Business Services

Upgrading Your Farm’s Electric Fencing

Homes use fencing primarily for privacy, but farm fencing serves an entirely different (and more necessary) function. Farm fencing must be durable to protect against threats from animals and wildlife, and it must be able to withstand the harsh elements where farmers sometimes need to grow crops. In addition, fencing must protect from other wildlife, either those who seek to invade the vegetable garden for a tasty treat or those that stalk cattle and chickens.

Upgrading so much fencing is not a simple project.

Plan the Layout

In most cases, an electric fence offers the psychological deterrent a farmer is looking for when trying to create a safe space for crops and livestock. The first step in this process is to go over the grounds with an agricultural specialist and have this person draw up some plans for how you might divide the land. Try to make sure there is direct access to the farm house, and that roads do not exceed 16 feet in width. 10-12 feet should be ideal, as you can safely move supplies from a truck within that space.

It’s also best if you keep your paddocks in a square or rectangle shape, which helps in topping and fertilizing the land. It’s also a very efficient method of land use.

Choosing Posts and Wiring

A Gallagher fence offers a pen for livestock, especially horses, while creating a safer environment for them. You don’t need to spend two or three times the cheapest kind of fencing, but you should be prepared to pay for value. If the fencing is treated in creosote, and the wiring is properly galvanized, you should be able to get multiple years of life from your system easily. Mild steel wire will hold a charge, and may be great for small animals in small enclosures, but it doesn’t tend to withstand the strains of extended use.

Tips and Tricks

It’s expensive to provide a charge to a large fence line, but you can do some things to help cut costs. Try trimming away excess vegetation, with the system turned off, to reduce wasted power. Good insulation and proper earthing are also key components.

Smaller gardens and pens may also benefit from a solar powered electric fence, which is cheaper to run and just as easy to set up. Solar powered fencing is recommended only in areas that receive strong sunlight.
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How to Maintain a Refinery

Refineries, especially in regions like Southern California, can provide a valuable source of jobs and income for a company. Every day that a refinery remains out of operation is costing the company money, and it’s keeping people out of work. Refineries also need to be maintained, the same as any other kind of facility. The needs may be different, but it still means down time. The goal of construction & turnaround services is to minimize these delays.

Down Time

Typical turnaround can involve months of down time while a facility is brought up to code, or new equipment is added. This means significant downtime for the plant, which cannot continue operations safely under those conditions. This is an expensive proposition for any business because they are essentially paying double for the downtime. Once for the downtime itself, and again for the equipment and labor required to fix the problem.

A poorly managed turnaround can be the downfall of a company.

As a result, there is intense pressure to get these events finished as quickly as possible. Fortunately, most turnarounds are scheduled well in advance. The exceptions being disasters or accidents that can cause irreparable harm without any kind of warning.

There is also time required for inspection and testing. A structural steel expert may be called to verify the integrity of a structure, or to ensure that the steel ordered is what was actually delivered.

Conclusions

In order to handle the immense work, coordination needs to begin early. Planning should begin months or years in advance.

Bio: Lyle Charles Consulting is a firm that helps construction companies with project management, turnaround and planning. Lyle Charles is also available as an expert witness or private mediator.

Durable and Recyclable Steel Projects

Written by Lyle Charles

No metal on the planet compares to steel. Not only is the material extremely strong, durable, versatile and affordable, it can also lay claim to helping build most of the civilized world. Prior to steel, buildings could only go so high. There were no skyscrapers, there were barely even reliable buildings making it close to three or four stories (you would not want to risk it).

With the boom of steel, the entire world grew up practically overnight. Skylines rose higher and higher and entire cities didn’t just welcome more people, they had places to put them all. Since then, steel has become an ever more essential commodity as other places throughout the world hasten to catch up.

Perhaps best of all is that steel is also recyclable. So when a building gets brought down or the build gets cancelled for some reason, that amazing material can find a new home elsewhere. It gets melt down, smelted all over again and it’s back out to become a new amazing building.

For this reason, if you’re looking for a construction consulting firm, make sure they understand how important steel is.

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Construction projects involve too many moving parts to go at it alone, which is why so many companies in your situation rely on Lyle Charles. Aside from being a reputable construction consultant, Mr. Charles is experienced in all facets of the construction industry and can lend his knowledge to help get yours the results you desire.