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Thread: Electric fence (solar powered)

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    Default Electric fence (solar powered)

    We are getting ready to expand the garden and with the deer population around here under limited control, a garden of any substance without a fence is doomed. I’ve been looking at a solar powered energizer from Gallagher and plan to construct a fence in accordance with details provided by NCAT (see below). Any real world experiences from the brain trust here? Thanks

    https://www.ncat.org/electric-deer-f...and-resources/

    https://gallagherelectricfencing.com...red-energizers
    rw saunders
    hey, how lucky can one man get.

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    Default Re: Electric fence (solar powered)

    I haven’t seen anything under 8’ that can keep deer out. Doesn’t have to be electrified. Just has to be tall and properly tensioned so they bounce off of it.

    In Amagansett, a company came out and installed this tensioned cable net fence that had a black coating of some sort on it. They ran it inside the 8’ tall privet hedge all the way around the property boundary. Combination - black coating + in the hedge - meant that it was practically invisible.

    Our friends in Round Top on the other side of the Hudson from us have a 10’ fence made of the same material around their vegetable garden. It isn’t chain link. Like 4”x 4” wire cable net. They don’t have a hedge but it doesn’t look horrible. Before the fence, they gave up on planting anything. Now they still shoot a woodchuck periodically, which they don’t like to do except that one woodchuck can eat an entire garden down to the ground.

    The other night I went to the garage to get a wrench and walking back with the flashlight on I counted 35 pairs of eyes gleaming back at me from the woods. Without a fence the only thing that keeps them off the bushes and saplings is persistent spraying with repellent made from rotten eggs. Liquid Fence Deer & Rabbit. I sprayed 5-6 times this winter and still had a buck debark several dogwood saplings with his antlers during rut.

    I’m thinking a sled dog team of coyotes pulling a mounted anti-aircraft gun would be ideal.

    That movie Bambi is a lie. Deer are assholes.

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    Default Re: Electric fence (solar powered)

    I have no experience with wild deer exclusion fencing, some experience with farmed deer inclusion and plenty of experience with electric fencing.

    I have to agree with Bjorn above, an adult doe / hind can clear up to 8 feet without too much fuss and I've seen panicked deer crash their way over a 9'6" top rail and electric wire without thinking again. All of my farmed deer experience has involved pre-milled wire mesh fencing which is strained up using a huge wooden clamp and a tractor around a 10-12 treated pine post buried 4'6" in the ground ie) it's super heavy duty stuff both physically and economically. We used a high tensile offset / outrigger wire set 8" off the fence to deter the stock from interacting with the fence mesh (stags are silly enough to get horns entangled in end strainer section wires) and a single electric wire on top to stop potential escapees which I always thought was pointless as once a deer has legs over one of those fences a few pulses of electricity is not going to stop them from getting on with it.

    If you're intent on using hot tape / hot wire and a solar based set up to try to deter deer then the principles are the same as with any other stock in so far as earthing is king. You have to have a well earthed unit to deliver efficiency in electric pulsation. Of course you need to place the solar unit where it will receive max sun exposure but also your earth wants to be in a location where the soil never completely dries out - contact between your earth peg/s and the soil is paramount.

    Most of the solar units are designed to trickle charge batteries without the use of an aux. voltage regulator. Gallagher have been in the business for decades and are as good as any. As you would expect, the more linear meters of live tape / wire you want to run, the larger the unit you need and the more amp hours your battery will require. Keep any vegetation off the line to avoid voltage leaking and I'd set the tapes / wires well back from any crops to deter deer before they think they can slide their head in there and just get a little feed. Spacing of the tapes / wires is also critical - deer may be arseholes but they are also weary and smart when it suits and if they can tilt their head sideways avoiding contact with the wire and get a feed they will...........

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    Default Re: Electric fence (solar powered)

    I might add the buckwheat was good also because he had a couple bee hives.

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    Default Re: Electric fence (solar powered)

    Ha. Reply to vanished post. First post was that my dad planted buckwheat on the side of the vegetable garden where the deer were most likely to come from and they like that so much they never bothered with the garden any more. We tried fences, flashers, the dog out but they never totally worked. Our deer liked the buckwheat but yours may not, though.

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    Default Re: Electric fence (solar powered)

    We have a much less severe issue with deer. Maryland dept. of ag. issued interesting advice regarding deer repellent. Use a cheese grater to shred Irish Spring bar soap around the drip line of anything you wish to protect. It works 100% as long as you remember to re-apply after rain.

    Strange but true.

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    Default Re: Electric fence (solar powered)

    I have been using deer spray for a number of years and it does work really well for the most part on the holly, lilies and other plants that are near the house that the deer around here seem to prefer. This garden will be about 85’ from the house and somewhat of an experiment, so I don’t feel like spraying every week and thought that a fence might be a longer term solution. Our borough had over 400 deer-related car accidents last year, so that gives you an idea of what we are dealing with. The police can only take out so many too, as they have “harvest night” every full moon and boy, that is a real treat to hear when they are out in the orchard that abuts our property. I took out several groundhogs last year so I am hoping that the herd is down a bit, as they can be as destructive as deer in some regards.

    Open Roader, what are your thoughts on the fence design that is shown on the bottom of the NCAT site?
    rw saunders
    hey, how lucky can one man get.

