# Electric portable fencing for sheep - Looking for comments on Gallagher Smartfence and solar chargers



## Ridgetop (Apr 17, 2020)

Has anyone had any experience in using the Gallagher SmartFence on steep, hard, rocky terrain?  My ground is very steep.  It consists of heavy clay and shale which dries to the hardness of brick in the summer.  I would put the fence up after the rains when the ground would be softer, but DH and DS1 worry that the portable step in posts would not stay in place.  I would take it down after the area was grazed off and store the charger and SmartFence for the summer and fall. 


I need/want to fence off the necessary 200' from a buildings to confine the sheep to do fire clearance.  We have had a lot of rain this spring and much later than usual.  With the Covid epidemic the fire department is extending the fire clearance deadline to June 1.  My sheep will eventually eat everything on the property, but they like to pick and choose the best stuff first.  I have a deadline and need the 200 x 200' area completely cleared within a certain length of time.  I need to confine them in a fenced area so they will eat the foliage only  in that certain area.  The SmartFence is 36" tall but since my perimeter fencing is good, that is all the higher I would need for my Dorpers.  The fence would *not* be used to keep rams away from cycling ewes.

I have considered the Premier 1 type netting but had some of the earliest stuff 30 years ago and it didn't work well.   It tangled, needed at least 2 people to install, sagged badly, and didn't work well on steep slopes because the bottom wire would cause it to short out if it touched anything - a given on very steep terrain.  Because of this shorting out business the netting requires that you weed whack or mow where you are going to set up the fence so the long grass or brush won't cause the netting to short out.

Then I saw this Gallagher SmartFence on U-tube.  The thing I like about this portable fence is that it is all in one piece.  You unlock it the ratchet mechanism and you feed it out, putting the posts into the ground where desired.  It comes with guy lines for corners.  When you want to move it or take it down you just reel it in with the hand crank than use the crank handle to reel it back in again.  The fence posts hook onto and store on the reel set up.  Hooking it to the charger is the same as any other electric net fence.

The second thing I liked about this fence is that the bottom wire is 7" above the ground allowing you to unroll it without cutting any grass or weeds for clearance.  I am not sure it will keep in the sheep with only 4 horizontal wires, but we only want to confine some of the sheep in a small area so they will completely eat everything for fire clearance.  I was told I would need a 1 Joule charger for the fence to keep in the sheep with this fence because of their insulating wool.  I have Dorpers so they don't carry much wool since they shed.  I could get by with a smaller charger with the netting but again there is the shorting out problem. 

I can put in more permanent fencing but since we want to move in the next couple of years I hate to sped the money on a permanent installation when I can buy a portable electric system and take it with me.  DS1 and DH suggested putting in wooden posts which would be sturdier and attaching the electric fence to those posts, but if I put in wooden posts it would be cheaper to string woven wire on them.  

Anyone out there with steeo terrain and hard soil that has used temporary electric fencing?


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## Xerocles (Apr 17, 2020)

No help from me, but watching this thread with keen interest. Would also like to use portable elec. with hair sheep....but pounding 8' grounding rods (3) into the ground everywhere I want to move it to is lots more daunting than putting the fence up.


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## Ridgetop (Apr 17, 2020)

I understand that if you buy the Pos-Neg netting you won't need the ground rods.  Pos-Neg netting is designed for hot dry areas where there is no soil moisture to carry the return through a ground rod.  I have been interested in trying it again on my place for temp fencing, but DH and DS1 are skeptical so need more info to convince them.

All U-tube videos are on lovely flat green grassy meadows.  Totally unlike the steep, rocky, arid ground I call my pasture.  Hopefully, someone out there will have used it successfully on steep hillsides.


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## Ridgetop (Apr 22, 2020)

I have decided that electric fencing is not the solution for our extremely steep property.  I will revisit it after we make our move to flat land.  I can see that it would be extremely useful there in setting up a lot of small grazing areas.  The work load would increase because we would have to move the sheep more frequently to new grazing cells, but it would keep the grass healthier and cut down on worm infestation.  By planning the grazing enclosures with a central aisle to act as a chute to direct the sheep into the separate pens, moving them could be easier.  Or possibly by having a large gate in each side of the enclosures so you could just drive them from one directly into another in a circular rotation.

Anyone doing that currently?


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