When we built our pasture fence we did so many things like the stupid city people our (mean) neighbors call us. We made mistakes like missing corner sets, no tools (standing on a ladder to pound in every single 2 meter T post with a rubber hammer) and gate grips that rusted immediately.
We've been slowly correcting our mistakes, especially since we added on 72. 72 was done right, I tell you what: )
A mistake I've been ashamed of was being suckered into buying crap electric wire (rope) that boasted being the best, and had the highest price to match. I believe in getting what you pay for so I invested in 500 meters of this fancy wire.
After 5 years of escalating fence failure, I finally admitted I was suckered.
Our fence went from a remarkable 10,000 volts (according to the experts on Jurassic Park, this is what dinosaurs require).....to an abysmal 4K volts in 2020.
I walked the fenceline, cutting blackberries but found nothing.
I asked J for help and he, being a physics teacher, had some ideas that would help. We committed to pursuing this as soon as the government schmucks were gone, and we'd repaired their massacre of our fence. It was worse than I realized, they'd ripped out many posts, including our corner set, and put them back haphazardly. We had to re-rip them out, and put them back properly. Also, they'd taken wire cutters to our GOOD wire, splitting the middle and lower wires: ((( I think I told the story already of when I confronted the foreman "I offered to help take down the fence but instead you decided to cut through it twice?!" He was sheepish.
I'm always impressed by my husband's creed of doing it right or not doing anything at all. It took way longer than my slipshod method would have, but it was great when finished.
Before our ponds were removed (returned to creeks) we had to remove a long stretch of fenceline. After a little stress we agreed to where our permanent perimeter fence will now be, and we made it so.
Two days ago our animals were able to finally go down to the creek-side part of our pasture and they were delighted. More kicking up of heels I've rarey seen.
After 3 months of not turning on our electric fence, I did. And still it showed 3-4K volts *sigh*
What was wrong?
J said we should buy 2 rolls of 500 meters of new wire. He felt that where the government dudes cut two lower lines of our fence, we should replace the lines entirely.
I admitted it was probably my fault. I'd bought crap wire and it was disintegrating. J agreed when he inspected that one fancy wire up close, finding several wounds in the wire.
I told him, "I'm taking the top wire out. At least, as much of it as I can replace with whatever good, but old wire I have from 10 years ago, in storage."
Funny how old doesn't mean bad, in this case.
I was able to find about 150 meters of it and happily started unrolling it along the fenceline. Then it got complicated cuz my animals were right there the whole time, hoping that I'd open up some new non-existent pasture for them to frolic in. See, everytime we do anything with the fence, they get all excited that they might get more grass or something, despite it being Winter and they've got the entirety of our pasture.
I put up that wire and ripped down the fancy stuff, cutting it up into useless pieces to go into the recycling.
It was almost dark when I was done. I asked J to join me for the moment of truth.
"Moment of truth?" he asked. I said, "I can't take it. You flip it on."
He did and I cringed.
Our fence charger was nearly silent. All the right lights were blinking, and all the wrong lights were not. The charger chirped quietly, as it hasn't for years. The happy chirp meaning everything's working fine.
We went around with the fence tester and I got between 8 and 10 thousand volts *everywhere*!
I am the fence master! And J too, we both are: ) Lessons learned, and hopefully well shared.
.JPG)
18 comments:
All plastic disintegrates in sunlight, even the "good" stuff. I admit that my pasture electric is mostly dead now, except for the bit nearest the barn that protects the garden from Leaning Dragons! We installed wire mesh on the perimeter years ago, to keep the goats confined...a big expense, but worthwhile.
I *did* tell you about t-post pounders and pullers, you know >g<
Aarene, I just read J your comment and we both nodded solemnly *lol* Yes, yes, she did tell us about the right tools, and we ignored her!
Um, but after 10 years the good stuff is still in perfect shape wherever we did not attach a rusty connector. Without rust, it is conducting 10K volts after 10 years. However it has turned deep green from algae
We're in the process of ordering our first ever horse mesh, just along the street of 72. It's been a real chore to get it installed.
Horse property maintenance is such a chore! We have pipe and wooden fences at our barn, and the wooden fences really get chewed up to bits. As for the pipe fences, well they arent perfect either.
