Please order online 24/7 or call VALLEY FARM SUPPLY at 717-786-0368

Please order online 24/7 or call VALLEY FARM SUPPLY at 717-786-0368

• The energiser earth system must be installed well away -- at least 10 m (33 feet) from mains power earth peg, preferably on the opposite side of the building.
• Use 25-mm (1-inch) or larger diameter new or near new galvanised pipe driven as deeply as possible into a moist soil, each at least 10 m (33 feet) apart. Thin, black or rusty fence posts or similar are not suitable. Rust is a bad conductor. A large surface area is needed to give a large contact area between the soil and pipe.
• One metre (3 feet) of earth pipe per joule of output of the energiser is usually sufficient for satisfactory earthing in conductive soils. Long earth pipes which are driven deep into the soil give far better earthing than the same total length at shallower depths because soils are more moist and have more conductive minerals at lower levels. Two 3- metre-long pipes are better than three 2-metre-long pipes when driven deeply this way. Large diameter pipes have a greater soil contact surface, so are better than thin rods.
• Install the earth system well way from water pipes and bores which are being used. But an unused steel pipe bore can be an excellent earth if it's not rusted or broken.
• Connect the terminal marked Earth or Ground to the earth pipes by one continuous length of double insulated electric fence leadout cable -- not household or industrial cables which are made for only 400 volts, not for 10,000 volts. The cable should contain 2.5-mm (16-gauge) galvanised wire -- not thinner and not copper wire, which causes electrolysis at the joins. Bare and clamp the cable securely to each pipe with galvanised clamps. Ordinary galvanized wire can rust where it is damaged or touches the ground. Using cable eliminates this.
• It is best to have no voltage on the earth system, but a maximum of 200 volts (and up to 300 volts on a large energizer) are acceptable when the fence has been shorted out to as low a voltage as possible.
• Soils are not good conductors, so electrons spread out inclining towards moist and mineral soils when travelling back to the energizer. Aim for a moist area, work out a system of keeping the area around the earth pipes moist. If necessary, take a galvanised wire along the bottom of a fence to a moist area, and then install more earth stakes at that point. If the distance exceeds 100 metres, use two wires. Better still, use aluminium or aluminium-coated wire which is up to three times more conductive than the same thickness galvanised wire.
• Some soils are very bad conductors. If you have dry peat, pumice, volcanic ash soils, etc., or soils that are dry at any time of the year, and there is no wet area within a few hundred metres which could be used, a bentonite earthing system can be bought and used. They are a good value. The bentonite mix is made into a slurry and poured down 75-mm (3-inch) diameter or larger holes with pipes set in the centre. Keep them moist. This system can improve earthing by up to ten times.
• In extremely dry areas and on snow, use an earth wire return system. This is where there is an equal number of live and earth wires kept well apart on the fence. The earth wires are joined with joint clamps (like the live wires) and connected to the energized earth terminal. The earth wires should also be earthed adequately (no voltage on them) every kilometre. These also act as lightning conductors, keeping it away from energizers.

