Principal Brian Collins says he has been "besieged by farmers and retailers with pigtail standards whose insulation material has deteriorated in a relatively short time." This is "frustrating for his business" given his products are made to last 10 years, he says.
The company says it found the products in question were not theirs but an import. The insulation material was found to lack the UV stabilisers that would ensure a long life for the plastic component.
"The plastic is cracking," Collins says. "Due to our harsh climate – as much the cold and wet as the unforgiving heat – the plastic deteriorates.
"It can be a minute split that allows or causes the power to be earthed through the steel standard, which makes the fence useless as an electric barrier.
"Worse still, when you grab the offending standard you get a shock. It doesn't make for happy farming staff.
"These don't do the New Zealand manufacturers any favours either, especially when it is our technology they are using."
Strainrite says it has looked at "the whole insulator issue and come up with a new idea and design giving farmers another option in the fencing arsenal."
Says Collins, "As insulators in New Zealand's harsh climate have a life expectancy of about 10 years, a huge number of fences and components are now reaching their use-by date".
The company's newly designed outrigger, with a replaceable insulator, means if an insulator is damaged by man or beast it can be quickly and easily replaced without having to change the whole assembly.
It mounts easily on a fence and wire. It takes take all gauges of wire.
www.robeng.co.nz
