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Whiskey, Tango, Foxtrot | After reading some on here regarding electric fence, I began to notice that my cows would tend to get out more in dry areas. Somebody mentioned they used a hot-ground-hot wire setup to overcome the fact that it is difficult to obtain a good 'shock' on really dry ground. It just doesn't carry the juice from the ground at the charger to the ground where the cattle are.
I just use polywire to divide up pastures, so it isn't a big deal if one hops the fence. But I did add another ground rod. My little solar charger just won't hold them much if the grass gets short, so I now have a 110V one on it. It is a 20 mile charger, and I probably have a couple of miles on it. It works, but as far as I am concerned the mile ratings are useless.
Biggest thing is get a good ground. I'm now using two ground rods next to the irrigation ditch where it is always wet. Seems to help a bunch. As dry as it is here, electric or HT is tough for outside fence, but where everything is irrigated and moist, you can use electric to hold them. Just doesn't work well on dry ground. My line fence is 5 strand barbed (with the charger grounded to the barbed wire) with a smooth hot wire inside. They never bug it. The barbed fence with steel posts makes a good ground, and if they touch both it and the hot wire it will have a little bite to it. | |
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Electric fencer ratings
