Market Farming

[Barking Cat Farm <barkingcatfarm AT mindspring.com>]

On Oct 23, 2012, at 9:47 PM, Deb Taft <deb AT mobiusfields.com> wrote:

> the batteries have reached the end of their lives after 3+ years and need 
> to be replaced.  

Deb, 

Just curious which solar charger you are using that the batteries already 
need replacing?  We have a ParMak Solar Pak 12 for our deer fence and a Solar 
Pak 6 we use for a variety of other projects. The original ones we had for 
almost 5 years were stolen in July. But up to then they were still going 
strong. We test the charge regularly, sometimes on purpose, with a ParMak 
analog tester. 

Since everybody else is weighing in...our deer fence is 2 layer, 3' between 
layers, 5' landscape fabric all around, 6' X 3/8" fiberglass posts set 20' 
apart, t-posts at corners and gates, inside layer has 4 strands spaced 1' 
apart starting at 1' from ground, outside layer has all that plus additional 
strands at 4", 8", and 16".  We use ParMak polywire as our conductor. Only 
the outside layer is energized, and the lower 2 strands are electrically 
isolated from the upper 5 to prevent bringing the whole thing down if 
something grounds out the lower strands. We bait every two weeks all year, as 
we have a lot of white tails in the area. Aside from some of the polywire, 
which can be found at Tractor Supply, Atwoods, etc., all our stuff came from 
McGregor Fence Co. www.electric-horse-fence.com .

We added the bottom varmint strands after the rest had been up and working 
for a long time. When the drought hit last summer, the armadillos and baby 
opossum started coming in under the lowest strand for water in the way of 
chewing on our drip tape and unripe melons, squash, etc.  You cannot get that 
lower strand low enough to keep out the babies, so we're going to have to go 
to a mesh to replace those bottom strands. I'm trying to find a stand-off 
insulator to attach the mesh to the existing posts for ease of installation 
and cost. The theory is the climbers will not be able to get in even if they 
climb the mesh without first closing the circuit across the lower strands 
still there (12" & 16") and BAM.

The current fence encloses a couple football sized fields. We're adding more 
area under cultivation this year. We want to try the design Richard Stewart 
mentioned earlier this year on one of these lists that uses a similar single 
layer design but uses 10' t-posts with mesh on the bottom and electrified 
strands every foot plus an extra at 16" for climbers. Would mean less fence 
line to maintain plus more planting space. 

Our original panicked deer fence design used 5/8" rebar and plastic 7' mesh 
ziptied on plus a fishing line at 8'. Talk about classy. We witnessed the 
neighbor's wondering hound dog walk up and effortlessly knock the mesh off 
the posts to let himself in the crop area and decided since we could not 
guarantee that our farm perimeter fence would NEVER be breached by stray 
dogs, etc. we needed more insurance on that deer fence than plastic mesh. We 
have also beefed up our perimeter fence since then. Then we had a foot of 
snow couple winters ago and the rebar folded like cardboard. 

I would not even attempt anything single layer shorter than 8'. I've seen 
these deer jump and have a healthy respect for their athleticism. 

Of course your mileage may vary depending on your situation. Our deer fence 
was not terribly expensive, the charger is the biggest expense. Certainly 
cheaper than a permanent steel post fence. 

Thanks for listening. Sorry so long-winded. We've spent so much time and 
effort on deer and varmint exclusion, it's good therapy for us to talk about 
it. 

Laurie
Barking Cat Farm