electronet fencing primer: how to manage in diverse conditions

Hi all,

Electric netting is suggested for ease of use, then is often difficult to get to work 'electically'.

we had grounding issues with our dry soil and with the fence touching vegetation.

seems like it needs quite a clear path and a good ground and a good charger and power source.

I'd like to know more about what works and what to avoid with these systems.

preferred mobile chargers and power supplies,
preferred stakes and modifications for uneven ground or working with dense vegetation
preferred brands
depth of grounding, layout of grounding rods relative to fence,
working with adverse conditions such as dry soil, rocky soil, etc.

any other thoughts, suggestions, experiences, resources, etc.

thanks

Kencove is the name I hear recommended most often":
http://www.kencove.com/fence/Electric+Net+Fencing_detail_NSPCG.php
They have a handy calculator to determine panel size for solar setups:
http://www.kencove.com/fence/131_Solar+Panel+Calculator_resource.php

I will point out that "Step-in Posts" is an ad man's phrase. They do NOT step-in in hard, rocky soils.
A cure for this is to carry a cordless drill, with a bit slightly smaller than the post's diameter. Pre-drill as you go.

Pour a bucket of water on your grounding rod.

A woman in a podcast complained of trouble with grounding & dry soil. It occurred to me maybe you could dig a hole or loosen the soil around the rod to and then fill it with clay/soil to hold water and then put to rod back in.

John Polk wrote:
A cure for this is to carry a cordless drill, with a bit slightly smaller than the post's diameter. Pre-drill as you go.

I used to pre-drill but now I test with a hammer & a 4' section of grounding rod (the pointy end helps). We have a lot of ledge & the cordless drill wasn't cutting it.

I've found that the plastic corner posts just aren't strong enough to hold the fence line tight. Summer heat causes them to bend under the pressure, so I cut some wooden stakes and drive them in at the corners and tie the fence to that. That took care of the sagging.

I find that it helps to mow the vegetation along the fence line before erecting the fence. I lay the grass clippings under the fence to suppress regrowth. I try to walk the fence line daily, and listen closely. If the fence is grounding out on some grass you'll hear a ticking sound. Find the culprit and pull it out. Generally a small amount of grass won't totally ground out the fence. I learned that the hard way last year. By the time the grass really has an effect on the fence, it's time for me to move the paddock again anyway.

I have a separate place for my birds during winter because we get so much snow that the fence would be covered by the end of January anyway. So I just roll it up and put it in the basement til the ground thaws in spring.

we recently purchased electric netting from premier 1 supplies.
we opted for the 48in tall, 164 ft fence with dual spikes. (i thought i ordered the version with extra posts, but looks like i ordered the longer fence vs the one with more posts)
we also chose the black and white to help with the visual/psychological barrier that paul has mentioned, and we have observed with our cow
http://www.premier1supplies.com/detail.php?prod_id=44094&cat_id=0&

I plan on powering it with a patriot energizer.
opted for this one because it can run on AC or DC. I plan to get a 12v battery and smaller solar trickle charger to make the energizer mobile, but always have AC as a backup or when close to mains power.
http://www.premier1supplies.com/detail.php?prod_id=12602&cat_id=170

We are trying to use our chickens to follow our cow to break down some of the manure in the pasture. we have found that we dont get the herd effect from 1 cow and hope this will help that.

We hope to have both items up and working in the next few weeks (ordered a few days ago).
We are in a dry area with heavy clay soil. I havent had any grounding issues with our current energizer and poly rope combo, so we hope that continues with netting.

i will update this once we have used it a bit.
hope this helps.


edit:
corrected fence.