# electric fence



## johnny2 (Feb 6, 2017)

I run the parmak 12 and get them from statelinetack.com its the cheapest I have found them if you buy a couple you get a cash credit on your next purchase. the reviews are amazing on these chargers and I have to say I am impressed. I got zinged in the hand opening the gate ,when I flipped the switch off I must have bumped it back on. well that arm was useless for a little while. MN dnr has a minimum joule recommended for bear and not too many fencers meet that. Another option is have some more bacon for breakfast and soak the grease up with sponge (a large carwash type) the bear cant pass the sponge and they are never hungry again.


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## crofter (May 5, 2011)

The Parmaks are dependable. Is that really 10 miles of fence? That gets to be a pricey setup for one that large, don't know if the parmak 12 will handle that unless you keep the fence very clean of weeds. I find crawling slugs often short out insulators. Dont buy the solar panel ones with the dinky battery. Buy larger separate solar panel and an automotive battery from a big box store.


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## RangerLee (Apr 26, 2015)

bob393 said:


> I setting up a new apiary in bear country, What is the electric fence controller you all use?
> I will end up wit just under 10 miles of fence and no electric power to plug it in.
> Thanks


Like they said above. There are several good articles that can be found from Fish & Wildlife departments a d some beekeepers on the set-up. Also depending on your soil type, (wet vs dry) can impact how to run your wires. On wet soil it is common to run all + strands and just use the ground as ground. In areas where the soil can be very dry, sometimes that setup will fail so it is recommended you run alternating strands (+ and - strands) and still use the ground as ground.

Also depending your state regulations.. some people bait the wire with bacon before the bees arrive to pre-train the bears to avoid the wires... but in some states that is illegal.


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## Rader Sidetrack (Nov 30, 2011)

bob393 said:


> I will end up wit just under 10 miles of fence and no electric power to plug it in.


My suggestion is to set up two separate fence chargers. Use one to protect the apiary site itself, and the second one to protect the rest of the 10 mile fence line. That way, when something damages / shorts out etc the 10 mile line, your apiary is still protected. 

And I agree with _crofter_, use separate solar panels and battery rather than a single integrated system. The separate components are eaiser to troubleshoot and replace, and you can use a big battery in place to the _shrimp_ battery that typically comes with an integrated system.


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## bob393 (Aug 4, 2015)

I must have been falling asleep when I asked this question. 
It's no where near 10 mi. Actually it's under 1 mile of fence.

I want to go the six strand route so I was totaling up all the lengths and got it wrong by 9.5 miles.

I'm on the NY PA border and I have seen bears in the field I'm going to fence in.

Great advice on the separate charger and battery, just makes sense.

My soil is often on the dry side but I'm more concerned with the under growth
insulating the ground from the bears feet. 

I have read many articles on baiting the bears so they are trained not to try and get in,
defiantly in my game plan and who wouldn't want more bacon on the table..

And strangely the Parmak magnum 12 is the one I was looking at, seems to be one of the
most powerful and best reviewed out there.
rared ones out there.

Do you use metal wire or the poly stainless stranded cord.


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## liljake83 (Jul 2, 2013)

metal wire


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## Vance G (Jan 6, 2011)

To solve the dry ground problem and my ground has to be far dryer than yours! I run three hot wires interspersed with two grounded wires. That way the grounding doesn't totally depend on soil moisture.


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## bob393 (Aug 4, 2015)

I have seen that and thanks a good idea for the 5 wire system.

I'm getting confused on what solar panel to use, I see many out there.
Do you use a simple clip on RV battery charger, maintainer, or something more elaborate?


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## Riskybizz (Mar 12, 2010)

bob

We have very good luck with the Parmak solar charges. Most of our yards use the Parmak 12, but recently we began using the Parmak 6. That decision was based on advice from Randy Oliver. We use (3) good 8' grounding rods and keep the ground around them moist. You think its dry where you are? we are in the high mountain desert. The Parmak 12's are cranking out 11,000 volts plus. The Parmak 6 I tested yesterday was at 7.5-8.5. 5 strands of aluminum wire (not poly-tape). Actually many commercial folks run just 3 stands. The most import wires are the bottom 2 that must be low. I would never consider trying to attract a bear towards our yards by baiting? Why would you do that? If you research a black bears sense of smell its estimated to be at up to 18 miles. You don't think they can find your bee yard on their own? We are in the honey business not the solar business, so we use the Parmak's out of the box and don't consider them shrimpy by any means.


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## bob393 (Aug 4, 2015)

Thank you,

The only thing I might add is I suspect you have much better sun in NM then I have over here in NY. 
That's the only reason I can see to use a larger solar panel and a larger battery. 
I have gone a week without full sun.


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## johnny2 (Feb 6, 2017)

mine have the solar built on them and have not had a problem with it going dead. one of my yards is in sugar sand and I run 2 ground rods in that one and dump a gallon of water a week on each rod to keep it wetter


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## ushersean69 (Dec 28, 2021)

johnny2 said:


> I run the parmak 12 and get them from statelinetack.com its the cheapest I have found them if you buy a couple you get a cash credit on your next purchase. the reviews are amazing on these chargers and I have to say I am impressed. I got zinged in the hand opening the gate ,when I flipped the switch off I must have bumped it back on. well that arm was useless for a little while. MN dnr has a minimum joule recommended for bear and not too many fencers meet that. Another option is have some more bacon for breakfast and soak the grease up with sponge (a large carwash type) the bear cant pass the sponge and they are never hungry again.


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