Fluorescent Bulbs Show Electric Fence Is Working

Fluorescent Bulbs Show Electric Fence Is Working FENCING Miscellaneous 32-3-29 Ralph Stover doesn't need to go outside to check if his electric fence is working. He looks out a window to see if the fluorescent light on his fence line is flashing. For about 25 years the Mulligan, Mich., horse owner has wired fluorescent bulbs to his electric fence wire, crimping the wire to one contact at each side of the bulb. The bulb is duct taped to the fence up against a wire. "The current goes through the light bulb. You can see it flash," Stover says. "You can use lights on all sides. I put a light on the end of the fence so I can see if electricity is making it all the way around." He recycles 4-ft. bulbs that are almost burned out. They last many years he says. Any size works. Through the years he has kept a variety of horses inside a woven wire fence with a strand of electric fence to keep the horses from scratching the fence. "It works good and doesn't cost anything to do," Stover says. If he doesn't see the light flashing he knows he better check the fence. He adds that it's also helpful to steer deer away from jumping and breaking the fence. Contact: FARM SHOW Followup, Ralph Stover, 13465 Gates Rd., Mulligan, Mich. 48861 (ph 517 649-8546).

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