We Sing the Fencing Electric
(Page 3 of 4)
September/October 2006
George DeVault
The Power Supply
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You’ll need an adequate charger to control the electricity flowing to whatever type of fencing you choose. Chargers running on 110-volt AC (household) current provide maximum shocking power, so many people run an AC supply wire from their house or barn into their fields, and then connect their temporary fencing onto it wherever needed. Chargers range in price from $60 to $400.
In remote locations, battery-powered chargers are almost as effective. Batteries range in size from flashlight to deep-cycle marine, and optional solar panels will recharge them even on cloudy days, which can double a battery’s life. Prices for batteries with solar chargers range from $180 to $280.
To really boost shocking power, especially on dry ground or snow, use “Pos/Neg” fencing, now available in a variety of styles.
Traditional electric fencing has a positive charge in each electrified wire. It relies on the animal making good contact with the soil in order to ground the charge and receive a shock. That doesn’t always happen when soils are sandy, rocky, dry or covered with snow. Having both positive and negative (grounded) wires manufactured right in the fence increases the chance of an animal receiving a convincing shock.
Weeds also can complete the circuit when they touch the wires, sometimes shorting out the fence so it can’t shock anything. Today’s fence chargers can carry what the catalogs call a “heavy weed load,” but don’t expect to just set up an electric fence and forget it. The more you keep grass and weeds in check, the better your fence will work. Keep all electric fences free of branches, grass, weeds and debris that can short out the whole fence.
Electrified netting requires the most maintenance. When left around vegetable beds for the season, it needs to be moved periodically and the grass mowed or weed-whacked. Or place cardboard, carpet or flat stones under it to prevent weeds from growing up and touching the wire.
Tricks of the Trade
Regardless of what you add to your system in the way of end posts, line posts, insulators, switches (very useful when searching for a short) and other gizmos, a few basic rules apply to all electric fencing.
First, electric fences really do their job, but only if they’re turned on – all the time. That’s why vegetable growers, pastured poultry producers and other users equip their fences with blinking lights or alarms to signal operational problems.
Want a good night’s sleep? There is nothing more reassuring just before slipping between the sheets than glancing out a bedroom window, seeing that little twinkle of light pulsing in the far field and knowing that your defense shields are activated. Of course, if the field is totally dark, there is nothing more exasperating than stomping outside through the wet grass in your bare feet to find that you’ve merely forgotten to plug the fence charger back in.