Electric fence post spacing

[Bfitzgerald3]

Tracor supply has tposts on sale and i'd like to ge them while cheap.

I'll be putting n 2000 ft of electric fence to keep snowmobilers out of my fields, not to contain animals. What ive been reading seems to sugges tight spacings (10ft or less) for largeish animals. Ive seen a few people suggesing 20-30 ft is okay for what im doing and one said 50 ft would still be okay. My thought is to go wot 30 ft spacing and if i ever get animals, i can fill the gaps to strengthen the fence.

Is this reasonable? What would you do or have you done?

Thanks!

 

[Stihlrunner]

Build it once, trust me. If you think there is a possibility that you may have animals then do ten feet. That will also give you a much sturdier people repellant! It is much more of a pain in the butt to go back and modify a fence later.

 

[Bfitzgerald3]

I hear ya, but the chances are remote, and definitely not on the horizon for at least five-ten years. Cost difference is about $650-700. With 2001 other projects coming up, i need to watch the $ pretty close right now.

 

[DT86]

How many wires are you using and what type of wire?

The thing about electric fence is you are building a psychological barrier, with woven wire or board fence you are building a physical one.

What I'm getting at is post spacing can be stretched to 30' even for animals, once they learn where it is they will respect it.

 

[Bfitzgerald3]

Type of wire is to be determined. My goal is exactly what you hinted at... A psychological barrier for trespassers. I'm guessing this will take the occasional hit by a deer. Other than that, it will need to withstand windy days and the effects of time.

Was planning on running two wires... One at half height, one high.

 

[muddstopper]

Just a thought, but if you use to wide a spacing, what is to prevent the snowmobile folks from simply raising the fence and driving under it. If you are riding a snowmoble, chances are you already have some sort of gloves on which would prevent the electrical shock from doing what you want it to do.

 

[creekbend]

Just a thought? Have you considered putting warning signs on the finished fence and some yellow strips throughout the span?

 

[Bfitzgerald3]

Of they reall want in, thell get in. I'm banking on the few individuals being a bit rude, not pestilent bas****. I will either put ribbons up or if possible, get braided wire with a white/yellow stripe.

I think im gonna go for 30'

Thanks, all!

 

[texasjohn]

the yellow/black braided stuff I found to be easy to break and unsatisfactory.

Me, I'd use 12.5 gauge smooth wires, in-line ratchets and an electric fence charger qualified for 200 miles of smooth fence. Post spacing, for your purpose only, can surely be 30 to 50 ft but make SURE your end posts/braces are SUPER solid, even for just two strands. Line post spacing is often dictated more by terrain than fixed distances. Tighten the ratchets as needed to remove slack. This will mark your property boundaries with minimal expense. Gives you something to hang "keep out" signs from. People driving ATV's into it will get the message but not get cut up like if it were barb wire.

I've used smooth wire for over 30 years. Good corner post bracing, wire and T-posts last forever. Plastic insulators have about 10 year life span, occasionally need replacement because a deer or other animal tangles with the fence.

 

[joshuabardwell]

With electric fence, it is actually better (in my opinion, but I'm not the only one) to have some give in the wires. If the posts are close and the wires are piano tight, the first time a deer or a cow runs full speed into them, or a tree gets knocked down on them, the wires may break or a post may get pulled out. But if they have only enough tension to take out the sag, and the posts are far enough apart, they will stretch and bounce the animal back, or the tree will lay them down all the way to the ground, but as soon as you move it, the fence will spring back up again, as good as it ever was.