# Solar Electric Fence



## Jdillio1988 (Jul 22, 2014)

Hey Guys! Long time no post!

So my goats 5 ND have recently decided to play the escape game and are finding all of the weak spots in my fencing. This is new behavior and I think once they got out the first time (after having them for almost 3 years) they now can't get enough. Can anyone recommend a good solar electric fence brand?


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## Dustyroundup (Jul 3, 2016)

*I'm looking too*

Hi,
I'm new , just found this post, and I have the exact same question.
So far what I've found is,
You need a 4000-5000 volt output charger, goats are one of the hardest to contain.
But I am not finding those stats on sites that sell or manufacture chargers.
Today , at Murdochs, I looked at the charts for animal types by Gallagher, and Patriot chargers, the Chargers recommended for goats were in the $300-500 range for solar.
But what I noticed on Gallaghers chart, was the "joule "rating way higher than they're other models, and that model was 110 v
So I'm wondering what to do and researching, thought I'd join up here, and maybe get some experienced ideas from you all.
I'm sure I'll have more questions, as we are new to goats, and have purchased two Nubian wethers, but won't have them till we get on our property .
Trying to get set up the right way before they arrive
Thanks in advance
:july:


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## olfart (Mar 7, 2013)

My only experience with solar fence chargers is with the low-end ($100) sold by Tractor Supply. It worked great for a month or two, then we had a long string of cloudy days, and it wouldn't keep the battery charged. As for the voltage, it was sufficient to make the goats pay attention as long as the battery was charged. Our buck had a one-syllable word for contact with the hot wire; "BUP!". 

After changing to the 120v low-end model, I've had problems with the grass getting high enough to touch the bottom fence wire.  The grass is enough to short the fence, rendering it useless until I weed eat around the fence.


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## Nab58 (May 8, 2016)

We bought Zareba brand from TSC. It's only been installed for a little over a month so I can comment on the longevity of the brand. When we installed the horse fence we sprayed weed killer under it and mow on the lowest setting to keep the weeds down.


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## sassykat6181 (Nov 28, 2012)

I bough this one from Amazon in January. I bought it to keep my lgd's from jumping the fence. I've seen the goats touch it and run a couple times while reaching for branches too far over.
It works great, never had a problem holding a charge. I accidently touched it, it packs a punch. Lol
http://www.parmakusa.com/product_details.php?PId=3


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## BoulderOaks (Sep 24, 2014)

I LOVE LOVE LOVE my Parmak!!! I have two of the DC style ones that are $70 from Walmart. Each is hooked up to a deep cell marine battery. And I have a little solar panel that I use to periodically charge up the batteries. I like to keep one battery hooked to the fence charger and one battery hooked to the solar panel(for at least a week of full sun days for my panel).

Work fantastic in rain, heat, snow, and ice. Continues to work for up to 2-3 months on a single fully charged battery. Gives a strong enough zap to even contain my jerk of a LaMancha buck without any problems. I have 4' field fencing with one string of electric across the top and one on the inside of the pen, on 6" extenders, at about shoulder height of the majority of the herd. It's also working well to keep my new LGD in, who was originally gotten rid of because she was jumping fences.

Here it is: http://www.parmakusa.com/product_details.php?PId=2

Editing to add: they're super hardy. Roommate ran over mine while it was hooked to the portable netting. Yanked some wires out and one of the clamps off, bent up the hook, and warped the battery it was attached to. I put it all back together, hooked it back to the battery, and it's still going strong


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## BoulderOaks (Sep 24, 2014)

Oops, they must have been on sale when I got them. They're now listed as $100 from walmart: http://www.walmart.com/ip/Parmak-MAG12-UO-12-Volt-Magnum-Fencer/21798575

$98 from Jeffers though! http://www.jefferspet.com/products/parmak-magnum-12-uo


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## Dayna (Aug 16, 2012)

I need some education. lol

So I have roughly 2,000 feet of fencing. Are you saying that you put extenders that come off the fence post and you can attach the hot wire to that? Anyone got a photo? Then you run the wire through this device, with a battery and solar charger, and it makes the wire on the fence hot but not the fence?

