Fence Charger Guidance

[hobbyfarm]

I currently have a 12 joule fence guard brand charger.  It just isn't powerful enough.  Even with a clean fence it is weak at the far end of the run.  I start with around 5kv closest to the charger and end with under 3 at the far end.  Grounds are good and plentiful.  When I run temporary fence off the the main fence for rotational grazing i can be around 1.9kv.  The naughty cattle walk through it and go where they arent suppossed to be.  Some will follow and others will be afraid of the fence no matter if it is on or off.  Would 18 joules really be 50% more powerful on the fence and translate to more kv further down the line?  There are some big big chargers out there for the bto guys but I don't want too hot of a fence.  

Any brands to look at or avoid?  Speedrite has an 18 joule that is remote control compatible.   I haven't researched how the remote communicates to the charger.  It is very intriguing to be able to turn the fence off and on from the field.  With the remote this set up would be around a thousand dollars US.  

[dannyredfan]

but I don't want too hot of a fence.  
there is no such thing 😂 

[Mike H]

stay away from TSC chargers  ''junk''

had 2 pigs just walk threw the wire yesterday

 

https://www.speedritechargers.com is used on the rest of the farm

and you can get a remote to shut it down in the field [[really handy]]

[hillman]

38 minutes ago, dannyredfan said:

but I don't want too hot of a fence.  
there is no such thing 😂 

x 2 

 

IMHO theres Gallaghers and "others"

[TN Hillbilly]

What kind of fence? How many strands? How many grounds? A lot of the time people keep getting a bigger and bigger box, when the problem is the fence or thr ground.  Not saying that's your situation. 

Also, when comparing between brands, they can legally list the joules two ways - stored and output. Stored will be higher. Like, 6 joules stored may be 4.5 joules output. So try to compare like to like.

I would try to buy one with a good warranty including lightning.

I have found Speedrite and Gallagher both good to work with.

[Jacka]

3 hours ago, hobbyfarm said:

I currently have a 12 joule fence guard brand charger.  It just isn't powerful enough.  Even with a clean fence it is weak at the far end of the run.  I start with around 5kv closest to the charger and end with under 3 at the far end.  Grounds are good and plentiful.  When I run temporary fence off the the main fence for rotational grazing i can be around 1.9kv.  The naughty cattle walk through it and go where they arent suppossed to be.  Some will follow and others will be afraid of the fence no matter if it is on or off.  Would 18 joules really be 50% more powerful on the fence and translate to more kv further down the line?  There are some big big chargers out there for the bto guys but I don't want too hot of a fence.  

Any brands to look at or avoid?  Speedrite has an 18 joule that is remote control compatible.   I haven't researched how the remote communicates to the charger.  It is very intriguing to be able to turn the fence off and on from the field.  With the remote this set up would be around a thousand dollars US.  

Do you have a complete circuit? How many miles of fence? I think 12 joules should be powerful enough for most fences.My measures same at charger as it did it dead end before I got a chance to complete circuit. I run a lot of poly wire to strip graze. It's hot and its old poly wire,probably some is 30 years old.Ground posts are important, wet soil is best for your ground and are you sure it's not ground out somewhere. If you can disconnect sections it might help to isolate the problem. And no there is no such thing as a "to hot of a fence ".My first high tensile fence charger ran off of 220 volt.I think it was a Gallagher not sure.But these new ones will throw the fire for sure.Mine is A Zaberdella 100 miler and works great.

[Lazy WP]

I had a couple different Gallagher 760, 110 volt I think. Couple others that were 6D cell powered and a couple that were solar powered. All Gallaghers. I also have a Gallagher fence fault finder that is absolutely invaluable!! When I was in Nebraska. I was running over 15 miles of hot wire through nasty trees and canyons. Very hard to get grounds to work. I ran nearly all 2 hots and 1 ground. 
The last couple years, I had to put disconnects on the fence I wasn’t using. To much overgrowth. 
I say all that to say, if you don’t have a good fault finder, get one!! If you have brush and grass against the fence, clean it out! Buy either a Gallagher or SpeedRite fencer, you will be much happier. After you have put in as many ground rods as they recommend, add that many again. 

[sandhiller]

I leased a ranch once that required me to rotational graze using the Allen Savory system.

Countless miles of electric cross fencing.

Used all Speedrite chargers.

Dependable and powerful.

Don't remember how many joules but you did not want to touch the fence anywhere.

They were rebuildable.

 

[edwardporter1]

Gallagher. The rest are counterfeit. Good grounds and shut offs to isolate the problem

[hobbyfarm]

Somewhere between 2 and 3 miles of fence currently.  Majority is 6 strand galvanized on treated posts with 3 hot wires.  We have a few disconnects.  Also have the galligher fault finder.  Fence is a lot of maintenance.   There are constantly small drawls and shorts on it.  I don't see any way around it.  We correct them as they come but it is never ending.  For example there are maybe 30 sets of spring gates.   Deer get tangled in spring gate and it shorts to ground.  It follows tree lines and goes through a wooded draw where stuff can fall on it.  Most of the fence was here when we purchased this place.  The current charger came from a well respected fence supply place.  It is what they like to sell and service.  I'm definitely going to upgrade chargers.  The remote control aspect is very intriguing.  

