6.5' Tposts - 4' fence hotwire at 5' - opinions please

[greybeard]

Disclaimer: I do not sell or otherwise have any connection to Cyclops, other than having read a lot of great things about them on the cattle boards.

To answer your question:
Depends how each manufacturer defines "mile" I suppose, and how they market things. I view a mile as one conductor, 1 mile in total length. 2 conductors, one mile long each is 2 miles. 3 conductors etc etc.. (but the return path also has to be considered in some fashion, as the shock never occurs until that pulse returns to the negative terminal on the energizer's board)
Each brand seems to have their own way of marketing--some say joules is the best way to compare--others claim joules is a marketing ploy and KVs is all that matters.
I do have a 100 mile EAC100M-Z Zareba that has worked for me for the most part (full size cattle) but it really won't handle any weeds without a great loss of voltage, even tho it says it is rated for wet weed growth, and some of the reviews on it's performance and reliability are dismal..
http://www.tractorsupply.com/tsc/product/zareba-100-mile-ac-low-impedance-fence-charger

I am running 2 strands around ~40 acres with the Zareba and currently getting about 6500V at the furthermost point in very very dry soil and grass conditions.

I don't know about all of them, but I did see last night, that Cyclops has a graphic on one of their webpages indicating they are using 5 conductors, and assuming heavy weed growth on the fence. (lower right--same webpage as I linked before) They are saying 'rule of thumb=1 joule is good for one mile with one strand".

http://www.cyclopsfence.com/hero_ac.htm

Basically, it boils down to "take your pick" based on which advertising line is most convincing, as well as your actual needs without going way overboard.

 

[Bruce]

OK, I see. They are likely the most "honest" in their advertizing given they are using 1 joule per mile per strand of OVERGROWN fence. Worst case scenario. I imagine others are claiming distance based on totally clean fence.

At the moment I'm enclosing 1 acre. There won't be any hotwire on 70' of it, I doubt anything will try to jump up 8' and climb over the barn (peaks at something over 25') to get out so basically 1,000 feet. I'm leaning toward the A/C Hero or Stallion. Both say 1 ground rod which is nice because finding 30 feet to install 3 might be inconvenient. I actually have 3 ground rods that were installed by the previous owner. The are all in a cluster about 3' square. Not exactly "by the book" and they are in the area I enclosed just outside the north end of the barn so the alpacas could come and go at will. I found a sh1tton of rubble he had buried there when I was trying to put in fence posts. Don't know if he did that before or after sticking the ground rods in. And I have NO idea if they are 6' long. Having seen the way that guy did stuff, I wouldn't be surprised to find there are three 2' rods (adds up to 6' right??) because he kept hitting the cr@p he buried.

I read on the Gallagher site about carrying ground wire out along the fence in dry conditions, same info I saw earlier about places where the ground freezes. Sounds like I should to that. So the plan, unless someone tells me it is NOT a good idea, is a single hot at 5' and ground at 4.5'. I suppose I could tap in those extra ground rods out along the fence but I don't know if that would be of any value.

Also, how many people actually build their fences with underground wire at the gates to keep the entire system hot when a gate is opened? I imagine the animals learn to stay back from the fence pretty quickly so having a gate open for a minute or two while you pass through isn't likely a big risk. Obviously this applies only in situations where the gates are made of hotwire or there is wire running above a gate that an animal could jump. If neither of the above is true, I guess one would have to bury a conductor so they wouldn't need a wire crossing the gate.

 

[greybeard]

I do run the high voltage insulated wire underground @ gateways--inside PVC because my cows always want to follow me thru if I'm in my truck or on tractor & I simply hate messing with those springloaded hot wires at the gates and so I don't run a hot wire at the gates--but that's cows--not smaller ruminants. (Cows generally want to go thru a fence--not over it--If I have a jumper, it grows wheels real quick)

I also do not run both a hot and ground wire all around my fences. Just 2 hots and let the earth provide pulse pathway back to the energizer thru the animal's body to soil, but I can see the benefit to that method in smaller ruminants and maybe as predator deterrent..

Good luck

 

[Bruce]

I agree, not having to mess with a removable wire over a gate would be better. It would be nice if someone made a 5' agricultural gate, maybe I just haven't found them. I guess 4' is fine for cattle, not worth much for chickens, larger dogs, etc. Maybe I'll need to buy 4' gates and fix pieces of cattle panels to them to make them taller. Kinda cheesy though.

