Solar Electric Fence

[Mike in Pa]

Anyone ever use one? Drawbacks? Good models? Effective?

I'm looking on ebay now for my pigs. Some say joules are important, some say not at all. Not sure how to judge them. Looking at a 6 volt model now. Only need about 100' of total fence.

[uncle Will in In.]

100 feet of hog panels wouldn't cost much more than a solar charger and be much more secure.

[BackwoodsIdaho]

I run solar fence chargers on two pastures. I use the Gallagher chargers and they work very well. The joules are important because the higher the joules the farther the charger and power the fence and still give a good jolt to the animal. Not sure how well pigs do with electric fence but I imagine pretty well given they don't have a lot of body hair. Sheep are another issue - sheep almost have to be dripping wet to shock them. The horses stay away from the fence for sure. If you are in dry ground, be sure to drive a couple extra ground rods to make sure you get a good solid base for the negative side of the charger. That makes the fence jolt stronger when the animal completes the circuit!

[BJ]

Around here....people like to steal the solar chargers..so be sure to put it where it is not easily seen from the road.

[kjerckie]

I got a Gallagher solar fence charger on E-bay. Works great unless you've had several days of gray (like we never get those here in WA). So after my bull got out and visited the neighbors yard, I'll pen him up in the corral and turn off the charger for two days and let the battery charge back up. I think that's how it works. Anyway, I'm doing this every weekend during the winter. I also replaced the pretty white hot rope with high tensile hot wire. I'm wondering if the winter hair prevents a good contact.

[rambler]

Originally Posted by Mike in Pa

Anyone ever use one? Drawbacks? Good models? Effective?

I'm looking on ebay now for my pigs. Some say joules are important, some say not at all. Not sure how to judge them. Looking at a 6 volt model now. Only need about 100' of total fence.

Joules are important. Solar is generally low imp. shockers. The more joules, the stronger the fencer. Don't even bother looking at the 'miles of wire' rating from the manufaturters, this is a made-up marketing number. Joules is the way to compare, more is better.

A 12v setup might be easier to find replacement batteries locally, charge up with your auto trickle charger during no sun, etc. Depends on your situation tho.

How much sun do you get? Here in Minnesota in winter the sun is very low and it's cloudy a lot & it is so cold a battery doesn't have full power, so it's hard for them to keep up sometimes.

Electric will work with hogs, but as someone else said for a total of 100 feet you would need 10 hog pannels, $130 or so - hard to justify the electric setup when you really need some hog wire along with an electric wire anyhow...... At least, you should do fine with a small fencer on siuch a short fence. Generally you need a barrier for hogs (pannels or hog wire) and then the electric is a good way to keep them from working over the barrier. Only one or the other and they will try to figure out a way around, over, or under it....

--->Paul

[mightybooboo]

I used one to keep my dogs in on an acre in the desert.Worked super.Had 3 foot chainlink,and a hot line at the bottom.One zap they had no further interest in even getting near the fence.

BooBoo

[Mike in Pa]

I was hoping to get one to prevent digging under the fence. I can't find "hog panels" anywhere either. I figured I'd just get welded wire and 4x4's.

[katlupe]

We use a solar fence charger for our horses who are quite lively. We have had it for over 5 years and have never had to change the battery. It has always worked and it does give you a jolt if you touch it. Even when our sun is low for a few weeks (common around here) it usually still works - just not as strong as a jolt. Course, once the horse gets zapped they don't care to test it. Once, we had a little goat who got zapped and then he tried to butt it!!

[rambler]

Originally Posted by Mike in Pa

I was hoping to get one to prevent digging under the fence. I can't find "hog panels" anywhere either. I figured I'd just get welded wire and 4x4's.

That should be a good combination. The fence is there as a visible barrier & keeps them in if the power gores out. The electric wire keeps them from playing with the fence.

--->Paul