Testing an Earth System 
 

• Testing an earth system without the fencing shorted out is a waste of time. You must create a flow of electrons to load the earth system before testing it.
• Also testing the earth by holding the last earth pipe can be a waste of time if the wire between it and the energiser is broken.
• To test the earth system, first short the fence out with steel rods at least 100 metres from the earth system. Then use a digital voltmeter to measure the voltage between the energiser earth terminal and an independent earth wire. This should be pushed as far as possible (about one metre) into damp ground in a position handy to the energizer and several metres away from any other earth peg.
• To lower the voltage on the earth system add more earth pipes and/or connect the earth wire to the bottom wire of a conventional fence.
• Never use your water supply, bore or well as a ground or allow a charger ground wire to touch them or any part of buildings. It can cause shocks in the water and stop animals from drinking, and buildings can become a transmitting aerial for radio and phone interference.
• Double insulated underground cable should be used for the ground as well as the live wire. Unused bore pipes or steel well liners are usually good grounds.
• Many New Zealand farmers measure Joules (energy) roughly by holding the live wire and feeling the kick in good insulated gumboots standing on one foot to halve the electrons flowing through your body. Caution: Don't do this if you have a dicky ticker or Pacemaker.
• High-power energizers are essential for to controlling animals where long lengths of wire are electrified. The high power is on for the very short period of 0.0003 seconds which makes them safe.
• Voltage measured at the energizer is useless, especially if the fence wire is thin, limited to one wire or has bad connections. But voltage can be an indicator of the energy when measured at the end of a long fence.
• The latest, best New Zealand energizers have a system of telling the farmer at the energizer the effectiveness of the fence at various points, and the earth condition, both of which are extremely clever.
• The lower the voltage on the ground the better it is. But with high-power energizers, it can be difficult to get the voltage below 200 volts, which figure is acceptable (provided it was measured when the fence was shorted (grounded) a few hundred metres from the energizer).
• Ensure that all electrical appliances wirings, everything metal and all concrete steel reinforcing are all connected by welding or strong galvanised clamps, not electroplated ones which rust sooner.
• If your stock are going through fences, check the earth first, followed by the joints on the whole fence, and at the same time look for shorts.
• Test your earth by thoroughly shorting out the fence at least 100 metres (330 feet) away from the energiser with steel standards. Doing this creates the maximum current flow so puts a load on the earth system. If your earth pipes can't handle the flow you'll get a voltage reading at the energizer terminals. If there is no voltage, then your earthing system is satisfactory.
• You should have a digital voltmeter, then install an earth monitoring point by pushing a piece of 4-mm (8-gauge) wire into the ground handy to the energiser and measure between it and the energiser earth terminal. Don't check the last earth pipe because there could be a break in the wire to it, in which case you'll think the earth is OK, but it may not be.
• With the fence shorted out, there should be no more than 200 volts, although no voltage reading is best. The more voltage you read flowing to your earth, the less power you will have on your fence because it indicates that the earth is inadequate and needs more pipes.
• To improve your earth system, increase the number of earth pipes and put them in as deep as possible. Tests on several soil types have shown that depth is essential -- 2 m (6 feet) deep is the minimum, and 3 m (9 feet) deep is twice as good.

• Jump gaps (bad joins) and cause sparks and radio and phone interference.
• Conduct current to water troughs they may touch. Animals then won't drink so growth and milk production suffer, and females can get cysts on their ovaries through stress. This happened to a herd near here causes calculated losses of $30,000 over the years it had been happening.
• Give people shocks when opening and closing gates.
• Give animals shocks as they go through gateways and brush against the wires tied around strainer posts.

Safety Considerations

Keep these in mind when you build fence:

• Don't string wires across lanes or thoroughfares without marking them clearly. Motor cyclists have been injured through not seeing them.
• Never electrify barbed wire.
• Train and demonstrate the shock to children and visitors with a long piece of grass.

• Some energizers cause more radio and/or phone interference than others, even if not on a fence. Switch it off, disconnect the fence and earth (ground) cables (wires) at the energizer (if they were loose the sparking there could cause interference) and switch on the energizer and check for interference.
• If the interference is still there, return the energizer to the supplier and try another unit or brand. Some brands are bad.
• If the interference disappears when the fence and earth are disconnected:
  
   
  • Tighten all joins and clamps on the energizer and fences. Those on some energizers work loose because of the thump (vibration).
  • Ensure that all wire connections are figure of eight or reef knots, or are clamped and tight.
  • Tube insulators will crack and leak in time. Even double tubes and those with steel inserts leak and spark in some cases.
  • Sparking causes radio and telephone interference so insulators must be good quality with adequate tracking distance to avoid arcing over the surface as occurs with staple insulators or through the insulator as occurs with single tubing. Use quality insulators with at least 25 mm (1 inch) of tracking distance (length on insulator from the live wire to any other point).
  • Some cable can have breaks in it causing sparking. Single insulated cable gets cracks sooner than double. (Try bending a sheet of cardboard and a wad of paper the same thickness and you'll see why. The card will crack.) Some of the orange cable from New Zealand cracked and leaked soon after installing. Replace it all.
  • Even the best cable when buried can become damaged by a stone and then leak. It is essential that all be threaded through 12 mm (half-inch) or similar black plastic piping to give it physical protection. If the distance is long, push a piece of high tensile wire (with its end bent back) through and then pull the cable through. To check under gateways, disconnect before each one and check if the interference stops.
  • Ensure that the earth is perfect. Check it at the energizer, not at the last earth pipe as shown on some instruction books. There could be a break in the cable so there would be no voltage at the last, or even first pipe.
  • The earth cable should be one continuous length of double insulated cable or be joined with a good galvanised joint clamp, and must not touch any building or pipe. Support the cable in good insulators.
  • Use a digital volt meter to test the earth and to locate shorts and maintain tidy, trouble-free fences.
    
