E Deer Fence

[Jdlfarms]

tractor supply has everything you would need

 

[Wild Thing]

Here is what you will need. You can do the math depending upon the size of what you want to fence and then Google the supplies. Most of everything I use came from Tractor Supply and they do have an on-line catalog. The exception to that would be the Parmak charger which I believe is about $175 and I purchased 3 of them on-line. I don't believe I have anywhere near $1,000 in mine so I am guessing that Gallagher is more expensive. Then again, maybe I do and I just don't know it as I've bought everything over a period of several years. Ha Ha.

I like the Parmak solar charger so well that I now have 3 of them. About $175 on-line. You probably have a scrap 4X4 post to hang it on.



I use only 2 ground rods and it has always worked fine. Some recommend 3 every 10'. YMMV. Of course you will need wire and terminal connectors to hook the ground up to the ground terminal on the bottom of the charger (see photo above).



I use old steel T-Posts for strength for corner posts. If I were going to erect the fence in the same spot every year I would just sink wooden fence posts. You will need insulators either way on the inside of the corner posts.



I run fiberglass line posts every 30' so for 2 fences (3' apart) you will need 2 line posts for every 30'. They cost $1.99 each at TSC but I usually buy them when they have a 10-15% off sale to save a few bucks.


I use a combination of both poly-tape (the wide stuff) and poly-rope (the braided yellow and black stuff). Readily available at TSC. The electrical cord caddies are really nice for storing the wire after the season.



You will need a variety of connectors, insulators, splicers, tensioners, etc. I purchased all of these at TSC



A voltage tester is really nice to see if you still have juice to your wire. I originally just used my wife but that only worked one time and now I can't get her to touch the wire any more so the tester comes in handy. Anyway, if you see your voltage has dropped look for weeds growing up into your wire and you know it is time to spray or weed-whack under your wires.



There is a little "learning curve" to get it all set up the first time but once you've done it once or twice you will figure out how to set it up the most efficient way.

 

[Tap]

Wildthing covered it pretty well. There are much cheaper ways than using an entire Gallagher system. I went with all Gallagher because I was unexperienced with E fence and I thought I'd get the best guidance and customer support than if I built my own.

The basic Gallagher solar charger is almost $300. If I had it to do over again, I'd go with the Parmak.
If you really want to save money, go with a direct (AC) wire charger instead of a solar (DC) unit, but direct wire isn't usually an option for most plotters because plots are seldom near a power source.

The next overly expensive Gallagher component is the 1" posts. They are stout and convenient but there are much cheaper alternatives. Their step-in posts aren't too expensive...about $2.49 each. The heavy 1" posts are twice that much. IMO, other than the corners, you don't need a lot of strength in the posts. You just need them to hold the tape and wires up off the ground for the most part. The corners do get a fair amount of side stress so strong corners are best. I rotate my fence to other plots so I haven't done permanent corners.
IMO, fence tighteners are not needed. You can easily adjust taughtness by wrapping the strand around an insulator.

Ground rods...1 single, 3 foot rod, in a 1 acre fence system, has work fine for me. But the type of soil and soil moisture has a lot to do with how well a ground rod does it's job. I guess someone with sandy, droughty soil will need more grounding than what I need.

Testers are nice, but an old farmer showed me the poor man's way to check fences. Just take a blade of green grass and touch the fence with it. You'll feel a very much reduced "shock"...more like a sensation than a shock. But there are chargers out there that are scary powerful and I've never tried the grass trick with a high powered fence.

I fully agree that there's a learning curve to installing/removing a fence. Storage reels are an absolute must. Don't try to just coil the wire/tape. Believe me...you'll be sorry the next spring...that is a fact! Reels will really speed-up the entire process, too. You won't need reels to put up new fences up the very first time, but after that, you will want a reel for removing/installing each strand.
And I always take my fence down when I want to allow the critters in. I don't just turn it off. I want deer to always fear the fence when they see it. I never allow my fence to be uncharged while it's in place, so taking it down is a yearly chore. Using reels and developing a system makes a huge difference in the amount of time and frustration level you will experience.

I love my fence. I can develop a mature plot of sunflowers, or beans, or cowpeas. The kind of stuff that deer will destroy as it sprouts if I didn't have a fence.

Now, if the fricken rain would stop for just one day, I could get out there and prep my sunflower plot. BTW, wives love sunflower plots...makes it a lot easier to get them to accept the cost of a fence.

 

[yoderjac]

Where is the best place to purchase the needed materials? Is there an online retailer that is less costly than others?

