Electric Fence Grounding

[twstanley]

Pat, that's how I did our fences, the bottom wire is ground, then hot, then ground, then hot.

So if a calf tries to squeeze out, he gets a ground wire below and a hot wire on top, so they don't do that.

Same with a bigger animal. It seems to work real well for me.

[Pat]

twstanley, Sounds good to me, especially for periods of drought when good grounding is so difficult to get.

Lightning protection is shades of grey. There is no ultimate protection that permits the electric fence to be useful. Manual switching is not perfect but sure increases your chances of having the equipment survive. A caution... If you just happen to have your hand on or near the switch when the fence is hit or has a near miss you could be killed. I know it sounds paranoid but a long insulated helper made of dry wood or plastic can be used to open or close the switch. Just because you have walked across the road without looking for cars several times and survived doesn't make it a safe or smart thing to do.

[img]/forums/images/icons/smile.gif[/img] [img]/forums/images/icons/smile.gif[/img] Pat [img]/forums/images/icons/smile.gif[/img] [img]/forums/images/icons/smile.gif[/img]

[MarineJAG]

Pat,

Good words to live by.

[Adron]

I ended up putting the ground rods near the watering tank. The freeze proof faucet is near but on the non-horse side of the fence, so I drove the ground rods about a foot away right next to the concrete pad around the freeze proof faucet. I don't use automatic waterers, and am forever spilling 'a gallon or two around the faucet. Also when you shut off the faucet, there is a weep hole a couple of feet below ground level that lets the water in the upper part of the pipe drain back down below the freeze level.

Keeps the ground moist and have had no problems.

Oh Yeah!....Don't water when there is lightening around....