Best solar electric fence controller

[jjohnsonElknewbie]

All- looking for recommendations on the best solar electric fence controller for protecting food plots. Please advise if you have first hand experience with a particular make(s)/model(s).

 

[Skerhunter]

Parmak solar fencers is what I have had the best luck with. Mine run full time and just need to replace the batteries every 2-3 years.

 

[jjohnsonElknewbie]

Parmak solar fencers is what I have had the best luck with. Mine run full time and just need to replace the batteries every 2-3 years.

Cool man, thank you. Do you run a standard automotive 12V or a deep cycle battery?

 

[Skerhunter]

I have the units that come with either 6v or 12v rechargeable batteries inside the unit, just have to open them up and replace the batteries every few years (simple).

How big of an area are you fencing off?

 

[Billy Goat]

I have installed a pile of the stafix solar chargers. The name has recently changed and they are now speedrite.

Everything is contained in the unit, I don't use the connections (cheap alligator clips) I hard wire it with 12.5 ga high tensile.


The biggest part of getting a good charge on an electric fence is grounding the charger well. Most solar chargers need to be set out and charged for a few days before use.

 

[FlyingRhino]

We use an American farm works model. Pretty basic unit from tractor supply. I think it's a 5 mile fencer? Not too sure. Works just fine for our 3/4 acre food plot.

 

[ChrisA]

Parmak solar chargers have worked well for me. I am extremely happy with the my Stafix 110v charger and if their solars chargers are the same quality then they would be my top choice. My Stafix 110v is grounded with three 8' ground rods and like mentioned above, proper grounding is important.

Chris

 

[jjohnsonElknewbie]

I have the units that come with either 6v or 12v rechargeable batteries inside the unit, just have to open them up and replace the batteries every few years (simple).

How big of an area are you fencing off?

I have 2 plots. One is about an acre and the second is 2-2.5 acres. They are far enough away from each other I would need to controllers.

 

[jjohnsonElknewbie]

Great stuff guys and thank you. Regarding grounding, do the kits normally come with the grounding rods, or are these something you have to purchase separately?

Also, do you guys run two wires (coon and deer level) on the same post or a staggered/layered (one low separated a couple feet by a higher wire) array with wires on separate posts?

 

[Skerhunter]

Need to buy the ground rod and clamp separately (see below). I just cut those in half, so I get 3ft in the ground. For deer I believe you need to have two rows of fence staggered a few feet apart at different heights, not an expert there? Livestock is much more simple!

https://www.tractorsupply.com/tsc/product/american-farmworks-aluminum-ground-rod-clamp?cm_vc=-10005

https://www.tractorsupply.com/tsc/product/american-farmworks-6-ft-copper-coated-ground-rod?cm_vc=-10005

 

[Billy Goat]

Great stuff guys and thank you. Regarding grounding, do the kits normally come with the grounding rods, or are these something you have to purchase separately?

Also, do you guys run two wires (coon and deer level) on the same post or a staggered/layered (one low separated a couple feet by a higher wire) array with wires on separate posts?

Need to put your own grounding g components together, generally 2 rods per charger, 10' apart.


To fence deer out with low fence the only thing I have found that kinda worked was two fences about 50-60" apart. The inside one being a little taller, the outside bring tall enough they need to jump it. I have posted some pictures here before, might search to find it.


I don't think you will have much success with keeping coons out unless you keep everything around the wires mowed down.

 

[Stevek]

Look at Premier 1. We used about 17 of their 12volt solar chargers on food plots on a ranch for food plots. We bought the Intellirope and fiberglass posts to do all the food plots on the ranch.

 

[jjohnsonElknewbie]

You guys rock and I appreciate the information. On the two fence system, do you need two controllers or can the wires be spliced or daisy chained into one controller?

 

[Stevek]

You guys rock and I appreciate the information. On the two fence system, do you need two controllers or can the wires be spliced or daisy chained into one controller?

It is hard to describe on how we did our fencing but I will try. We used a single fence of 5 hot wires(+). I used the bottom of my shirt pocket as the height of the top wire. I spaced the wires from about 10" from above the ground to the top wire. We set a permanent corners. Each corner had 5 insulators on it that were hard plastic and altered them to allow the "wire rope" to go into then tied with a simple compression knot. We then looped over to the next insulator and continued to the next corner and so forth. For the second strand we just jumped up the the next insulator and continued on around the field till we were done. We spliced using a square knot and had one continual strand around the whole plot. All 5 wire ropes were + or hot. This system worked very well for keeping deer out of the lab lab and winter food plots. It allowed them to get established. Wish I had pictures of the corners but I don't. Premier 1 has some photos of both setups on their website.
I have done the 2 fence systems and it worked well also. I jumped across with one wire to make both fences work off of one controller.
The keys I have found for electric food plot fencing are:
1. Put the fence up ASAP...as soon as your done planting. Once deer hit the hot wire and their is nothing to eat in the plot, they won't challenge it again.
2. Keep the fence out of the vegetation all the time
3. Ground wires are the key to any electric fence.
4. Deer are hollow hair, so you need stout controller.
5. Fencing close to brush edges will get challenged by deer fleeing danger.
6. If a deer gets inside the fence, you have to lay the fence down in long area to get the out. It can be a challenge.
The only times we had deer get into a plot was when the battery on the controller died or got to weak or the ground was bad.

