Electric Fence Q's - Battery or Mains

DAC

In your opinion what is the most popular brand of electric fence i.e Cheeta/ Gallagher/ Forcefield & are battery operated more popular than mains?

irish_bob

DAC wrote: »

In your opinion what is the most popular brand of electric fence i.e Cheeta/ Gallagher/ Forcefield & are battery operated more popular than mains?

plenty of brands to choose from , cheetah , elephant to name a few but thier is no comparrison between a mains fence and a battery , a mains is far far stronger and more effective not to mention cheaper in the long run , no battery fence will come close to putting out the voltage a mains one can

pakalasa

Dac,

If you decide to go down the battery route I would recommend one that you can work off an old weakened tractor 12V battery.
I have one. It saves on having to keep buying batteries.
I just charge the battery, off the mains every few weeks.
Remember though to keep it well back from the cattle, lead-poisoning and all that. Heard of one horror story where an old battery ended up in the silage pit via a forage harvester....killed a lot of cattle

kfk

Mains fence is the way to go IMO. I think that bushes and vegetation tipping off the fence will affect the battery ones a lot more.

Woodywonder

im looking for similar advice here on electric fences. Whats the most powerful /best make and model for carrying the voltage over long distances.?? I was looking for one that would burn off grass or vegetation that would grown up around it, as ive heard the best , most powerful ones do this.

Sam Kade

A mains fencer doesn't use electricity; some say that it turns the meter back. I had a farm rented a few years ago and the only electric usage was the electric fence, the meter reader gave up coming after a while apart from yearly visits, as there was no usage on the meter.

leex

Sam Kade wrote: »

A mains fencer doesn't use electricity; some say that it turns the meter back. I had a farm rented a few years ago and the only electric usage was the electric fence, the meter reader gave up coming after a while apart from yearly visits, as there was no usage on the meter.

Interesting - so it's only a continuation so of the existing mains circuit?

KerranJast

leex wrote: »

Interesting - so it's only a continuation so of the existing mains circuit?

A fence is usually open circuit so the only time power is drawn from the mains/battery is when the circuit is grounded i.e. the fence is triggered by an animal/human/alien etc.

Rowley Birkin QC

KerranJast wrote: »

There's zero resistance in a fence which is effectively just a wire so the only time power is draw from the mains/battery is when there is resistance i.e. the fence is triggered by an animal/human/alien etc.

Never knew that. Makes a lot of sense when you think about it though and explains why I used to be dispatched with the slasher around the boundarys at least twice a year!

Min

I use both.

Both work fine, obviously the mains is the best for a permanent fence while the battery fencer is handy for strip grazing where there is no mains coverage.

itsallaboutheL

Just my 2c

On mains v. battery...

I have done a fair share of FRS Dairy work, and as such have used every unit under the sun. IMHO the Battery operated aren't even worth turning on, unless you've got a quiet Dairy herd. No use at all with calves, and i've seen Beef cattle take no notice of them either.

Now if your headlands are tidy and it's a small circuit then you could get away with it (on off farm/ rented land etc) otherwise a Cheetah Mains system is the biz as far as i'm concerned

curious guy

we have an elephant one with years would still lift ya out of it Just slightly off topic put does anyone have any clever ways of keepin the vegetation off the fence ? the slasher is a bit time consuming

itsallaboutheL

curious guy wrote: »

we have an elephant one with years would still lift ya out of it Just slightly off topic put does anyone have any clever ways of keepin the vegetation off the fence ? the slasher is a bit time consuming

Strimmer!!
Hedge Trimmer
Quad mounted sprayer

bbam

tommym037 wrote: »

How about wiring the mains directly to the fence?. Use a 1ohm resistor with a high Wattage to avoid a short. 240 x 240 =57 KWatts approx.

As your fence "load" will be drawing about 240 amps, you can expect the fence to heat up slightly.

If an animal or human attempts to climb the fence, they may think again after an encounter with this fence.

This is crazy talk...:eek:

blue5000

I use an offset mounted votex topper for cutting under electric fences, I break an odd stake now and then though.

kgpixels

In time to come you might not have to worry about either. I heard a rumor this wk that eventually these types of fences will be banned.
Has anyone else heard this?

itsallaboutheL

kgpixels wrote: »

In time to come you might not have to worry about either. I heard a rumor this wk that eventually these types of fences will be banned.
Has anyone else heard this?

What would you propose instead!!!

Sam Kade

kgpixels wrote: »

In time to come you might not have to worry about either. I heard a rumor this wk that eventually these types of fences will be banned.
Has anyone else heard this?

And what might be the reason for banning them? You would have some fun containing suckler herds without an electric fence.

bbam

Ahh yes...
There's always a do-gooder stuck in an office somewhere that thinks this type of thing is "shocking" :P

kgpixels

Like I say, it was just something I heard. That doesn't mean I agree with it, does it?!!
My father who has been farming for 50yrs mentioned it actually. Not sure who he heard it from, but he is usually in the know