Thank you for your videos. In reference to your garden hose insulator, I have an idea you might want to try. That 2 or 3 inch of tubing, at the top third, drive your nail through both sides of the tubing into the post. The bottom third (these dimensions are approximate) cut a 45 degree slot downward with a knife about 1/2 of the tubing. You are done! That gives you at least 1 inch between the nail and hot wire, and no drilling, no hole for the galvanized nail.
Man its crazy how simple and easy you make putting up electric fence. Amazing how people can help you save money when there not promoting a video sponsored product. Thanks for the video.
I spoke too soon! The gentleman's cut-and-drilled-PVC-pipe-insulators are brilliant, and FAR more durable than the store-bought equivalent he showed earlier. A simple hacksaw will do to cut the PVC pipe at a 45 degree angle. Well done! 🎉
Been watching electric fence videos for a week now. Your short video clips have been very informative and helpful … gave lots of good ideas. Here’s my story. I’ve a small garden .. about 35 X 30? It’s not much space … but it’s what I have :-). For the past few decades, I’ve mostly planted a few varieties of tomatoes. This year I planted about 70 plants (from seed). The problem is, there’s no protection from the neighborhood woodchucks. Disappointingly, this was the worst year ever! They probably devoured 80 - 90% of my harvest. Hence my interest in coming up with a game plan for next year. Every tip you gave was a new and useful idea. You really have a knack for explaining it simply. I haven’t been saving many … but I’ll save this for sure. Good wishes to you and family … and thanks so much for taking the time to teach and help others (Acts 20:35)
Our predominate tree on our farm is willow. Took me a few years to realize their propogation nature, but started making my fence posts out of fresh cut willow. The post sprouts leaves and branches and grows roots. Living fence post that gets more secure and stronger over time. Some gotchas... they tend to be really weak for the first year, so they can't be the entire fence, gotta stagger the posts across years and distance. You can't nail/screw into them for several years, have to use wrapping methods, but without girdling them. They will sprout leaves and branches in inconvenient places, and can ground out the fence, so there is some clipper maintenance every few months. But turning out well. Maybe hedgerows one day. I also use old jumper cables as fence jumper cables. The handiest part of it is being able to use the jumper clamp directly on the ground rod.
good tips for pvc insulators, thx. my frugal tip you might like, shou sugi ban is japanese wood treatment using fire zero cost, anti fungal , anti insect, 100 uv protection but no chemicals, safe for livestock. some cedar posts in japan have been exposed to extreme weather for over 100+ yrs. can be retreated in place without scraping. caveat is shou sugi ban should not contact soil directly, so set in stone pebbles
Thank you. The power cord idea really helped me to get power to my fence from my fence charger. This might help others with PVC. I don't have a vice or saw to cut the 1 inch PVC at a 45 angle. I cut them 3inchs and x wire them to my posts. Also use 45 PVC for the corners. Numbers 6:24-27 upon you and family.
Great tips, now one for you! Use old electric extension cords that the ends are bad. connect eCh end to a gate handle to change the the lines you want charged. No more surprise!
Love the pvc idea. I used the garden hose but my wire shocked through it. The pvc how you have it set up for an offset is genius. I use the braided rope rather than wire because I move my animals a lot. For posts I use fiberglass rods from tractor supply. To hammer them in I use a 1/2” pipe cut to length with a cap threaded on the end. Great video
I’m on year 4 with them. Broken ones I ran over, oops, a fire that swept across my property damaged half, the rest are still going strong. The only issues of normal use is when the ground is dry and rock hard the top starts to break apart but a soft insert would probably help quite a bit. In short 4 years and counting.
I only use black insulator when needed, because the yellow & even red insulators killed one too many humming birds. I do like your idea about recycling an old garden hose.
5:19 Pilot holes. You need to drill pilot holes. A vintage bit & auger set can often be found for cheap at little antique shops, and they never run out of battery charge when you are an acre away from your workshop.
If you’re anything like me, you’ll rebuild, remove or move that fence a few times before you get it like you want it. Don’t stress it. Do the best you can and learn from it!
I really really wish you would have showed how you use the small PVC pipe for an insulator! I can mess around with some myself, but it would have been very nice of you to have shown it rather than just talk about it. Thanks for the rest of the info!🤠🙏👍
Great info. Im a missionary and havebeen trying to figure out how I can do something like this. Thank you for sharing. Happy Resurrection day! Yes wewill be praying for you .
