Electric fencing for a tractor?

There are many folks out there moving chicken tractors and their electric fencing every day. Many of them move them twice a day.

Joel Salatin actually moves herds of cattle and huge flocks of chickens and their very large electric fences very frequently. You can find videos of him on YouTube.

Here is an Australian guy doing a very good job of explaining how electrical fencing looks/works, how it is laid out and how to install it. I think this type of chicken fencing is the grits! The only thing is you're not protected against is birds-of-prey.


Here is one of many suppliers of electric chicken fencing. I'm sure if you called any of the suppliers, they would be glad to explain what you need. If the kits offered are too large/expensive for your needs, look for other farmers of hobbyists who might want to split the material and costs with you.

https://www.premier1supplies.com/poultry/fencing.php?fence_id=96
 
It can be done....

Mount the charger to side of the tractor, then make brackets and install a wire around the tractor, I think 12-16 inches would be good. Mount the insulators to said brackets and install wire.

Now, mount a small coated copper stake to the front side of the tractor opposite the wheels, make sure it's 8-12 inches long and leave as much as possible sticking out the bottom. Use a standard pipe bracket to hold it in place. Run the ground wire from the charger to that stake.

Now when you move the tractor all you have to do is step the stake down when you set the tractor down and its grounded.

Completely portable electrified system attached to the tractor.

Ok, I have the charger, brackets and wire and I have that figured out. I have the power supply figured out. I am still working on the ground. Do you have a picture of the copper coated stake/pipe bracket as an example? How deep do you think the ground needs to go?
 
You can get by without ground actually being the ground. Connect ground wire to fencing material of tractor itself. The suspend hotwire as described by parties above. To get shocked predator will have to contact fencing material of tractor (now the ground) and the suspended hotwire at same time. Birds will not be shocked by contacting fencing of tractor only. Confirm charge by testing with contact between hotwire and fencing of tractor (versus the ground. Arrangement will make so you do not have to move a grounding rod with every move of tractor.
 
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Would that electrify the entire tractor though because there are doors on the side so the wire does not connect all the way around the tractor? But it is a good idea. Maybe I can find a way to connect the wire by adding wire where it's not connected now. Also the wire touches wood all over, not sure if the shock would be strong enough to deter a determined predator.
 
Would that electrify the entire tractor though because there are doors on the side so the wire does not connect all the way around the tractor? But it is a good idea. Maybe I can find a way to connect the wire by adding wire where it's not connected now. Also the wire touches wood all over, not sure if the shock would be strong enough to deter a determined predator.


So long as fencing wire is not in contact with ground you should be able to touch even the hotwire without getting zapped. Double check with charge reader, especially when ground it wet. You can make door fencing hot by connecting with a short piece of coated wire. The setup will short when very wet but it does not take much a shock to repel a critter already slowed by effort to force / chew its way through the tractor's fencing. I use a very low output charger to keep fencing hot around my smaller pens in field.

My low Joule charger I use to charge fencing in locations where I expect to get zapped a lot myself. It is unpleasant and makes kids laugh when I jump but does not ruin ones day.
 
Ha! I'm hoping not to get zapped too many times myself! It's going to run on a timer so the plan is to only have it on when it's dark.
 
I would recommend leaving the electric fence on all the time. Having your ground connected to the tractor fence will not shock you the ground if not d what shocks you, you must contact the hot wire as well as the ground in order to receive the shock. The hot wire would be strung around the tractor on plastic or ceramic insulators a couple inches outside the tractor fencing so as the predator pushes through the hot wire they'd also encounter the ground before being able to breach the tractor and receive a shock. If you are worried about shocking yourself you could always disconnect the fencer while you are working on our moving the tractor to avoid shocking yourself then reconnect once you are done. Predators still attack during the day especially dogs which in are often the worst offender
 
My problem is that I have 3 kids and they are in and out of the tractor ALL day.
 
Then consider having a larger area around tractor enclosed in electrified poultry netting. Assuming kids are old enough, then show them how to disable the charger when they are around the fencing and to turn it back on when they are done. My kids by two knew how to avoid being shocked although they need to be 5 or more to be able to turn it off and on. I grew up around fencing and learned quickly how to avoid being shocked yet did get shocked from time to time.
 

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