Electric Fence Earth Stake Spacing

Does power fence cost more to build than barbed wire.

Electric fence earth stake spacing.

Small and nimble species like rabbits for instance need more lines than larger less agile animals like cattle or horses. First you need to create a dead short on your electric fence line at least 100 metres away from the earth stakes by laying an iron bar across the wires to ground. Additional earth stakes may be added by driving them into the ground 1 2 meters away from the existing stake and joining them together. The earth system consists of a number of earth rods the provide an effective low resistance path for the current to return to the energizer s earth terminal.

The grounding circuit is a critical component of your electric fence and is essential to its proper functioning. Materials needed and labor required to build power fence are both significantly less than for barbed wire up to 1 000 per mile less. The ground constitutes 50 of the electrical circuit but 90 of all problems originate at poor earthing either at the earth stake itself or on the fence. Remember push your earth stake well in.

Isn t power fence intended to be a temporary fence high tensile power fence is every bit as permanent as barbed wire. How does earthing work. If your fence is very long then the earth will have to be better than if it is short because the circuit is much bigger from the electric wire back to the earth stake s. The fence charger or energizer is designed to alter the electric charge into a power that is safe for animals and people.

With a voltmeter measure the voltage between the earth stakes and the ground. With 30 years of experience building hundreds of km of electric fence i ve seen just about every fencing mistake possible. But when conditions become dry mike says. And do not forget to miss the walls and trees.

Larger energizers with large fence lines require more earthing rods. Make sure your earth stake is pushed into the ground as far as you can get it. For an electric fence shock the current produced by an energizer must complete a full circuit. Which is picked up by a series of earth stakes connected to the earth terminal unit creating a circuit.

The number of lines in your electric fence and their spacing depends on the size and agility of the animals you want to contain or deter. Don t place your earth stake next to trees. And i continue to see folks make many of the same common mistakes. When i put in our electric fence unit 15 years ago i rammed in 2 earth stakes into a bit of swampy spring connected these with no 8 galvanised wire and connected that to a.

I still make mistakes myself because i m constantly challenging myself to make fencing easier faster stronger and safer.