My husband is really wanting to do some sort of electric option for us because fixing the fences every weekend is really cutting into our project time! lol We spend all our spare time fixing fences. ugh.


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## sassykat6181 (Nov 28, 2012)

I use the 2" t post insulators. Only the wire run through them is hot, not the fence itself.


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## Lstein (Oct 2, 2014)

I don't have a photo, but I can get you one tonight. I'm actually in the works of putting a strand of wire, goat height, around all my pastures.

What I've been doing is using the 5" extenders, about 18" (roughly chest height on standard goats) off the ground and having an additional wire, towards the top of the t-post...but that one is just the 'close' insulator, doesn't extend. So my fence goes, bottom up; barbed, woven with an extended hot wire in the middle, another hot wire at the top, and another barbed. Sounds like an awful lot, but it seems like with goats...the fence has to be physically, mentally, and visually strong.

I hadn't had the hot wire that's 18" above ground before this summer, but ever since I've put it up I haven't had one issue with escapees. (After chasing them in countless times, and seeing them gobble the leaves off of a lot of my little trees; I will not deny, I got some pleasure seeing their schnoodles get zapped when everyone had to test it. 

So with how you set up the fence. You don't actually use a battery and a charger, it already comes together as one unit. Here's some examples. The hot wire cant (shouldn't) touch anything else except the yellow plastic insulators, so yes, it's just the wire that's hot, not your fence. You attach those to your fence post (make sure to check which way your t-posts are facing, so you know if you need the reverse ones or not ) and run the hot wire through them. Connect your hot wire to the positive (red) on your charger, making sure it's not touching anything but plastic. You will then need to run a single strand of wire from the negative (black) post on your charger to a metal stake in the ground. (helps to pour some water around the stake occasionally).

I'll try and get some more detailed photos tonight, I cant seem to find any on the web.


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## Dayna (Aug 16, 2012)

Lstein said:


> I don't have a photo, but I can get you one tonight. I'm actually in the works of putting a strand of wire, goat height, around all my pastures.
> 
> What I've been doing is using the 5" extenders, about 18" (roughly chest height on standard goats) off the ground and having an additional wire, towards the top of the t-post...but that one is just the 'close' insulator, doesn't extend. So my fence goes, bottom up; barbed, woven with an extended hot wire in the middle, another hot wire at the top, and another barbed. Sounds like an awful lot, but it seems like with goats...the fence has to be physically, mentally, and visually strong.
> 
> ...


Thanks so much for that detailed explanation! I'm starting to make some sense of it now.

I was hoping to use our own large solar panels and deep cycle batteries. Is that possible or will it be too much of a hassle?


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## Lstein (Oct 2, 2014)

Here's the photos, hopefully they help a little. It started storming last night and I completely forgot to post them.


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## Dayna (Aug 16, 2012)

Those are perfect thank you! Just what I needed to see. I'm a visual learner and the stuff I was reading didn't make sense. This does.


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## Jessica84 (Oct 27, 2011)

Parmak is a AWESOME company! I don't have the solar one but I love the one I have. Nothing works with this dry ground in the summer or there's to long of time between zaps and parmak is the only one I have bought that really works so I'll never buy anything else again. I've had the one for 3 years now I think and is just great. The ones from tractor supply people have been happy with them but IMO they are crap. I hate the solar one I got. Lstein did a awesome job explaining it. The only thing I want to add and well it's more of a tip then anything else. As I said it gets super dry here so for my ground I got a pipe, it's a old oil field pipe but I pounded that into the ground and drilled a hole threw it to put the wire threw. But I go out once a day and fill the pipe up with water. It slowly seeps into the ground and keeps it nice and wet.


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