Electric fence help??

[Amy]

Okay, so, I'm trying to finish running my electric fence before my horses get here today.. but a problem... it won't work? I ahve it grounded, but only now do I read that sandy soil isn't good for grounding and I may have to run an additional wire??? The only time I got any kind of shock was when I touched both the ground and fence wire... (I know, I'm so smart ) Any suggestions on what I should do to get this working right?

Thanks.

[Orchid]

Hmmm...how deep is your ground rod? And, is the soil around the ground rod wet or dry?

In very dry, sandy soil you may need more than one ground rod. Dumping a couple of five gallon buckets of water around the ground rod helps tremendously, too.

[shadow]

Maybe check the fuse. Sometimes one of mine blows.

[arkyhorse]

You need more than one ground wire hook at least 3 in a series about 6 feet apart. the more grounds the better it will work and not just a short rebar stuck in the ground but an actual ground rod

[dimpleflirt]

MAke sure the live wire is run back on itself and put out more than one ground ,minimum 6ft apart,also make sure its a 6ft copper ground so you can get it deep enough. I normally keep one ground near a water trough because I clean often and dump the troughs out which keep s the ground wet.

[fishing_trex]

My fence charger requires 4 ground rods, at last 4' each and placed 6' apart. From your statement about getting shocked it sounds like the ground is not working well. Sandy soil can be a problem. We have the problem -- the ground here is not a good conductor. So we have ground wires mixed with the hot wires in our fence -- 2 hot, 4 ground.

What kind of wire are you using -- tape, wire, rope, ...? Some have built-in ground wires.

[seerfarm]

Not sure exactly what type of wire or fencing you have run, but the link I have provided has very detail instructions with picture display on all types of fencing. It also has a troubleshooting guide that may help....

http://www.kencove.com/fence/96_Staf...l_resource.php

[Ike]

Also remember that if you just can't get a decent ground you could run a second wire just below your hot wire and connect it to the ground. The instructions with our charger actually suggested this method when it was to be used in an area with very dry and/or sandy soil.

let us know how it works out.

[Amy]

Thanks for the help. Seems like the best I'm getting is it I run a ground wire along the perimeter, otherwise nothing. Horses came yesterday, and even though I don't have a ground wire run the entire way yet, they seem to be respecting it. They both have been in electric fences before. I am using wire and T-posts. The outer perimeter of the property is fenced in field fencing, I wanted to run the hot wire around the perimenter to keep them a safe distance, I don't really want them rubbing on it or getting a hoof caught... pluse some areas of our property have barbed wire between us and the neighbors, hopefully the hot wire will keep them out of that, too. And then I just ran the hot wire fence from perimeter to perimeter to fence of about 1/4-1/2 acre paddock or so.

I will check out that link.

Thanks.

[northernhorses]

We couldn't figure out why we were getting a charge in the morning and not at night. Until we realized hubby was wearing work shoes in the am with a thin sole and his muck boots in the evening. the boots had a bigger sole and insulated him from the charge. Worth checking into especially if the horses are respecting it.

[Amy]

I have tried in different shoes...

Well, anyway, my horses have been respecting my entirely defective electrice fence for the time being....

I have a neighbor who is going to help me next week, and I will update this so at least if anyone else has a problem maybe they can learn from whatever mistake it is that I'm making? Lol...

[seerfarm]

Have you checked the output of your fence (charge that is) with a fence tester?