You’re standing in a knee-high pasture, the sun is beating down, and you have exactly twenty minutes to move thirty sheep before your next meeting. If you’ve ever wrestled with individual plastic tread-ins and tangled spools of polywire, you know that "portable" is often a polite word for "infuriating."
That’s usually where the Gallagher Smart Fence 2 enters the conversation.
I’ve seen people treat this thing like a magic wand. Others think it’s just an overpriced reel. Honestly, it’s neither. It is a highly engineered tool that solves a specific headache: the "unholy mess" of traditional temporary fencing. But if you don't understand how the tensioner actually works or why your cattle are walking right through it, you’ve just spent $370 on a very fancy paperweight.
Why the Smart Fence 2 Isn't Just "Version 1.1"
When Gallagher released the second iteration of this system, they weren't just changing the color of the plastic. They fixed the stuff that made the original version a bit of a literal snag.
The biggest upgrade is the winding system.
In the old days, if you snapped a wire, you were basically done. You couldn’t reel a knot back into the housing without everything jamming. The Smart Fence 2 changed the aperture of the tensioners. Now, they are wide enough to let a reef knot pass through. It sounds like a small detail until you’re in the field at 6:00 AM trying to splice a line that a deer decided to test.
They also beefed up the main end post. Stability is the name of the game here. If your end post leans, your whole 100-meter line sags. The new post is significantly more rigid, meaning you can actually get that "guitar string" tension that keeps animals from even thinking about testing the boundary.
The Anatomy of the Kit
You get 10 posts in total—nine standards and one beefy end post. These aren't loose; they lock into the main housing for transport. You carry it like a suitcase. Inside that housing are four independent reels holding 328 feet (100 meters) of wire.
- The Wires: You’ve got three strands of poly braid and one strand of high-conductivity Turbo braid.
- The Height: It stands about 35.5 inches tall once it’s in the dirt.
- The Tensioning: A single crank handle handles the reel-in, but the "smart" part is the friction clutch. It keeps the lines from bird-nesting if you drop the handle.
The Training Trap (What Most People Get Wrong)
Here is the cold, hard truth: a Gallagher Smart Fence 2 will not hold a hungry goat that doesn't know what it is.
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I’ve heard farmers complain that their livestock just pushed right through the "expensive fence." Well, yeah. It’s a psychological barrier, not a physical one. These wires are thin. If an animal hasn't been "zapped" by a high-joule energizer before, they’ll see those four thin lines as a suggestion, not a rule.
The Solution?
Don't just throw them in a new paddock with the Smart Fence on day one. You have to train them. Set the fence up inside a secure, permanent enclosure. Let them investigate it. Attach some strips of tinfoil to the wires. When they go to sniff the shiny stuff, they get a memorable pop.
Once they respect the "bite" of the wire, you can put them in the middle of a 40-acre field with just the Smart Fence, and they won't touch it. It takes about three to five days for the lesson to stick.
Real World Usage: Mountains vs. Meadows
The marketing materials always show a perfectly flat, green field in New Zealand. Real life usually involves rocks, hidden gopher holes, and hills.
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On undulating ground, the Smart Fence 2 can be a bit of a diva. Because all four wires pull from a single reel point, if you go over a sharp rise, your bottom wire might end up touching the ground (shorting out the fence) while the top wire is too high.
Pro Tip for Hills:
Gallagher actually includes adjustable lugs on the posts. In long grass or on a "lumpy" hill, move that bottom wire to the second lug up. You lose a bit of the "small animal" protection, but you keep the fence hot. If the terrain is really wild, you can't rely solely on the 10 included posts. Keep a couple of extra Gallagher pigtail standards in your truck to "pin" the fence down in the valleys or push it up over the crests.
The Power Problem
One thing that catches people off guard is that the Gallagher Smart Fence 2 does not come with an energizer.
You’re buying the delivery system, not the power plant. You have to hook this up to an existing fence line or a portable solar unit. If you're running two of these units together (yes, you can daisy-chain them to get 200 meters of fence), you need a serious charger.
For a single unit, a Gallagher S40 solar energizer is usually plenty. If you’re connecting three units for a massive temporary paddock, you’re looking at something like the S100 or even a plug-in unit if you're close enough to a barn.
Don't skimp on the ground rod. A 3-foot ground rod is the bare minimum. If the ground is dry and "bony," even the best fence in the world won't shock a fly if the circuit can't complete through the earth.
Speed: Is the 5-Minute Claim Real?
Gallagher says you can set it up in five minutes.
The first time? No way. You’ll be fiddling with the guy ropes and trying to figure out how to lock the handle. But once you’ve done it three times? Honestly, five minutes is actually a conservative estimate.
It’s the take-down where the Smart Fence 2 really wins. Reeling in four wires simultaneously without them tangling is a minor engineering miracle. If you’ve ever spent an hour untangling "bird-nest" polywire from a cheap plastic reel, you’ll realize the time savings alone pays for the unit in a single season.
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Limitations to Consider
- The "Lead" Issue: In some regions, the metal crimps contain lead. It’s a standard industrial thing, but worth noting if you’re a strict organic hobbyist.
- UV Degradation: While the plastic is high-quality, it isn't immortal. If you leave it out in the high-altitude sun for three years straight without moving it, the housing will eventually get brittle. It's meant for temporary use, not as a permanent boundary.
- Wildlife: Large deer can still jump 35 inches. If you have a heavy predator or wildlife load, the Smart Fence 2 is a "deterrent," not a "fortress."
How to Get the Most Out of Your Setup
If you want this thing to last a decade, you need to be disciplined. When you're reeling it in, don't just "crank and go." Keep a little tension on the lines with your spare hand to ensure they lay flat on the spools.
Also, check your connections. The "crimp" on the end post is where you clip your energizer lead. Make sure it's clean. A little bit of corrosion or dirt there can drop your voltage from 7,000V to 2,000V, and that’s the difference between a cow staying put and a cow exploring your neighbor's garden.
Actionable Next Steps:
- Check your Energizer: Ensure you have a charger rated for at least 0.15 joules per 100m of fence.
- Order Extra Standards: If your land isn't a bowling green, buy 5 extra pigtail posts to manage the "dips" in the terrain.
- Plan your Grounding: Buy a dedicated portable ground rod; don't just try to stick a screwdriver in the dirt.
- Training Period: Set aside a small 10x10 foot area in a secure barn or paddock to "hot-train" your animals for 72 hours before taking the Smart Fence into the open field.