     
• If you still have interference, tighten all joins and clamps on the farm. This is best done in summer when joint clamps have expanded.
• Walk along all fences and wires with a radio tuned off the station and clicking. It will get louder close to the interference cause.
• Shorting to vegetation or to any grounded object can cause clicking, so disconnect the bottom wire and/or clear the fence line with a weed wiper. Once grass touches a live wire, stock won't graze it, or anywhere near it, so the problem increases. Always have the bottom wire able to be disconnected with a flexible connector and do so before vegetation touches it.
• The mains power supply (utility) earth and all connections including power point terminals and plugs must be adequate with no loose or old verdigris connections.
• If wires run parallel with overhead phone wires on underground phone cables interference can be worse, so avoid the constructing of electrified fences parallel to telephone lines or cables and aerials, or parallel to other long fences which could act as aerials.

Lightning Protection 

The long distances of electric fencing now used increase the chance of a lightning strike, so an effective protective system should be used. Lightning often hits the power supply line and goes through the energizer to its earth system blowing its fuse or components. The power (utility) supply earth system should be good enough to attract the lightning rather than have it go through the energizer to its earth.

Finding Shorts 

The solid state digital volt meter is important for fault finding and for testing the earth system. It enables accurate reading of the voltage and easy fault finding, because of its extreme accuracy. 

Start by going to the first switch (these must be installed along fence lines to save going back to the energizer to switch it off for repairs and for fault finding) and see if the voltage before the switch increases after opening the switch to stop current flow down the farm. 

If the voltage increases then go to the next switch. If not check the fence between the switch and the energizer. Neon fence testers are also available, but of no use for finding small leaks or earth system faults. Many are bought and not used for long before buying a digital volt meter.

Electric or power fencing helps make animal farming profitable and sustainable, so the effort required to achieve the above suggestions is well worthwhile. If installation is good and monitoring is done, the labour required is less than with any other system and the profit is greater. 

If you have problems, read all the above again. There is a lot to take in, but once you understand it, it becomes second nature. 

Take pride in your fencing and enjoy your animals.

Please order online 24/7 or call VALLEY FARM SUPPLY at  717-786-0368

Got a problem keeping a few cows fenced in?  How about keeping a few hundred grizzlies fenced out?  Or making sure a few dozen black bears aren’t getting after your goats?

Bears of all kinds are a sometime dangerous nuisance around Yellowstone and Grand Teton National Parks and the national forests of northwestern Wyoming.  It’s a wilderness area bordered by Montana and Idaho that’s perfect habitat for a large and growing population of bears.

Bears are born scavengers that can get aggressive when they’re hungry.  Easily accessible campsites, apiaries and dumpsters are nothing more than convenient dining spots for these creatures.  When they decide to munch on whatever’s handy, they can do serious economic damage and threaten people as well as livestock.

Mark Bruscino is a bear specialist with the Wyoming Game and Fish Department.  Bears are his constant problem.  “They’re smart animals,: he said, “they’ll find a way to get around most preventative measures.  They can knock down barriers and tunnel under most fences.”

“We have to keep them out of grain sheds, small garbage dumps and dumpsters.  Most of the things we tried in the early 1990’s didn’t work,” he said.

In 1993 Morgan Renner, a Territory Manager with Gallagher, helped design an electric fence to solve the problem.  “I’m sold on it,” said Bruscino as he talked about the fence.  “It’s top notch stuff.”

The fence is “100% effective” when it’s maintained properly, according to Bruscino.

