How do I build an electric fence?

Before starting to construct your fence, draw up a plan of the area it should cover. Think about which accessories you will need. The basic equipment needed for any electric fence system are: energiser, posts, insulators, fence and ground connection cable, conducting material, warning sign, grounding stakes and lead out cables.

Get all materials ready and start by placing the posts. Use either permanent fence posts such as our wooden Octowood posts, which stay fixed in one position and are very stable and robust. If you would like to be able to flexibly put up and take down your fence, use plastic, fibreglass or metal posts.

If you wish to put an access gate into your electric fence or include corners in your plan, then you should use permanent wooden posts at these points in order to ensure stability of the fence.

Screw the insulators onto the wooden posts at the height where the conducting material will eventually run. Depending on the type of animal in question, you may need one or several rows.

Feed the wire through the eyelets of your flexible posts or through the insulators in the wooden posts and mount these at the start and end of the fence. To avoid any loss of current at the start and end of the fence, do not tie knots in your conducting material. For wire and rope you should rather use a corner insulator (e.g. item no. 44812) and a connector (e.g. item no. 44684) (see picture). For tapes, the corner and line insulator (item no. 44632) is most suitable. If you have several conducting rows that you need to tension, it is not necessary to pull each individual row. You can instead pull the conducting material through into the next row (see picture).

Remember that you do not need to create a completed electric circuit. The fence can end at any point, and you only need to create a voltage, similar to a battery. Only when an animal touches the fence is the circuit completed via the animal and the ground, thus allowing the current to flow (electric shock). Select a suitable location for setting up your energiser. This locations should provide protection from wind and rain for mains energisers – the wall of a house with a canopy, for example. Warning – only turn on the energiser once the electric fence has been completely installed. If possible, set up the energiser and its grounding at a location where the soil is sufficiently moist.

Place a grounding stake near to the energiser and connect it using a grounding cable to the ground connection on the energiser. If the ground conditions are particularly poor, e.g. sandy, dry soil, it may be necessary to use several grounding posts. Connect these together using a highly conductive corrosion-resistant wire (ideally galvanised steel wire or lead out cable e.g. Item no. 32601). Make sure the grounding stake is placed at least 10 m away from the house wall, if you have set up the energiser in such a location. Next, connect the conducting material to the fence connection on the energiser using the fence connection cable. It is a legal requirement that any electric fence systems placed near to public roads and pathways are clearly indicated with warning signs. Attach clearly visible warning signs every 100 m or so and at entrances to paths and locations where an electric fence may not be expected carrying the phrase "Caution Electric Fence". (Different warning regulations may apply depending on your state for marking electric fence systems. Find out what regulations apply in your area before installing your fence.) You are now finally ready to turn on your energiser. First make sure that a mains energiser is plugged into a mains socket.

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How do I build an electric fence?

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