I used the Gallagher-style fence plan but did not use all Gallagher products. I did use their turbotape and turbowire. Mine was a sub-acre exclosure that allowed me compare a large area of unprotected beans to the small excluded area. I used a pachmar 6-volt solar charger that I bought from the local coop. I bought step-in posts from the local TSC when they went on sale.

While I found the fence to be very effective but a lot of work to put up, take down, and maintain. Personally, in an non-commercial operation, I would not try to fence 5 acres with a temporary fence because of the work involved. If I was going to fence 5 acres, I would look into ways to minimize the setup/tear down time. I would probably look into more permanent posts that stayed up all the time.

Thanks,

Jack

 

[Wild Thing]

Wildthing covered it pretty well. There are much cheaper ways than using an entire Gallagher system. I went with all Gallagher because I was unexperienced with E fence and I thought I'd get the best guidance and customer support than if I built my own.

The basic Gallagher solar charger is almost $300. If I had it to do over again, I'd go with the Parmak.
If you really want to save money, go with a direct (AC) wire charger instead of a solar (DC) unit, but direct wire isn't usually an option for most plotters because plots are seldom near a power source.

The next overly expensive Gallagher component is the 1" posts. They are stout and convenient but there are much cheaper alternatives. Their step-in posts aren't too expensive...about $2.49 each. The heavy 1" posts are twice that much. IMO, other than the corners, you don't need a lot of strength in the posts. You just need them to hold the tape and wires up off the ground for the most part. The corners do get a fair amount of side stress so strong corners are best. I rotate my fence to other plots so I haven't done permanent corners.
IMO, fence tighteners are not needed. You can easily adjust taughtness by wrapping the strand around an insulator.

Ground rods...1 single, 3 foot rod, in a 1 acre fence system, has work fine for me. But the type of soil and soil moisture has a lot to do with how well a ground rod does it's job. I guess someone with sandy, droughty soil will need more grounding than what I need.

Testers are nice, but an old farmer showed me the poor man's way to check fences. Just take a blade of green grass and touch the fence with it. You'll feel a very much reduced "shock"...more like a sensation than a shock. But there are chargers out there that are scary powerful and I've never tried the grass trick with a high powered fence.

I fully agree that there's a learning curve to installing/removing a fence. Storage reels are an absolute must. Don't try to just coil the wire/tape. Believe me...you'll be sorry the next spring...that is a fact! Reels will really speed-up the entire process, too. You won't need reels to put up new fences up the very first time, but after that, you will want a reel for removing/installing each strand.
And I always take my fence down when I want to allow the critters in. I don't just turn it off. I want deer to always fear the fence when they see it. I never allow my fence to be uncharged while it's in place, so taking it down is a yearly chore. Using reels and developing a system makes a huge difference in the amount of time and frustration level you will experience.

I love my fence. I can develop a mature plot of sunflowers, or beans, or cowpeas. The kind of stuff that deer will destroy as it sprouts if I didn't have a fence.

Now, if the fricken rain would stop for just one day, I could get out there and prep my sunflower plot. BTW, wives love sunflower plots...makes it a lot easier to get them to accept the cost of a fence.

Some excellent points Tap. You are right about the electric chargers being cheaper than the solar chargers but they were not an option for my food plots either.

Could not agree more about removing the fence to allow deer in rather than just turning the power off. Just my opinion but if those deer learn that they can jump the fence when power is off they will soon be jumping it when the power is on and you don't want them in there. Don't condition the deer to do something you will regret later.

 

[Wild Thing]

I used the Gallagher-style fence plan but did not use all Gallagher products. I did use their turbotape and turbowire. Mine was a sub-acre exclosure that allowed me compare a large area of unprotected beans to the small excluded area. I used a pachmar 6-volt solar charger that I bought from the local coop. I bought step-in posts from the local TSC when they went on sale.

While I found the fence to be very effective but a lot of work to put up, take down, and maintain. Personally, in an non-commercial operation, I would not try to fence 5 acres with a temporary fence because of the work involved. If I was going to fence 5 acres, I would look into ways to minimize the setup/tear down time. I would probably look into more permanent posts that stayed up all the time.

Thanks,

Jack

There is a serious food plotter on the Michigan Sportsman forum that E-Fences 6 acres every year but he does it in the same field, has permanent wooden corner posts, etc. He rotates half and half between corn and beans with maybe an acre of sugar beets as well. He also does this with help from his brother and hid dad so he isn"t doing it all by himself.

 

[Wild Thing]

Forgot to mention....if you are moving up from Plot Saver to E-Fence like many of us did, you can use the Plot Saver stakes just fine for the outside fence in your E-Fence program:

 

[Wild Thing]

Yes - That is a good price Don. TSC had them at $1.99 last year...