With all of the snow and ice we have had this winter I thought it would be a good idea if I gave an update on how our Powerflex fence has been holding up and performing this winter. This past summer we installed a six wire hi-tensile fence along the road (two sides of our property) and then a three wire fence along the woods. We used the Powerflex posts and plenty of wire. As I was going through the building process I had a few neighbors drive by and discuss problems that I would most likely face this winter ... our fence is one area were the problems have been small.Right now we are running about 5.5 to 6 kV at the fencer and maybe a bit less at distant parts of the fence. In the summer we were running around or above 10 kV. I will take the blame for the lower readings right now, because I still have some temporary fence out there that is buried in the snow and probably not helping matters at all! But, even with the lower voltage we have not had anybody test the wire or cause any real problems. In fact I know that it still packs a bit of a punch ... personal experience.
We are not charging the lower wires right now, but there are spots were we have snow drifts three or four wires high. Again, I'm sure that is drawing it down a bit, but it hasn't been a problem. Another thing I've noticed is that the animals respect the wire ... even with the lower charge. Our pigs were contained on one side of their pen by a single polywire about six inches off the ground. That wire was long ago buried, but still they walk along the edge of where it used to be visible. They respect the shock I guess!
All in all this first winter with the Powerflex posts and hi-tensile wire has been great! No real problems to speak of and as long as I remember to plug the extension cord back in after taking the tractor out of the shed (good ol' temporary electricity) we are good to go. Of course I can't wait until spring when it's tall grass shorting out our fence ...
2 comments:
I started adding a high-tensile wire around the perimeter fences this summer and now I wish I had been exposed to it sooner. There is something satisfying about pulling a high-tensile wire down a fence line compared to dragging a spool of barbed wire.
It seems to me that even if the fence wasn't charged, a high-tensile fence with something like four wires would still hold cattle in an area.
If I ever replace the existing fences, I think I would build something similar to your fence, Powerflex posts about 12 paces apart (instead of T-posts 4 paces apart) and about 4 high-tensile wires.
I love my electric fences. All my animals respect it...even when the wires have no voltage. Much safer than barbed wire; if you ask me.
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