable D batteries inside that charge up during the day so it works overnight too. It charges even during dull periods in winter.
I don't think it puts out quite as big a shock as the other fence but mine are pretty respectful of it so it's plenty for them.
 
Wheels said:
Over time they will regularly test whether the electric is on. One day they will touch it accidentally and realise it isn't on and then they'll be through it and away whenever your back is turned. Getting tangled in electric fencing (which is the risk of not having it hooked up) can cause some pretty nasty injuries.
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Due to building work recently we had to disconnect the electricity, and my fencer is mains. It took the two horses four days to find out, after having it on for most of the time for 20 years.

Don't risk it - this is my horse after I hadn't realised there was some loose fencing at the far end - was touch and go whether it was a PTS job. Fortunately he is still with me, scarred but alive. My bank account not so much - three months and £1500 for the initial hospitalisation 15 Dec (1).jpg15 Dec (1).jpg
 
Even if your one horse respects the electric and won't need reminding, your youngster will be a whole new kettle of fish. The hit they get off a battery powered system isn't as strong as a mains one, so if the youngster doesn't have a mains to learn on, they may well be more inclined to take chances!
My older one learned on battery fences, and is far more likely to test a line of fencing than my youngster, who's grown up with a mains system and is very reactive to even the thought of touching it. Both eventually work out if it's not working and take advantage. Depending on where you are, there is a healthy pastime of stealing people's fencer units... you may want to think about security when you choose your set-up.
 
If you set it up well, energiser appropriate to length of fence, well insulated uncrumpled tape and long ground spike pushed right into the ground you can get a battery powered fence to give a very strong kick! Trust me. I got told off for apparently "putting someone on (their) back" with my fence at a livery yard once. Don't touch my fence then you numpet.
 
You need a 12 Volt Leisure Battery (available from Halfords) as they stand up better to being de-charged and re-charged than a conventional car battery.
Get the long electric fence posts with the treads on each side and always place them alternatively the opposite way round so that if the wind blows it can not blow the electric fence tape off all the fence posts. Always have three posts on a corner to avoid bending of the corner post.
The fence posts should be no greater than the height of a fence post apart from each other.
Use tape rather than rope.
Always have two lines of tape and connect them together.
Buy two leisure batteries so that you always have a spare fully charged one ready to exchange for the de-charged one.
Also buy a car battery charger to re-charge the leisure battery.
 
Ive just bought a load of electric fencing, it was very reasonable but does add up when you realise you need more posts, more tape etc etc. I bought my energiser off Ebay, it cost under £50 and it gives a fair belt, was easy to set up and is very compact. There was cheaper but I did a bit of research lol and it seemed a decent one. I got my leisure battery off there too, it was also less than £50, did a bit of research on that too ha ha. Infact I got everything off there, I needed it quick and everything came within a couple of days.
 
I bought a solar Energizer rather than a separate battery/energiser. Means I don't have to worry about taking it off to charge it, except maybe in the darkest days of winter.
You also need an earth stake that's at least a metre into the ground.
 
You need a charger that will do sealed batteries like leisure batteries as well as car batteries. Mine has the two settings and if I use the wrong one I have problems with charging. I bought it from Halfords at the same time as my batteries.
 
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