Electric fence energizer, advertised mileage vs what I need

[Myta]

So I’m about to close on my first property. It is currently perimeter fenced but there is no livestock on 3 sides (ie beautiful lush grass) and other horses on the 4th side, my horses will very much need to be told to back off of those fences. I’m planning to run electric tape across the top of the perimeter fence and eventually cross fence it as well. Google Earth and I have been measuring fence lines and I’m up to 2.5 miles with all of the eventual things I’d like to add. In my searching on electric fencing I’ve seen one site that recommended getting an energizer rated for 10x the distance you actually need and others more reasonably recommend 3x the “max distance” that the manufacturers list the energizer for. What has been your experience, any other reputable sources that have posted statistics? I’m planning to get an AC fencer that plugs in and am leaning towards Speedrite, but I could be swayed by another reputable energizer (any you absolutely loved or hated?). As much as a part of me says oh, just go with the higher one, there is a noticeable price difference in the 1000, 2000, and 3000 models, and the fencing is going to be an expensive start up cost to begin with. I don’t want to be replacing it next year because it’s not up to snuff, but I also don’t want to drop an extra $150 I could have put elsewhere for something I don’t need.

Also, does tape width affect the distance it calculates for? I was thinking of using the 1.5" tape along the top and 1/2" tape for the lower strands on the cross fencing.

*I’m in a wet location with lots of rainfall and humidity. Trees are well cleared off of the fence lines, lower strand will be more than a foot off of the ground so grass interference should be minimal.

[NancyM]

Do you have deer at this location? If so… deer take down electric fencing often. They either run into it at speed, or jump it and miscalculate. Or, if you are using it as a “double fence”, they will jump the other fence and land IN your fence. And the whole thing goes down. Constantly.

I’ve had the best luck with locating the electric wire just below the top wire of the existing fence, hoping that that wire is on the FAR side of the line of posts from my field. That way, when a deer jumps the fence, it does not as often catch my electric wire, but the wire is still available to back my horses off the fence on my side. We only use the one wire, set just below the top of the fence. Have used tape, and don’t like it. No longer use it here. The tape will move in the wind, and the tiny metal wires in the tape work back and forth, until they break. The tape still looks fine, but no longer carries a charge. Since the wires are so tiny, you can’t see where this has happened (it happens ALL OVER the length of the tape), so you have to replace it ALL when it no longer carries a charge. Use solid wire, aluminum or steel… both are good. Once horses hit them once, they see the wire just fine, especially if it is in conjunction with a fence line. That way, you only need the one wire, and no new posts. Use the existing posts, and just electrify YOUR side of it, at nose level.

As for the size/power of the box, we use solar boxes. Not as long a line as you have, but they work well for us. Know that if you are using auto waterers near an electric fence, the waterer can carry a charge in the water, horses get shocked when they try to drink. Locate your box well away from metal auto waterers. Keep energized wires well away from water sources. An electrician friend of mine couldn’t believe that this was happening, but it was. Especially with “plug in” boxes (as opposed to solar boxes).

Again, these electric wires need to be checked often for breakage. If you are using wire, it’s easy to find a break, it’s obvious. Can easily be reattached, or a new piece spliced in. Tape… not so much, as the tape is still there, it’s just the charge that’s gone. Tape is useful if there is no permanent fence as a visual. But if that’s the case, run the tape in conjunction with a wire, run them together, through the same insulator… so even if the tape isn’t working any more, the wire will still carry a jolt on either the wire itself, or the tape that it “re-energizes” over distance. The tape they can easily see, the wire carries the jolt.

With horses on the far side of the fourth part of the perimeter, that fence should probably be double fenced with a “real” fence", with a “no man’s land” between the fences. Otherwise, you will have problems.

Buy a fence tester… they are cheap. Mine’s lost right now, and I’m missing it. You just stick the probe into the ground, and hang the hook on the wire that is “supposed” to be hot. If it’s working, you see the spark in the viewing chamber. If not, your fence is dead, and you have to go searching for the problem.

[StormyDay]

First you need to decide if you need a solar one or you can plug it in. If you can plug it in, go big; even a 50 mile one is going to only be around $150. If it’s solar, well, they are expensive, but go as big as you can afford. You also need to pay attention to the joules. That’s how hot that shock is going to be. Horses are pretty sensitive, so you can usually get away with less joules than with cattle. I think mine is .4 for about 2 miles of fence; my horses respect it but my draft did not.

I do not think the tape has anything to do with how well the electricity will carry. With electricity you are fighting two things; one is loss of electricity to the surrounding air, and the other is loss of electricity everywhere it touches an object. Even the plastic holders for the line conduct some electricity. The difference between a 1/2 tape or 1 inch tape is probably very, very small.
I will say, if you live somewhere very windy, you might want to do all 1/2 inch so it doesn’t catch the wind. If you have average wind the 1.5 does fine.

