Market Farming

[Deb Taft <deb AT mobiusfields.com>]

Just curious which solar charger you are using that the batteries already need replacing?

Zareba SP30

On Wed, Oct 24, 2012 at 11:08 AM, Barking Cat Farm <barkingcatfarm AT mindspring.com> wrote:

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
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