Orchard Diary 4/10/2017: Testing my electric fence

I used my high voltage ohmmeter (megger) to test the insulators on my electric fence. Although the fence operates at 4,000 volts, the 1,000 volt test would show if there was any leakage. It's best to do this kind of test in the early morning when there is still dew on the wire and insulators so that you can see stray current paths that won't show up when things dry out. If you get any leakage at all, then you have to walk the fence line while looking for anything leaning up against a hot wire, and listening for a ticking sound of an arc.

[@1rcproductions]

How many volts would I need to keep skunks and raccoons away from, and from destroying my lawn? Thanks.

[@Neighbour_Al]

An electric fence is not going to solve your problem. The critters are there because you have grubs in your lawn that they are eating. Get rid of the grubs and the critters will move on. Don't waste your time and money on a fence.

[@1rcproductions]

@@Neighbour_Al Thanks for your reply. We have had our lawn sprayed twice to lessen the number of grubs but we will not see the results of that until next year according to the person that applied the spray. In the mean time I hope we still have a lawn left.

[@Neighbour_Al]

@@1rcproductions I'm not familiar with any spray that has long lasting benefits (years). Milky spore (recommended for Japanese beetle grubs) lasts for several years. en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Milky_spore