The Game and Fish Department uses permanent and temporary Gallagher fences now.  The permanent fences are where bears are a constant problem – around camp grounds, for instance.  Temporary fences can be quickly erected around sites like grain bins until the bear can be captured and transported to a remote location.

“We use a five-wire fence with high tensile strength wire.  Because it can be very dry, we use alternating hot and ground wires to make sure we’ve got full conductivity,” said Bruscino as he described the permanent set up.  Wooden corner posts anchor the fence and he uses fiberglass posts to support the wire.  The lower three wires are spaced six inches apart and the top two wires have 10 inches between them, making for a bear proof barrier.

Bruscino estimates bears have tested the fence hundreds of times without successfully breaking through.  “Usually, they just spin around and take off,” he said.  “I saw evidence that a bear swatted at the wire once but all it did was stretch it out a bit.”

To prevent “tunneling” bears from going underground, Bruscino uses a woven wire ground in some place.  Stretching about three feet out from the fence line, it’s additional discouragement to marauding beasts.

Bee keepers in the region sleep better at night and goat herds graze unmolested.  More importantly, campers can sleep safely at night, too, with nothing between them and the night air but a few square yards of canvas.

According to Gallagher, “An electric fence is a psychological barrier that keeps farm animals and wild animals where they should be with safety and security.  Because the fence is a psychological barrier, it doesn’t require great strength to be effective. However, it must be well designed in accordance with the species to be controlled, and constructed to withstand the harsh weather conditions that hit the Rockies in the dead of winter.”

Gallagher is one of the world’s largest manufacturers of electric fences designed to contain cattle, horses and other farm animals as well as prevent wild animals and predators from gaining access to areas where they can do economic damage.

Please order online 24/7 or call VALLEY FARM SUPPLY at  717-786-0368

2014 SOUTHEAST PA GRAZING CONFERENCE

Sponsored by Lancaster County Graziers.

Date: Tuesday, 18 February 2014 - Wednesday, 19 February 2014 Location: Solanco Fairgrounds | Hoffman Building | Quarryville, PA

Contact: Levi Fisher Phone No: 717-405-9438

Alternating current
Current that flows back and forth, changing directions rapidly. AC current is typically used in households in the United States and Canada. It reverses directions 120 times per second or 60 full cycles.

Amperage
A measurement of electrical current; what you feel when you receive a shock. The higher the amperage, the more intense shock the animal will feel.

Baiting
Used to train wild animals to avoid an electric fence. Turn off fence controller. Smear an aluminum pie tin with the bait (peanut butter, honey, rancid bacon, molasses, etc.). Connect pie tin to an electric fence wire using metal wire. Locate several baited pie tins around the perimeter of the fence. After baiting is completed, turn fence controller on and monitor bait stations regularly.

Capacitive discharge
A term used to describe electric fence controllers that pulse electricity at regular intervals through a fence, typically at one-second internals.

Capacitor
An output capacitor is used to store direct current (DC) electricity between pulses through a fence. Alternating current (AC) can't be stored using a capacitor.

Continuous current
Refers to a continuous output of alternating current (AC) rather than a pulsed or cycled output. Continuous current fencers produce very low voltages and extremely low amperages in order to keep them safe. As a result, these fencers do not work well on long, weedy or wet fences. Continuous current fencers are not UL listed.

Corner posts
Sturdy wooden posts driven deep into the ground to provide extra support for the tension put on a fence line as it changes direction. Corner posts are not only used at corners, but also for gates and end posts.

Direct current
Current that flows steadily in one direction, typically produced by batteries through a chemical reaction.

Direct-discharge fencer
A type of fence controller that does not require a grounding system to deliver an electrical shock. Direct-discharge fencers are most effective on short, weed-free fences.

Distance ratings
A way of comparing the relative power of fence controllers. Ratings are based on a single strand of 17-gauge steel wire strung 36 inches above the ground under ideal, weed-free laboratory conditions.

Fence load
Any number of conditions that cause current to be drawn from a fence wire. Weeds touching the fence, broken insulators, rusty fence wire, and even wire splices all increase fence load and reduce the fence's voltage and amperage. Fence load is measured in ohms.