Ah, electric fencing is a challenge sometimes! Mine was showing a really low voltage, so after checking everything else, I realized it was the grounding rods! I had to dig up the tops of those (buried about 8" down) and re-do the wiring from the fence to the grounding rods. Once we reconnected everything, I was back up to a higher voltage. I cheered. Lol It is the little victories like this that keep us going!
I've spent some time checking electric charges going through fences. It can be a real struggle to identify the culprit.
Which wire did you use? As in, which works now? My voltage is way down :(
When we first bought our 10 acre property we perimeter fenced it with wood PT posts and 5' horse mesh. What a job! But totally worth it. All of our cross fence is 1.5" hot tape. I'm constantly battling voltage drops. I like the broad tape for visibility but it sags terribly in the snow! Electric fence does the job like nothing else but it's a pain in the rear :)
ND, no more wood, we both swear. We're looking into composite (?) posts which look like wood but are made of a blend of plastics so they last forever, supposedly. Pipe worries me, I've heard of so many injuries. Then again Mag wrapped himself around a T post and got a new scar.
Laura, we dug up our grounding rods too, while troubleshooting. Not a nice task.
Teresa, thank God we only have 6 acres.
Becky, it probably won't help you cuz it's a German product buy maybe you can find something similar: https://tinyurl.com/y3s4vh6f Scroll down to "star line" - it's 6mm wide. It's not even the most expensive wire they sell, but after 11 years it's holding up great, even green with moss.
Shaste, even my 6 mm rope sags in wet snow, so I can imagine how much worse tape would.
Remember that ALL plastic degrades in light. The thing to find out about these composite posts you are considering: *how* do they degrade, and *how fast*? Avoid plastic that falls apart in sharp splinters or becomes very brittle and snaps into pointy spikes.
We have creosote-treated railroad ties on the corner posts, which are probably illegal in Germany but they will out-live me. And capped t-posts, I'm gonna hafta replace all those caps soon, but they've done pretty well here.
That is awesome that you solved and fixed this yourself! We've given up on electric at the stable, and there is only one horse who tests fences, he now lives in a smaller pasture that is more secure.
We had trees constantly growing, and when the fence was off (by someone leaving a gate unhooked, Major thought it great fun to remove the insulators and wire caps from the tops of t-posts! I had to glue them on with epoxy.
I admit I did not help much when my SO put in the 10 foot t-posts, from a ladder with a t-post pounder, on our own property. We did it to keep the deer out, and it's worked!
Ellie, thank you for asking! I have been in a slump, completely uninspired to do anything with Mag besides dote on him every day. Therefore I feel I have nothing to blog about, cuz I'm not actually riding. Aarene emailed me the same question and I told her how trapped I feel by being forced to take him into traffic every time I leave the property, and facing the variety of trail users once I make it to the trail. It helped when I had someone to ride with, however ill she was. WIth no one, I just look out my window at people riding by, several per day, and wonder what I could have done differently.
You know the entire story. I've told it from day one here. It's all good when you have your heart horse to ride out from your dream farm. But when he dies, you might be alone.
Thank you, I am sorry to hear you are in a slump. I know how that feels. Some days I am in my bed clothes all day and barely get my face washed. It is so hard living alone, getting older and facing it alone. I hate to start feeling sorry for myself but that is what happens when I let myself think to much. Sorry I wanted to try to make you feel better but I probably just puled you down more. I hope your days get better, enjoy your life, it moves pretty fast.
Hang in there, I'm glad you are ok albeit in a slump. Hope you can get back to riding soon. Take care, and be happy.
Ellie, I admit I wear my comfy clothes(sweat pants oversized tshirt) all day, most days, cuz I have no job and no church. I'm sorry you are alone. I want you to get on a plane and come here and we'll host you for free, and we can wear our bed clothes to the grocery store together although that is highly forbidden in Germany. You've been here so long. If you cannot come here, in 2021 we'll come to you. We plan on 3 months in America and taking up with anyone who will offer us a bed. Let us do the same for you if we can.
Kbryan, *hug* happy, we are. We laugh more than any of our neighbors. I worry we laugh too much, making them think we're nuts! And there is an excessive amount of bouncy piano music coming from our windows and through our walls cuz my husband expresses his happiness on the piano, and I have to plug my ears or I'll be even more deaf than I am.
Kbryan, we have to meet up too in 2021. Somehow we'll make it work.
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