 

[Kevin Dill]

An option:

Gallagher S20 is a self-contained solar-charged energizer. It has its own lithium ion batteries built in...therefor no battery purchases or maintenance. The S20 is msrp around $265. That is very reasonable when you consider all you need is ONE unit and no batteries. It will handle up to 12 miles of clean fence, which means you can connect both food plots and run them from one unit.

Gallagher S20 Charger

The S20 portable solar energizer powers up to 12 miles / 40 acres of single wire fence with no vegetation and boasts several solar technology improvements that make it ideal for temporary grazing applications, livestock and pet containment. Clean Fence: 12 miles / 40 acresTypical Fence: 2 miles...

www.gallagherfence.net

 

[jjohnsonElknewbie]

It is hard to describe on how we did our fencing but I will try. We used a single fence of 5 hot wires(+). I used the bottom of my shirt pocket as the height of the top wire. I spaced the wires from about 10" from above the ground to the top wire. We set a permanent corners. Each corner had 5 insulators on it that were hard plastic and altered them to allow the "wire rope" to go into then tied with a simple compression knot. We then looped over to the next insulator and continued to the next corner and so forth. For the second strand we just jumped up the the next insulator and continued on around the field till we were done. We spliced using a square knot and had one continual strand around the whole plot. All 5 wire ropes were + or hot. This system worked very well for keeping deer out of the lab lab and winter food plots. It allowed them to get established. Wish I had pictures of the corners but I don't. Premier 1 has some photos of both setups on their website.
I have done the 2 fence systems and it worked well also. I jumped across with one wire to make both fences work off of one controller.
The keys I have found for electric food plot fencing are:
1. Put the fence up ASAP...as soon as your done planting. Once deer hit the hot wire and their is nothing to eat in the plot, they won't challenge it again.
2. Keep the fence out of the vegetation all the time
3. Ground wires are the key to any electric fence.
4. Deer are hollow hair, so you need stout controller.
5. Fencing close to brush edges will get challenged by deer fleeing danger.
6. If a deer gets inside the fence, you have to lay the fence down in long area to get the out. It can be a challenge.
The only times we had deer get into a plot was when the battery on the controller died or got to weak or the ground was bad.

Thank you for the tips, and that is a pretty looking plot.

 

[Stevek]

Thank you for the tips, and that is a pretty looking plot.

Thanks. We had to fence the plots for several reasons. One was soil type....sandy land that the deer would pull up the plant root and all when it first comes up. Two was that Lab Lab needed to get to the 7 leaf stage to take grazing pressure. Three was that we need as much tonnage to carry the deer thru the best antler growing months. So we let the plots grow for 5-6 weeks after planting till we took the fences down. This was usually mid to late May. IME June is when our bucks in Texas will grow 45% of the final antler growth for that year. So we wanted to boost the deer in the key month. In the fall we had to plant later due to army worms but we wanted to open the plots up by early to mid November to get the mature bucks moving and feeding prior to the rut in December. Being in Texas, we have a longer growing season so we have to fight to many deer, heat and lack of moisture and generally not to much cold weather.

 

[jjohnsonElknewbie]

Thanks. We had to fence the plots for several reasons. One was soil type....sandy land that the deer would pull up the plant root and all when it first comes up. Two was that Lab Lab needed to get to the 7 leaf stage to take grazing pressure. Three was that we need as much tonnage to carry the deer thru the best antler growing months. So we let the plots grow for 5-6 weeks after planting till we took the fences down. This was usually mid to late May. IME June is when our bucks in Texas will grow 45% of the final antler growth for that year. So we wanted to boost the deer in the key month. In the fall we had to plant later due to army worms but we wanted to open the plots up by early to mid November to get the mature bucks moving and feeding prior to the rut in December. Being in Texas, we have a longer growing season so we have to fight to many deer, heat and lack of moisture and generally not to much cold weather.

Sounds like a good approach and only way to maximize the health of the herd in those conditions for sure.

In West Central Iowa on the farm I manage, we use plots to attract and hold transient and resident deer. My neighbor has been killing all the great bucks the last several years as he has a 4-5 acre standing bean plot. The deer that bed on ours head that way in early fall for the greens and most importantly late season for protein, so the only real shot we have at the good bucks is during the rut.

Next season I will have a plot of standing corn alternating with sorghum and a standing bean plot of my own. Hopefully this will level the playing field and provide my daughters and nephews better opportunities at big deer.

 

[Skerhunter]

Sound like fun, just don't tell the neighbor you have better food or he will be planting more than beans next year!

 

[Stevek]

This is similar to the Energizers we were using 15 yrs ago. This one is a much better unit and more efficient than the older models we used. Some our plots were in the 7-8 acres size. We had 90 acres total on 21 plots on the ranch I managed. It would take 2 of us about 2 days to put up the fences and then about 1.5 days to take them back down. We had large reels that held several 1000 feet of the intellirope and then mounted one reel on the back of a ATV to install it. One UTV load with fiberglass posts is all we needed. Lot of foot work installing posts and then wire on to the post. 5 trips around a field but with 2 people it was quick to install. We planted 90 acres of Lab Lab and then would do about 35 acres of small grains/winter peas in the fall.

Solar IntelliShock® 30 Energizer & Kit

Solar powered 0.30 joule energizer. IntelliShock electric fence chargers are able to reduce battery draw when the fence's voltage is high.

www.premier1supplies.com