"Ken Anderson" wrote:

Are you talking about commercial electric fences? Do they put out high
voltages, but won't kill you, like a car's coil? I don't know much about
electricity, but I believe the 220 in my garage can kill. And you're
talking
800 volts?

Amperage, not voltage kills. That's why you get a shock when you touch a
(firing) spark-plug wire (20-60,000 volts), but don't get hurt (unless you
bump your head on the hood jumping away).

Conversely, the 40-volts from a ringing telephone can kill you, if you
happen to be in the tub and someone drops the ringing phone in.

Standard "electric fence" transformers produce 800 volts a/c, and are
sufficient to deter small animals, deer, and humans. I think cattle and
horse fence transformers are about 1200-1600 volts, perhaps 2000. The 10Kv
fences are designed to kill anything which touches it, and are only used in
very high-security installations. [They are illegal anywhere else, and you
wouldn't be able to purchase the transformers very easily.] It's mention was
solely due to my hatred for raccoons, and a warped sense of humor. I
apologize if it offended your sensibilities.

Normally, one does not "electrify" the fence itself, but rather strings the
hot-wire close to the ground, or just above fence level, using plastic
insulators, and grounds the transformer to the fence and the earth. Then the
fence is not "hot", and doesn't pose a fire hazard if something touches it.
When someone or something touches the hot-wire AND the fence (or wet
ground), they will receive a shock. Since the amperage is very low, and the
current is A/C, the shock is just that --- a shock. It _will_ kill birds,
which is why the hot-wire should be far enough from the fence that the bird
can't touch both, and rats (good riddance), but it will not kill dogs,
raccoons, squirrels, or larger mammals.

If you don't have a metal fence (e.g. chain-link), you need to install a
second "ground" wire, so that the intruder will touch both simultaneously.
For this to work, you need to determine the size of your target.

This would have been my suggestion, since a transformer and 500' roll of
wire can be purchased for about $25, and installed in a few hours (I used
sections of 3/4" pvc pipe as insulators). But I like the motion-detector
light and radio idea much better --- depending how large your vineyard is.

Since you say you are not familiar with electricity, and thus may not be
comfortable doing a bit of wiring, you can purchase (more expensive) motion
detectors which have a standard plug in. Then you can plug that into an
extension cord, and plug the lamps and radio into it. Or, I will be happy to
give you a quick course in wiring, and/or refer you to a website with
pictorial instructions.

I don't know what sort of vineyard you have, but I would envision having at
least one detector in between each row, which can get pretty expensive
compared to the electric "fence". If it is a relatively small vineyard,
perhaps you can install the motion detector and lighting high enough to
cover everything with one or two fixtures.