[Foxglove]

I have fat, lazy, old geldings in a divided 20 acre pasture and use electric on the inside of the fence and encourage my neighbors to do the same (some do, some don’t). With the insulated extender, I have almost 3’ between my horses and my neighbors’ horses. I run a fence charger rated for 10 miles and mine is probably a bit more than that --never had a problem --except the time the Amish neighbor “accidentally” hooked his fence to mine --I dropped by and explained that he couldn’t do that because I couldn’t walk on his property to find a short. He fixed the fence and bought his own charger (solar). This is what I use inside all of my fence —below the top about 6" to avoid the deer.

[NancyM]

If you use multiple solar boxes instead of one plug in box, you don’t need to worry about the length of the fence, or the availability of your power source, Also, if one part of the fence gets shorted out (from deer or ?) the other parts with the other boxes powering them will still be working. That’s the nice thing about the solar boxes, they can go anywhere that there is sun. And yes, they work at night too. They just charge during the daytime. Our solar boxes are now 15 years old, and are working just fine, no problems.

[Myta]

I am getting an AC energizer, so plug in. From what I’m looking at, even the 30 mile energizer is $300. I don’t really have deer in my area, and with 5 acres, there really won’t be any once my horses move in. I have one draft who is notorious for trying to eat over a fence, and one younger large pony who is just a crafty little monster. She’s been shocked, she knows the fence shocks her, but she also will see a gap she thinks she can rush through and take the shock in exchange for the good grazing. They are currently boarded at a barn with 4 strands of hot fence and both mares respect it well (technically only 3 are hot). But the younger one will test the fence. My third horse is a complete coward, he has been shocked twice and he’ll never touch another white string for the rest of his life.

What brands have you guys been using? I was surprised to see that the one at my current barn is a Patriot. It always seems to be the cheapest brand, stocked in store at all the feed stores, I would have expected it to be a poor quality one in terms of actual charge and longevity, but she’s had it for quite some time and has never had a problem with it (that said, I know it’s a 50 mile charger and she doesn’t know how many miles of fence she has).

[4horses]

What hurts your fencing charge is any breaks or splices in the wire. If you run one continuous wire on top of existing fencing it should conduct really well. If you reroute the fence around gates or have to cut and splice the wire then you are reducing the shock.

Make sure to add enough grounds to the charger. Grounding is really important. Even if the soil is mostly wet. If you have any dry weather the charge on your fence will go way down unless you have enough grounds.

[OzarksRider]

@Myta

I’m planning to get an AC fencer that plugs in and am leaning towards Speedrite,

I fenced about 2 acres with 4 strands of coated high tensile wire and I have a Speedrite 3000 energizer. This setup does an excellent job keeping cows and horses where they belong.

@NancyM

deer take down electric fencing often.

We have a lot of deer in our fields and we’ve never had deer take down the electric fence. Usually they just jump over the fence, although a deer got tangled up in a wire once but only stretched it. It took less than a minute to re-tension the wire and it was good as new. On the other hand, deer frequently break wires on our barb wire fences.

@NancyM

if you are using it as a “double fence”, they will jump the other fence and land IN your fence.

Deer have poor depth perception, so they can’t judge the distance between the fences very well. I knew one guy who used a double fence to keep deer out of his garden.

[poltroon]

Premier1 has some really great guides around fence energizers and electric fencing with a lot of kind of technical expertise and answers to questions you didn’t know that you had.

https://www.premier1supplies.com/a/electric-fence-energizers-basics

If your fence might be touching wet vegetation ever, you will want a more powerful energizer. If your soil is dry you need more grounds. As they say, the length of the fence isn’t actually that important - what’s important is how many shorts to ground you have.

They also have great advice around the different species you may want to be keeping in or out.

Get a fence tester, yes it will save you a lot of puzzlement. Or shocks if the only way you can test is to touch it yourself.

[OzarksRider]

@poltroon

Get a fence tester, yes it will save you a lot of puzzlement. Or shocks if the only way you can test is to touch it yourself

I test my fence with a long blade of grass. Grasp a fairly long (6-8 inches) blade of grass between your thumb and forefinger. Touch the tip of the grass to the wire and slowly slide the end you’re holding toward the wire until you feel a slight tingle.

[Myta]

@poltroon

Get a fence tester, yes it will save you a lot of puzzlement. Or shocks if the only way you can test is to touch it yourself.

Oh absolutely. Those testers are so cheap and give you actual, numerical data as you go down the fence line. Having accidentally hit a 2 Joule horse fence in the past year with one hand solidly on the ground, yowch, never again, took days for my arm to feel normal again.

[mestle]

I have used this AC fencer both ad scare wire around perimeters and for dividing pastures for rotation. https://www.valleyvet.com/ct_detail.html?pgguid=BF3C1D7D-C143-497D-8590-816EA167C797

Parmak SE 5

I use premier1 endurasoft rope and have about 8 acres of not at all clean fence running off this charger. Puts out 15,000 volts max and mt fence usually has between 5000 and 8000 anywhere I test. It’s a convincing jolt.
Parmak also repairs and their warranty and customer service is excellent.