Farmer’s Weekly – 09 August 2019

36

y ea rsago

Thisarticle

focusedoninstallingand

maintainingelectricfences.

Whenanelectricfenceis

installedalonga publicroad

orpathway,youshouldplace

warningsignsat frequent

intervals.Whereit is installed

nearoverheadpowerlines,

thewiresshouldnotbemore

than2mabovetheground.

Energisedfencewiresor

connectingleadsmustnotbe

attachedto anypolesupporting

low-voltage,high-voltage

orcommunicationwires,

unlessauthorisedto doso.

Newto theelectric-fence

marketinSouthAfricaare

solar-poweredenergisers.These

arebestsuitedto sunnyareas

onlargeproperties,where

mainspoweris unavailable.

Theseenergiserscanelectrify

a fenceof 1kmto 30km.They

donotrequiredirectsunlight

to chargethebattery.

However,themoreintensethe

light,thegreaterthechargerate.

A fusesystemis incorporated

asa safeguardincase

thebatteryterminalsare

accidentallycrossed.The

battery(boughtseparately)

mustbeof goodquality.

AtrecentfielddaysinSouth

Africa,therehasbeena lotof

interestintheTumblewheel– the

fencelinethatcan‘walk’.Made

fromultralight,non-corrosive

materials,it canbequicklyand

easilymovedbyonemanwith

stockbehindtheelectrifiedwire.

Therearetwotypesavailable:

oneto suitdairycowsandbeef,

anotherforsheepandgoats.

Fencesupto 200mlongare

managedfromoneend.Allthe

operatorhasto dois keepthe

linetautonthepulley,orreel,

provided,havingdisconnected

it froma fencestandard.Power

shouldhavebeenswitched

off,butthewholeoperation

takesonlya minuteortwo.

If wishingto extendthefence

outwards,theoperatorwalksin

thedirectionthefenceis to go,

keepingthelinetaut,andletting

outmorewirefromthereel.Ashe

moves,sodotheTumblewheels.

Thelightspokesof the

‘wheel’turnoverwithlittle

effort,sothefencefollowsthe

operator.Similarly,if thefence

is to beshortened,orfixedto

parallelstandardsacrossthe

land,theoperatorshortens

thelineashewalksinfroma

rightorleftanglestandard.

If thefenceis liftedvertically

bythetwobottomlegs,stock

andmachinerycanpass

underit withoutthepower

havingto beturnedoff.The

Tumblewheelcomesin a set

of fivepricedat aboutR

[aboutR168]each.Thesolar-

poweredSP50energisercosts

aboutR1 680 [R4875]. ▪FW

archive

Rand values have been

adapted for inflation.

This article has been edited to adhere to

the current style of Farmer’s Weekly.

29 april 1983

electric fencing

devotedtosaFarming since 1911

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