This gentleman obviously knows what he's doing, and his methods are sound. I believe that using manufactured "standoff insulators" is well worth the $0.25 each, because they'll hold up over time. Gotta have a sledge hammer to pound those 6' tall posts 2' into the ground, no doubt, but that's an essential tool to have around a homestead anyway. This is a very practical video, and I enjoyed watching it - Great Job! Thanks !!! 😊
Thank you! I’m making posts out of three pieces of discarded plaster lath nailed together and will use your free insulators. I’ve wondered about soaking the ends of the lath in diesel or old oil. Not sure about that. Shalom שלום
Thank you, your video taught me a lot! I am doing electric fence on my property this year (on a shoestring budget & by myself) and I have never done it before. It's for my two horses. Eventually i would like to have goats, too. There's a lot to learn about electric fence & I hope i can do it. Wanting to run it on solar.
Insulator comments: 1) Black pipe, black rubber hose lining, black ABS pipe, etc.-- often use graphite or carbon black for colorant thus they are very conductive in terms of being insulators for high voltage pulses of the charged fence. In the video about using water hose is a prime example of this -- a spark was noticed when testing it. The spark was likely current flowing in the carbon and vaporizing it, thus the light of the spark. White PVC uses a non-conducting filler powder and thus has good insulating properties. Clear plastics are normally very good with exception of plastics designated "Anti-Static". They are treated with chemicals, typically hydroscopic that pull moisture in the air to form conductive films. One piece of hose as a quick fix is unlikely to take down the line, but a bunch of pieces gang up and will dissipate the line pulses. 2) It's relatively easy to measure the values of insulation. Take just about any DVM (not an old analog meter like a Simpson), set it to measure Volts then wire small 9V battery in series to a probe on the insulator and a wire from a probe on the other side of the insulator back to the DVM. Use the following formula: Insulation MegOhms = 10MegOhms X (9V -- DVM reading in Volts) / DVM reading in Volts For example, a 0.1V DVM reading would calculate as 10MegOhms X (9-0.1) / 0.1 = 890 = MegOhms A value a typical DVM will not measure. It's not hard to measure into the GigOhm range. Sometimes you'll see readings of the wires you use being somewhat poor as you handle them, especially in humid weather. Wet or electrolytic conditions on the insulation probes may cause battery potentials to cloud the reading. If you suspect that just reverse the polarity of the 9V battery (turn it around) and average the two DVM readings and proceed with the formula.
Nice hacks I have a eight acre high tensile wire as the post rots I replace with t post covered with painted pvc pipe I make shallow cuts with the table saw to lock the wire to the post and use plastic coated wire to lock in looks good will outlast me
Not sure I like your garden hose insulator. But I could see it working by doubling or tripling the length to get a vertical offset from the hot wire. 1/4 is too close 2-3" is better. A seven inch segment with two nails is about 3x free but I'd be more comfortable with less arcing. John Scarborough uses pvc or nonmetallic emt in a similar manner.
I noticed u said someone could post questions here. One of the things I'm trying to figure out and a question I have is if the solar charge controllers really will shut off when the voltage and battery banks have too much power in them? I'm hoping someone might have information on this? They SAY they will. But I've noticed a lot of charge controllers don't work the way they say they should. And I'm worried about this because of fire risk. The cheap little 20 dollar blue one specifically that a lot of people use I found out was garbage. And that one doesn't shut off the way it should, and it wasn't actually pushing power the right way it should into the battery bank when things were clear and energy was going through solar panels also. This is part of why I ask. I've since gone to a better quality charge controller... but it leaves you with the question, if the higher cost ones will safely shut off at max voltage also still if others are defective? Thanks.
PVC does not do well in UV light. PVC is not meant to be in sunlight. They rot and get fragile. If you paint them though it will protect them. Still a great idea nevertheless.
Low budget is not necessarily cheap in quality. I always like a good challenge I came on here to see if my idea to transition a gate into an electric fence was up to snuff and seen your clip and as always love to learn new ideas life hacks. You did well. I’ve used air hoses and trailer water line for turns and such, but I like your insulator hack. It worked well with my old plastic air hose which is stiff as heck. Perfect. Thanks
Thanks so much for the info. We have a goat that continue to jump the fence, which was okay for a minute but then she started venturing into the neighbor's garden. My partner and I plan on using your method (I believe it was the third one you showed) of putting the longer piece of PVC pipe on the posts around her pen, however we have two gates. Any advice on how we can use your method while going around the gates?
I had three goats and now have two and they pay no attention to the fence. Fencers these days, brand new out of the package will not even get the attention of a goat. Oh and my horse? She stands by the fence and swishes her tail and vola weak fencer grounded out and farm fence destroyed.
Can the extension cord idea be used with an electric net system to bridge the opening of a barn I want my goats to use? New to electric fencing - and goats.
With wood posts, you don’t need insulators. Wood is a very poor conductor of electricity so the post itself is the insulator. If you’re in a high rainfall area, the water on the exterior of the post may be enough to ground the fence and short it.