By too hot i should clarify we do some retail sales in the fall.  There are some big time hot charges out there.  We put up fence warning signs where the customers are but I don't want little Johnny brought to his knees.  

 

[Mike H]

if your running a ground stake have you drove it down an inch or so to break the oxidation on the stake?

I had a weird one last year, after every rain storm I would get a fault on one fiberglass stake.

the sensor would point at the stake and nothing would show to cause a fault.

I replaced the stake and problem solved.

it must have had a void in it and water would short the fence out

we use fence wire for the larger pigs  and Polly Fence for the weaners

[Lazy WP]

24 minutes ago, hobbyfarm said:

Somewhere between 2 and 3 miles of fence currently.  Majority is 6 strand galvanized on treated posts with 3 hot wires.  We have a few disconnects.  Also have the galligher fault finder.  Fence is a lot of maintenance.   There are constantly small drawls and shorts on it.  I don't see any way around it.  We correct them as they come but it is never ending.  For example there are maybe 30 sets of spring gates.   Deer get tangled in spring gate and it shorts to ground.  It follows tree lines and goes through a wooded draw where stuff can fall on it.  Most of the fence was here when we purchased this place.  The current charger came from a well respected fence supply place.  It is what they like to sell and service.  I'm definitely going to upgrade chargers.  The remote control aspect is very intriguing.  

By too hot i should clarify we do some retail sales in the fall.  There are some big time hot charges out there.  We put up fence warning signs where the customers are but I don't want little Johnny brought to his knees.  

 

Are you reading your fault finder correctly? I fought with low power until I figured out that 2.3 Joules was magnified by however many strands of hot wire or something like that? I haven’t had to use hot wires in 6 years and don’t miss it. 
As for costumers, shut off the area where they are. Only way to deal with the public. 

[mmi]

Ok  havent read all posts.  nor a complete detail reply.

First ALL the products are S^%*(()T and 99% china S&^(*()*   Unless you have a certified test over 10yrs and the EXACT same product NOS

temporary fence is only as good as the china $^% connection ,and 1 month/rain/sun cycle ,and tester will vary every few feet with ground and body water content.

original LOI for gas well was 7 mile of USA made "professional" install , 6 wire HT exterior fence.

We use to get a lot of stuff, 10 yr life from australia .And tried EVERY "new" item. Ie change/ move 3/wire by 2-5 mile every 10 days.

IT is ALL made to be tossed within 6 mo to 5 years. ZERO UV/weather, protection.......profit security,     charging 50 year old woven or barbed wire on 40% grounded posts is going to work better.

You, grab and pull hard on that wire the steer  6-10 x ,walked thru or the calf chewed into a BASEBALL!   Heavy isnt it ?

Mom/delinquents, know when the magnetic s is low/ vs high/off, and will tell the calf,"give us a reading if its time to get out."

 as a fact ,Short of hunters cutting, we have 0-5% escape for down or not working altogether, ,even < 10% on downed cherry in a storm.

Always excepting the 2-9mo delinquents that have rubber soles, US/mex 6 wire HT works best even 5-6 miles !!! IF the connections/ers are super quality and not rusted.

However there are currently NO !!!! affordable post insulators of ANY type that dont bleed within 2 yrs, even $$$ "professional " installs. YOU WILL GET DEER IN HEAD LIGHT FOR ASKING.  but they dont open the 3x insulated gate in the damp season.

Zabera had the best plug in charger and for solar ...? they are green/yellow. parmark 2nd but the dual MC battery is china and $3x in house.

Other than < 20% of BBox ,any/every search or sourcing east of the Mississippi and a lot of the ROC  is going to be sold by/thru Kencove in PA. ( havent been there since "19 ish they expanded 5X)   Similarly "their Doc" was the go to for charger issues.

3 grounds and lightning suppressor and protection node are required for good joules
temporary crap is just that , 6 mo or the first time something stress's a strand its past, toss it time. Pay $10 x and like IT !!!.

[Lazy WP]

27 minutes ago, mmi said:

Ok  havent read all posts.  nor a complete detail reply.

First ALL the products are S^%*(()T and 99% china S&^(*()*   Unless you have a certified test over 10yrs and the EXACT same product NOS

temporary fence is only as good as the china $^% connection ,and 1 month/rain/sun cycle ,and tester will vary every few feet with ground and body water content.

original LOI for gas well was 7 mile of USA made "professional" install , 6 wire HT exterior fence.

We use to get a lot of stuff, 10 yr life from australia .And tried EVERY "new" item. Ie change/ move 3/wire by 2-5 mile every 10 days.

IT is ALL made to be tossed within 6 mo to 5 years. ZERO UV/weather, protection.......profit security,     charging 50 year old woven or barbed wire on 40% grounded posts is going to work better.

You, grab and pull hard on that wire the steer  6-10 x ,walked thru or the calf chewed into a BASEBALL!   Heavy isnt it ?