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    Default Re: Electric fence (solar powered)

    This has some pretty thorough notes about discouraging deer. The one I hadn't thought of is a double fence, either using a "moat" of larger rocks around an inner fence or doubling up two rows of fences to increase the leap distance. Also that a see-through fence is like a candy store window. A picket fence that blocks direct view of the vegetables might make sense then, and it might work well in conjunction with an electric fence as the outer and the picket as the inner. 85' from the house, you might only see the picket fence. Unfortunately, picket fences are not as good for vegetable gardens because they create microclimates and reduce breezes that are important for stimulating growth and pollination. Plus you can't see when the woodchuck is in there making a salad.

    https://savvygardening.com/deer-proof-gardens/

    One of the revelations for me this year is that deer reach a point in winter when they will start eating anything. We saw a group munching leftover pine cones. And deer pressure increases dramatically when that point is reached.

    This is our beaver pond on January 27th.



    This is February 11th.



    In between, several good sized snow storms, the ground froze solid and nothing was melting day-to-day.

    Anyway, that's winter. Not summer. But I think the deer develop habits when the food supply is scarce. So spray with deer repellent once a month in winter to lessen the chance they'll visit your yard out of habit in the summer.

    And this type of backpack sprayer will make a big difference as far as minimizing the PITA parts of regular spraying.
    Jorn Ake
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    Default Re: Electric fence (solar powered)

    I can speak to electric fencing a bit, having installed several thousand feet over the years to keep in horses and cows, which is a bit different. The most important part of the equation is the ground. If you have a problem it will likely be inadequate grounding. Gallagher knows their business and I have used their products extensively. Ncat.org looks good. Use braided line if only because wire is a PIA to deal with after the fact. Tractor Supply has some decent choices for much of what you will need.
    Jay Dwight

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    Default Re: Electric fence (solar powered)

    Quote Originally Posted by ides1056 View Post
    I can speak to electric fencing a bit, having installed several thousand feet over the years to keep in horses and cows, which is a bit different. The most important part of the equation is the ground. If you have a problem it will likely be inadequate grounding. Gallagher knows their business and I have used their products extensively. Ncat.org looks good. Use braided line if only because wire is a PIA to deal with after the fact. Tractor Supply has some decent choices for much of what you will need.
    I had never been in a Tractor Supply until yesterday and you’re right, they had an arsenal of fencing supplies in stock, as well as live chicks and ducklings, air compressors, welding supplies and every type of animal feed that I could imagine.
    rw saunders
    hey, how lucky can one man get.

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    Default Re: Electric fence (solar powered)

    Quote Originally Posted by rwsaunders View Post
    I had never been in a Tractor Supply until yesterday and you’re right, they had an arsenal of fencing supplies in stock, as well as live chicks and ducklings, air compressors, welding supplies and every type of animal feed that I could imagine.
    How many chickens did you get?
    Jorn Ake
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    Default Re: Electric fence (solar powered)

    Quote Originally Posted by rwsaunders View Post
    I had never been in a Tractor Supply until yesterday and you’re right, they had an arsenal of fencing supplies in stock, as well as live chicks and ducklings, air compressors, welding supplies and every type of animal feed that I could imagine.
    I've used fencing to contain pigs and flocks of chickens.
    Pretty much everything Tractor Supply sells is total crap.
    It's built to sell at the lowest price point and is generally garbage quality.
    When I need quality stuff I order from Premier: https://www.premier1supplies.com

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    Default Re: Electric fence (solar powered)

    Well, farmers tend to pinch pennies pretty tight. They shop at Tractor Supply. Not top shelf, but not bottom shelf either.
    Jay Dwight

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    Default Re: Electric fence (solar powered)

    I can offer no advice on e-fence, but when I first went to the naval magazine at Indian Island, I asked why every magazine had a double fence, but no barb wire or razor wire. The answer was deer--they can jump the 1st, but not the 2nd. There was maybe 6' between the fences, I'd say they were 8-9 feet tall, and there was a guy whose job every day was to go around and unlock the outer fence gate to let any trapped deer out (he often had to go in and go around the loop to get the deer to exit).

    I forgot to ask why it mattered if deer got near the magazines, it was probably something about setting of sensors.

    Anyway, if you have the room for a double ring of fencing, that could be the answer

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    Default Re: Electric fence (solar powered)

    Not electric, but I spent 3-4 weeks last summer putting up a 7.5 foot high "critter" fence to both keep deer out and give the dog an acre or so to run around within our 2.5 acre lot. We are about 9 months in and I haven't encountered any deer poop inside the fenced area. I spent an hour or so picking up branches and sticks yesterday, lots of deer poop outside the fenced area. So they're still here but it's kept them out so far.

    The farcking rabbits have chewed a few holes through the bottom that I've had to patch though.

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    Default Re: Electric fence (solar powered)



    I think that I’m going to take a stab at this particular design. Worse comes to worse, the deer clean me out, I sell the equipment on CL and I have one less garden to maintain. There’s a woman down that road that has a cut flower farm, who has invited me to check out her flower farm fence. I will report back.
    rw saunders
    hey, how lucky can one man get.

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    Default Re: Electric fence (solar powered)

    Not to suggest you're an idiot, but I was when planning one of my hog fences in the past and maybe I can save you some hassle:
    So make sure you plan the door carefully!

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