Building an Electric Fence

Buckle up because this is a big one. But so is building a fence so let's do this, shall we?

What you Need

It really works best to draw this out on paper as you calculate how many of each thing you will need.

1. Posts (1 every 20 feet. Wood posts for corners and gate, intermediate posts can be rebar or plastic)

2. An energizer (solar powered or plug-in)

3. Enough wire to wrap your area 5 times

4. Insulated wire for rigging up the energizer (15 feet is plenty)

5. Insulators

On each corner post, you will need 5 corner insulators (5 x 4 = 20 corner insulators)
On each intermediate post, you will also need 5 insulators, but they may be different types depending on the type of post (calculations will vary)
On your gate post, you will need 5 insulators that your gate handles can attach to

6. Insulated Gate Handles (5, optional)

7. Wire ratchets (5, only necessary if you are using aluminum wire)

7. Split bolt high-tensile wire connectors (5, these attache the electrical wires to the fencing)

8. A grounding rod

9. A grounding rod clamp

Here is my Amazon list of electric fencing equipment.

Rigging Up the Energizer

I found this diagram to be helpful for rigging up the energizer to your fence.

Basically, you will connect from the red (positive) node to the top, middle, and bottom wires using the split bolts. Then you will connect from the black to wires 2 and 4 and then out to the grounding rod (we only use one grounding rod).

Testing Your Fence

Things to Remember

You must keep the undergrowth off the bottom of your fence or it will short out.
A solar-powered unit will not work in extended cloudy weather

Looking for more?

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