Mom/delinquents, know when the magnetic s is low/ vs high/off, and will tell the calf,"give us a reading if its time to get out."

 as a fact ,Short of hunters cutting, we have 0-5% escape for down or not working altogether, ,even < 10% on downed cherry in a storm.

Always excepting the 2-9mo delinquents that have rubber soles, US/mex 6 wire HT works best even 5-6 miles !!! IF the connections/ers are super quality and not rusted.

However there are currently NO !!!! affordable post insulators of ANY type that dont bleed within 2 yrs, even $$$ "professional " installs. YOU WILL GET DEER IN HEAD LIGHT FOR ASKING.  but they dont open the 3x insulated gate in the damp season.

Zabera had the best plug in charger and for solar ...? they are green/yellow. parmark 2nd but the dual MC battery is china and $3x in house.

Other than < 20% of BBox ,any/every search or sourcing east of the Mississippi and a lot of the ROC  is going to be sold by/thru Kencove in PA. ( havent been there since "19 ish they expanded 5X)   Similarly "their Doc" was the go to for charger issues.

3 grounds and lightning suppressor and protection node are required for good joules
temporary crap is just that , 6 mo or the first time something stress's a strand its past, toss it time. Pay $10 x and like IT !!!.

Could you possibly put this in English please. I can’t make heads or tails of what you just posted. 

[Ihfan4life]

1 hour ago, Lazy WP said:

 
As for costumers, shut off the area where they are. Only way to deal with the public. 

Concur 

[TractormanMike.mb]

I got poked by a red snapper once closing a spring gate with a bad handle and my arm went numb, the snap the fence made even made the cows run, they knew what it was.

[dannyredfan]

 

 

[acem]

Ive been using electric fence since the 80s. The best fence shockers are made in new Zealand by far.

Stafix(speedy) is my preferred brand followed very closely by Gallagher. However there are some decent ones made here in the US. 

It's very difficult to diagnose electric fence problems except in person. Start by doing a visual inspection of EVERYTHING. then Unhook the fence and check the voltage. Then hook up one section of fence at a time until you find the problem.

best of luck.

I Wish I could understand mmi better. I guess it's some Yankee dialect southern hillbillies like me don't understand!

[560Dennis]

Only fencers I remember were the international weed chopper . No one walked though those . Unless it was a coon hunter . 
Think they were recalled ,but I’ve seen them on eBay once in a great while. Huge capacitors!
My theory is if cattle,  livestock  are going through fences they don’t have enough to eat or drink. Nothing works in that case .

[hobbyfarm]

49 minutes ago, 560Dennis said:

Only fencers I remember were the international weed chopper . No one walked though those . Unless it was a coon hunter . 
Think they were recalled ,but I’ve seen them on eBay once in a great while. Huge capacitors!
My theory is if cattle,  livestock  are going through fences they don’t have enough to eat or drink. Nothing works in that case .

With rotational grazing the grass always looks better right next to them.  They only gone through the temporary stuff and it is one or two that are the ring leaders with that.  We run 2 strands of  good temporary fence on step in posts.  I here you on the hungry.  It is hard for them to resist when they are next to the sudangrass.  Especially when a few dont respect the fence.  This pic is last summer when i was mowing it.  They were right next to this.  Now the sheep are a whole nother story.

[acem]

Now if you are fishing with an electric fence shocker, the old us made battery chargers are best. 

[hobbyfarm]

Well I ended up buying the speedrite 18000i with remote capability.  Not cheap but better then chasing cattle.  The remote has to be the best new tool I have bought in awhile.

[acem]

Speedrite and Stafix are like Chevy and GMC.

[Jacka]

5 hours ago, hobbyfarm said:

Well I ended up buying the speedrite 18000i with remote capability.  Not cheap but better then chasing cattle.  The remote has to be the best new tool I have bought in awhile.

I just looked at mine the other day,you said you were having problems with yours and it was 12 joule, mine is a Zaberdella 100 mile and it's a 6 joule. Works good and throws the fear of God in them. 

[searcyfarms]

The 2015 American Heart Association (AHA) guidelines for defibrillation state that it is reasonable to use the manufacturer's recommended dose of the first defibrillation shock. On a biphasic defibrillator, this is usually between 120 joules to 200 joules. On a monophasic defibrillator, this is usually 360 joules.

you get one of the gallaghers adn they make some in that range, we had parmak all my life around here because they are made here in KC - i ahve had them struck by lightening quite a few times and had to make trips down to the company to get them fixed, still old fashioned drive up, walk up the dock wtih your fencer and they were so nice to fix it every time, good ole folks in a HOT dock work area with fencers people had shipped in for repairs etc.....kinda fun place to go

I cant say they ever felt like they would catch your hair on fire but they were reasonably priced, great people to work with and made local.

My neighbor who has cows and farms up home, has that high tensile wire, I was out goose hunting, it was damp and i was crawling under it, my gun barrel hit the wire and went thru my hand and being on all fours i got the full effect. I went down on my face, havent been hit that hard by a fence ever before and since, i had a headache and my jaw hurt. Guess i musta clinched my teeth. I have no idea how big or what brand the charger was but IT HURT