Electric fence question

[Rick Kr]

Finished my woven fence for my kids ducks and other future animals. Thanks to pointers on here it turned out great.

I am now running electric on the outside to keep all the other critters out, mainly coyotes and raccoons.

I am running the hot wires around the outside and will use tensioners. Should I use to the springs to maintain tension?? I am not sure, since I won't be cranking it real tight like a normal hi-tensile fence. Each run is 400ft., being Michigan it can go from 0 degrees to 100F, I know it will shrink some in the winter.

Thanks in advance,
Rick

 

[JW in NH]

Rick, Here in New Hampshire My electric fence is not stretched tight when I put it up. I go back and Put a "Z" bend in the wire to tighten it so it does not sag. When its -20F the "Z" pulls out to keep the wire tight. In the spring I just put the bend back in, While Iam checking for winter damge on the fence it self. JW in NH

 

[Anonymous-0]

You might try bungee cords with the hooks on them. The black ones will conduct some electricity due to the carbon in them.

 

[fixerupper]

I used a spring that was about the size of a garage door assist spring on an electric fence that went around a feed floor that I used to feed hogs on, and it saved the wire many times. To get the loader tractor into the feed lot I would drive over the wire and it would spring right back afterward. There was no need to bother with a gate. The one wire was all that was needed and the hogs respected it. I just had to be careful not to spook a new batch of hogs while they were in 'training'. There was a spring on each end of the fence and they were insulated from the post with porcelain insulators. I used a V belt as an insulator once and it worked too. Jim