Ground wire return system
used where dry or sandy soil conditions do not allow a traditional ground system to work. Consists of running a ground wire parallel to a hot fence wire, delivering at the point where the animal touches the two lines.

Ground System
Necessary to create a complete electrical circuit: when the animal touches the electrified wire, the electricity travels through the animal, into the soil, back to the ground rods that are connected to the fence controller, resulting in the animal receiving a brief shock. A ground system consists of ground rods (3), hookup wire, ground rod clamps and line clamps.

High tensile
An affordable, long lasting electrified fence system that is an excellent choice for perimeter fences, providing a barrier to contain or exclude animals. These sturdy, permanent fences require braced corner and end posts in wood along with special insulators, hardware, and tools that maintain constant high tension on metal wire.

Insulator
A nonconductive material (plastic or ceramic), typically used to offset fence wire from a fence post. Insulators prevent the current from traveling through the post and into the ground, short-circuiting the system.

Joules
A measurement of electrical energy used to rate low impedance fence controllers. The effective power the controller delivers to the fence, independent of other factors that can drain voltage. The higher the joules, the more intense shock the animal will feel. (1 joule = 1 watt of power for 1 second)

Line posts
A post used to support electric or non-electric fence wire. Line posts support the fence line, and have far less tension put on it than corner posts. As a result, they can be made from a variety of materials, including metal, wood, plastic and fiberglass.

Low-impedance fencer
Low impedance fence controllers increase the joules (energy or shock) on the fence line if weeds or other vegetation touch the line. Available in AC, DC and solar powered models.

Mob grazing
The tendency among certain species of animals to graze vegetation down to the dirt. May cause animals to reach vegetation outside the fence.

Ohms
Ohms are used to measure resistance to the flow of an electric current. A low ohms reading represents a heavy fence load, and a high ohms reading represents a light fence load.

On-time / Off-time
On-time refers to the duration of the electrical pulse produced by a capacitive discharge fencer. Off-time refers to the length of time between the pulses. Zareba fencers have electrical pulses that are only microseconds long, followed by one full second of off-time between each pulse. This long off-time enables an animal (or person) to easily break away from the fence.

Pulse width
Pulse width refers to the duration of the electrical pulse produced by a capacitive discharge fencer. (See On-time / Off-time)

Resistance
Resistance is any force that resists the flow of electricity, consuming power from a circuit by changing electric energy into heat. Electricians measure resistance in ohms.

Rotational grazing
A system for livestock grazing, using internal temporary enclosures (within a boundry fence) to control the specific areas where the animals graze. This allows the vegetation in the previous enclosures to grow back. Typically is 1-strand of wire at 40" or at animal's nose level.

Solid state
Solid-state fence controllers deliver a medium amperage shock in pulses of medium duration. They are best used to control shorthaired livestock, small animals, and pets where light weed conditions exist.

Splicer
A component that joins together separate strands of fence wire, tape or rope without breaking the fence's electrical circuit.

Temporary fencing
A one to three-strand electric fence system that is used for rotational grazing or other short-term uses. It typically uses step-in poly posts or rod posts, and a DC or solar operated fence controller for portability and flexibility.

Tensioner
A component used to tighten fence wires, typically polytape, to increase tension on a section of the fence line.

Transformer
A device that increases or decreases the voltage of alternating current.

Voltage
A measurement of electrical pressure. It functions similarly to water pressure in that it "pushes" amperage down the fence wire.

Watt
A unit of measurement for electric power equal to voltage times amperage.

Please order online 24/7 or call VALLEY FARM SUPPLY at 717-786-0368

Please order online 24/7 or call VALLEY FARM SUPPLY at 717-786-0368

I’m building a permanent power fence with high tensile wire. Any suggestions?

Don’t over tension the wire. Using high-tensile wire allows for greater line post spacing than conventional wire; usually 50 feet as a minimum. Also, don't over-tighten the wires. Make sure it’s a flexible system that allows for wildlife impacts, snow loading, etc. If you don’t “over-engineer” the fence, you’ll save lots of money.

Please order online 24/7 or call VALLEY FARM SUPPLY at 717-786-0368