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Favorite Reels and Polywire Products

P

PureCountry

Well-known member
Joined
Oct 25, 2005
Messages
2,684
Location
Edgewood, BC, moving to Hardisty, AB
What types of reels and polywire or polytape have you found worked really well? I've been looking at Gallagher and Sta-Fix. Gallagher is expensive of course, but good quality. Sta-Fix seems as good of quality, and less money. I hear PowerFlex is good also.

Any recommendations?
 
Ab Gorrill at Lambacres.ca provides all of ours. Speedrite (stayfix) reels and 400m turbowire. The strands are tinned copper and much more conductive than regular polywire. We have one Gallagher reel and 5 speedrites. The Speedrite stuff is 1/2 the cost and just as good as the Gallagher.
I can dig up his number here if you are interested.
Our last purchase 3 weeks ago was
$65 Turbowire
$59 Geared Reel
 
O'Brians geared reels, and Poweflex polybraid( pretty stout stuff) used here with O'Brians blue tredeline posts, also use a few pigtails for bends, corners and anchors.

Only other products I have used has been of the farm store variety with disappointing results.

If geared reels were no longer available, I don't think I would use anything temporary, very spoiled already.
 
I only know of one powerflex dealer in Canada, based out of BC.
I don't know any O'Brien's dealers around our area. Most farm stores carry Gallagher, Dare, Power Wizard (crap), or Speedrite/Stayfix. I looked at powerflex fencing a few years ago but the Canadian dollar and the customs costs were prohibitive at the time. I don't know what the BC dealer prices are like.
 
I'm more then satisfied with my Geared Gallagher Medium Reels, I have a bunch of them, I have a few of the Geared Large Reels as well, they get a little heavy when filled with polywire. As of now I use Gallagher TurboWire. If I had the choice, I'd buy the stuff Gallagher New Zealand has, but it's not available here. Gotta go with geared, it's worth it's weight in gold.
 
As far as using tape or polywire I prefer the polywire by far, tape can be used when visibility is a concern. When we move cows across the highway we use the tape to block off the road without making it hot.

There are huge differences in the quality of polywires available, I never cared for most of the twisted products. The Powerflex polybraid is manufactored by a sea net mfg. company and is built to last.
 
Sean; There's a powerflex dealer out of Sundre. Marv & Barb Jackson . Also involved with Sundog Solar. I've got their catalog & prices seem OK. There's also a Saskatchewan dealer that is pretty aggressive in promoting their product & he's very good on price. Vintag Service; Jason Williams 306-741-1492.
I have dealt with Ab Gorril for years and he's a great guy; one of the pioneer's in electric fencing!
 
RSL said:
Ab Gorrill at Lambacres.ca provides all of ours. Speedrite (stayfix) reels and 400m turbowire. The strands are tinned copper and much more conductive than regular polywire. We have one Gallagher reel and 5 speedrites. The Speedrite stuff is 1/2 the cost and just as good as the Gallagher.
I can dig up his number here if you are interested.
Our last purchase 3 weeks ago was
$65 Turbowire
$59 Geared Reel
Click to expand...

What length of turbowire? Does 400m mean 400 meters? I'm looking for something to hold 1/2 mile or better. I'm going to mount it on the back of the Kawasaki when rolling/unrolling so not too concerned about the weight.

Powerflex has reps in Grande Prairie - Keddie's Feeds, Acme - Jim Bauer, and Sundre is their distribution warehouse - Marvin Jackson. Spoke with Marvin today - very knowledgeable guy and easy to talk to. I've know Jim for a while so will call him for his 2 bits worth on the Powerflex stuff also.
 
400 metres - 1200 feet.
More than that you are probably looking at some form of steel reel and winder. I would look at some of the used oilfield electrical reels and weld a bolt on you can spin with a cordless drill (FWIW)...
 
If you want over half a mile then you probably want the Gallagher Maxi Reel
http://www.gallagherusa.com/electric-fencing/portable.component.aspx?mktprodid=761 Definitely go with turbo wire for that length, it's 40 times more conductive then Poly Wire. 209 Ohms/mile vs. 10,000 Ohms/mile.

When you let that much wire out it's hard to reel in quickly, lots of friction. So what you do is hold the reel, drive back towards the insulated handle so it's "doubled up", then start reeling. It makes a huge difference.
 
Pretty sure I have met Marvin, is his company GreenEdge Fencing, if it is he has an AWESOME pounder mounted on an ASV.
 
Has anyone used the full size recycled plastic posts from crown shred and recycling in Regina-they are 4 inches and 6 feet long-not a whole lot more than same size wood posts and you wouldn't need to use insulators-deer break so many insulators up here. They show threm being pounded with a wheatheart heavy hitter so they must be fairly sturdy-I'm going to try a couple bundles this fall.
 
Gallagher polywire is absolutely the most durable and long lasting wire I have used...their tape hasn't lasted as long, but is better than anything else I've used(as Bootheel said, I use it when visibility is important)...turbo wire is a waste. For long runs, use 12.5 ga. AL for permanent supply wire, then subdivide with polywire. Ohms/mile...no polywire or tape can compare with 12.5 ga. AL and the cow isn't going to know the difference between a 7000 volt shock and a 5000 volt shock at the end of a polywire run.

Step-in post...I have 15 year old blue trendline...nothing else compares.
Everyday post...3/8 fiberglass...convenient and easy to handle...just WEAR GLOVES!!!

Premier has the best insulators I have used and a good strong reel(not geared though). My solution is to not roll up temporary wire to move it...I unhook it, drop it to the ground and drag it with the atv to its new run.

Something else I incorporate into my system is knife switches...I disconnect sections where there are no cattle and direct the power to where the cattle are.
The best electric fence is the one with well trained cattle inside and plenty to eat! :wink:
 

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