Anyone use solar powered fencers??

[RebaRose]

I just bought a solar powered fencer and I don't think it works right. I am not sure if it just doesn't work or if I am doing something wrong. Do I have to let the battery charge for a while first? Do they work as well as the electric ones?

[CowhorseGal]

You will need to make sure that the solar panel is facing the right way.. usually south. Also make sure the ground rod is deep enough ideally far enough down that the ground is moist. I had problems with mine for a time but finally got i working right. You might slao try the website to the maker- mine is parmak and they have some illustraions as to string the fence properly..
Good luck they are awesome when they work and a pain in the a** when they don't

[Mav2007]

They have one where I board. I haven't heard all that many good things about it. Last year, we were pretty sure it was working until the horse stuck his nose right on the wire. The owner said it's a hit or miss thing and sometimes it's not that strong....he said it wasn't the best thing he's ever bought and it's kind of a pain in the butt.

[Quilting1]

We used one last year at our neighbors who wanted his pasture ate down and it worked great. We did make sure to let it sit outside and charge for a couple of days (actually only meant for it to me the 24 hours the manufacturer suggested but then got busy and it took longer) and made sure all of the grass, weeds, etc., wasn't touching the fence tape we used. Then we led my QH up to it as I wasn't sure he even knew what it was and sure nuff it worked and you couldn't hardly get him to go near it after that

[niknchris2]

All we have is a solar box and we love it!! We don't have access to electrical across the road where our new pasture is and I have no complaints what so ever at this point. We've had ours for couple of years not and not problems. Before it was just pushing a top wire around a small pasture but now its pushing a two string fence on about 2 1/2 acres.... Just keep the grass and stuff out of it. Ours is a pulse too and sometimes you get lucky and catch it in between the pulses......LOL

[gbarmranch]

It depends on where you live I think.. Too much cloud cover won't allow it to recharge well..

We have one that we used in our upper pasture.. kept 12 acres "shockable"

[northernlea]

Great topic thanks folks. I was just looking at them the other day. The lady in the store was of no help what so ever.
Any suggestions what brands you like..or dislike appreciated.
We are going to the US in a few weeks & thought I'd price them there too, you probably have different brands to.
I would like to electric fence the back 80 acres, well hay field once the crop is off... they already know what the evil white tape bites , so they are wary.

[pvf]

Yep needs lots of sun and the grounding rod needs to be deep. Also with any fencer when its a dry year they don't work as well but if you keep the area watered every so often where the grounding rod is it keeps the fencers working great even in dry years..

I know our electric fencers last year didn't work very well until we started watering the area around the grounding rod every so often..

[ToveroMom]

LOVE solar chargers.
No electric fence here but have had it in the past. Great and you do not have to worry about power outages!
We have a solar kit on our gate opener-I love that thing.

[kanoo32]

I use the solar chargers and they wrok great! Have to change the internal battery once in a while, but it is easy enought to do. Make sure it is facing south. I don't think it works as well in the winter time when it is not as bright out, but still love them.

[rustysmom]

I have 2 on my property right now, they work well. Spend the money for a tester unless you like getting shocked to find out if they are working. Did however lose 2 the other day from lightning Bought the extra insurance on the last one so it is replaced no matter what happens. Got mine at TCS.

[Horse poor]

Bought my first one 15 years ago and just replaced it this year. It still worked, but someone broke the leads on the battery. Bought a new one cause I couldn't find where to get a new battery quickly. I love them and will always have one around. You do have to give the battery time to get it's initial charge. Only problem was lot's of clouds for a month, but horses were already acclimated to it so no escapes.

[leslie645]

I use solar power fence charger. ( so I can rotate pasture)

My set up is: 1) solar fence charger from home depot.

2)BI-POLAR tape from horseguard. ( doesnt need ground rod or
ground strand as it is bi-polar.) And it still packs a whallop! We
test ours a couple of times a year with a volt meter. I absolutely
love it...my horses absolutely hate it


Make sure your charger faces south, let it charge per directions ... if you dont use bipolar tape, make sure to use a ground rod and also a ground strand otherwise you might not get a good enough zap. youll want it (hot wire) muzzle high. keep eye on weeds.
After you set up you can test it with a volt meter which you can get at radio shack.
L

[fishing_trex]

I recently had to replace my AC charger and was considering a solar one. I called four different places and they all told me the same thing: solars are good IF you don't have any way to use a plug-in. but they aren't as powerful as AC chargers. And they tend to be more expensive. Many people buy them and pay more up front thinking they'll save on their electric bill when in reality, AC chargers cost very little to run as they put out mostly volts, not amps (we calculated our cost at about $1 or slightly less per month, but that depends on the charger and weed load on the fence -- and we have a VERY heavy weed load on our fence). Solars typically don't last nearly as long (battery issues usually). Power failures with plug-ins are seldom an issue with horses. Once they find a hot fence, they respect it. Now cattle, that's a different story.

[gbarmranch]

They aren't as powerful.. but it helps if you buy one that is much bigger then what you anticipate the pasture will need..

I love ours.. we have a smaller one we can use if we want to set up a temp pasture as well...

[RebaRose]

[quote=gbarmranch;1323496]They aren't as powerful.. but it helps if you buy one that is much bigger then what you anticipate the pasture will need..

That answers my question! I bought a smaller one as it is not hat bib a pasture. I can feel the pulse but my horse doesn't care and will hold it in her mouth! She is quite the escape artist! I bought the fencer about a month ago and have been trying different things to get it to work. Last I replaced the battery, I will try letting it charge for a few days and see what happens! Thanks!

[lbequ4002]

I had a lot of trouble when I first bought mine. We ended up using 3 ground rods put in really deep and they do need to be watered. Ours is a pulse too and sometimes I see the horses putting their noses on the fence and get away with it and other times it zaps them pretty good. I got one that wouldn't short out if weeds/grass were touching it and that has been helpful.

[Horsie Michelle]

With ours we had to let it charge for 3 days before using it, per the instructions on the the box. Also it ot's cloudy or rainy for an extended period of time our recomends you let it recharge for 3 days agian. You might want to check the battery though...even though it's solar you still have the change the battery when it wears out.

We've had no problems w/ ours Good luck!

[LuvMyMares]

We've had great results with ours. No more plowing through the fence to get to the neighbors beautiful lush green grass

[PaintsQH]

Mine is the plain old cheap fence charger as my horses respect the electric and any fencing so I dont need anything high dollar. I paid 35.00 for it 5 years ago and its still working. I have a ton of green grass and they are out on it till afternoon when I bring them in for a hose down, and to get out of the heat. I dont have mine plugged in most of the time and havent had a horse ever go through it, well onenot my horse though