Stacykins
Overrun with beasties
- Joined
- Oct 7, 2011
- Messages
- 476
- Reaction score
- 8
- Points
- 76
Let me start off by saying I am not very savvy about farm stuff like building a fence, yet. While I am going to build permanent fencing when the weather warms, I wanted a fence solution that could work now. I started researching about the Gallagher Smartfence and comparing it with electric netting. I decided to go with the smartfence for several reasons. One, no constant shorting out if the grass is more than a millimeter high (exaggeration 
). Cost per foot of fence is less. And also apparent ease of use. Here is a short video of it in action .
So I sank the grounding rods in the frozen earth using a manual post driver. Quite a workout! The Patriot Solar charger had kick to it after sunning for a few days.
Sinking the fence was incredibly easy. Where each post went, a hole was started with a screwdriver and rubber mallet, just to make them go in the earth deeper and steadier. Once started the entire thing was put together in about twenty minutes. The reel rod kept nice tension on the fence after it was locked in place.
The real test came when I hooked up the solar charger. Would it work? There were no contacts with any ground, all was perfect and secure. I hooked the ground connector to the grounding rod, the fence connector to the fence, and whipped out my fence tester. With the charger turned on, the fence was hot! Each stand was good! And because I can be kinda well, me, I touched the fence with the back of my hand. KA-POW! That was some serious kick! No shorts in the fence, just a flawless victory!
Pros:
Ease of setup - fairly foolproof
Doesn't require rigid grass control
Portability (can move to where I want goats to 'weed whack' )
Lightweight - someone with lifting issues would not have a problem
Cons:
I wish the posts had two pronged spikes rather than single spikes, for added support
Could be taller
Highish cost? (people with more fence price experience can probably determine that)
). Cost per foot of fence is less. And also apparent ease of use. Here is a short video of it in action . So I sank the grounding rods in the frozen earth using a manual post driver. Quite a workout! The Patriot Solar charger had kick to it after sunning for a few days.
Sinking the fence was incredibly easy. Where each post went, a hole was started with a screwdriver and rubber mallet, just to make them go in the earth deeper and steadier. Once started the entire thing was put together in about twenty minutes. The reel rod kept nice tension on the fence after it was locked in place.
The real test came when I hooked up the solar charger. Would it work? There were no contacts with any ground, all was perfect and secure. I hooked the ground connector to the grounding rod, the fence connector to the fence, and whipped out my fence tester. With the charger turned on, the fence was hot! Each stand was good! And because I can be kinda well, me, I touched the fence with the back of my hand. KA-POW! That was some serious kick! No shorts in the fence, just a flawless victory!
Pros:
Ease of setup - fairly foolproof
Doesn't require rigid grass control
Portability (can move to where I want goats to 'weed whack' )
Lightweight - someone with lifting issues would not have a problem
Cons:
I wish the posts had two pronged spikes rather than single spikes, for added support
Could be taller
Highish cost? (people with more fence price experience can probably determine that)