 

[farmerjan]

Find a company that caters to exotics like deer and you should find gates of different heights; mainly 8 - 12 ft but a friend that used to raise both fallow deer and some exotic sheep, like true mouflons, had 6 ft fence around the sheep enclosures and it seemed to me the gates were the same height. He's been gone for nearly 20 years and no one in the family left to talk to, but it would seem that some internet searching would find something. You can't even get a liscense in Va to run fallow deer anymore..... or try asking at a zoo or a wild animal park if there are any around. They would have a handle on where to get supplies like that....And they might have some old ones that they have replaced that would serve your purposes with a new coat of paint that would not be safe in a commercial operation that is open to the public and up for inspection all the time.
That's another reason we run llamas and donkeys with the sheep we have instead of dogs. I farm sat for a guy that had 2 dogs and they were constantly getting out and would go under or make a way through anything. Got tiresome and the neighbors were pretty sick of it.
Chickens will go over anything they can FLY UP TO. The trick with them is to not have anything solid on the top that they can get their feet on as a temp perch as they go over. Most chickens can go through the squares in a cattle panel or normal field fence.

 

[greybeard]

I agree, not having to mess with a removable wire over a gate would be better. It would be nice if someone made a 5' agricultural gate, maybe I just haven't found them. I guess 4' is fine for cattle, not worth much for chickens, larger dogs, etc. Maybe I'll need to buy 4' gates and fix pieces of cattle panels to them to make them taller. Kinda cheesy though.

I made one from a corral panel .
Keep your eyes open for used 6' corral panels or if it's really important, spend the $ for a new one. They generally have 8" of 'u' or 'j' legs under them. Cut those off,which leaves over 5' of usable gate .

Go to your local farm supply and get 2 of these:

Instant 5 ft+ gate that will outlast any tube gate. Be aware tho, that a 8' 10' -12'-14' corral panel is a true dimension, where as a regular tube gate measures 3" less than stated length. Set your posts accordingly or allow for the gate to swing in only one direction, while closing against the latch post--not swing thru the opening.
I did one this way, in a place I had room only for 7' of gate. I just whacked the legs off, and shortened the length of on an old 10' panel.
Hog ring some small opening field fence wire to the gate to make it chicken and predator proof.

 

[Bruce]

Thanks @greybeard ! I see TSC has a blue economy version 12' wide for $80 (they also have a red one with the same description for more than 2X the price???). Just so happens I plan on three 12' gates on my fencing project. I know I should put in more but no time for all those properly braced posts to hang them on.

So the 5' height is from the bottom of the bottom tube to the top of the top tube and the U legs are extra height? One reviewer said they were taller than expected - 62". Seems like that would be with the legs. It has fittings on the ends to connect them together, probably have to cut those off as well the hang the gate.

http://www.tractorsupply.com/tsc/product/economy-corral-panel-12-ft-w-x-5-ft-h-3603920

 

[greybeard]

Thanks @greybeard ! I see TSC has a blue economy version 12' wide for $80 (they also have a red one with the same description for more than 2X the price???). Just so happens I plan on three 12' gates on my fencing project. I know I should put in more but no time for all those properly braced posts to hang them on.

So the 5' height is from the bottom of the bottom tube to the top of the top tube and the U legs are extra height? One reviewer said they were taller than expected - 62". Seems like that would be with the legs. It has fittings on the ends to connect them together, probably have to cut those off as well the hang the gate.

http://www.tractorsupply.com/tsc/product/economy-corral-panel-12-ft-w-x-5-ft-h-3603920

yep. The advertised height includes the legs. It's why I said to look for a 6' panel . Once ya cut the legs off, you have approx a 5 foot tall gate--maybe a little taller, depending how the particular manufacturer designed the leg.
All mine are Prefeirt or Tuffmac and are 72" from ground to top tube--that includes the leg.
https://www.priefert.com/products/6-foot-tall-panels-and-gates/6-foot-tall-premier-panels
(specs are at bottom)

I don't know if TSC carries a 6' panel or not.


I'll try to get a picture of the one I did tomorrow.

 

[Bruce]

I didn't see anything but 5' panels on their site. Hmmm, I have to "fill in" so the chickens don't go through anyway. Maybe a stacked layer of 2x4 fencing that covers the legs so I still have 5'? Two need that "feature", the other is just to keep the alpacas from coming up between the barns. So, I guess at the moment I only need two 5' high gates. Maybe I should use field or sheep and goat fence instead (at least the bottom layer) since it is much stiffer than the 2x4 fencing I have, those 2 also need to keep a dog on the proper side, can't have him going under.

 

[greybeard]

I forgot the reason I used this panel--it had one of the j legs and the bottom tube rusted in two, so I cut the bottom tube off as well. As hanging, originally a 12' x 72" tall panel (including j legs) it now measures 56 inches bottom tube to top tube. It's only purpose is to allow cattle to move into the area behind the gate without having to walk all the way down the fence in background to a 12' gate.