Electric fence question

NCMedic

NCMedic

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I successfully installed a electric fence along our fenced in area to attempt to keep the ”Irish Mafia" aka 3 Irish Terriers from continuing to dig out from under the fence or try to jump the fence. Which has worked.
I have yet to tackle the gates, of which we have 3... 2 man gates (person gates?) and one larger one to fit the tractor or mower through.

I have three of these gate kits to install
Screenshot_20221126-141501.png

They all reference running a length of wire under ground on each side of the gate. Does this do anything other than maintain the continuity of the fence. I think it's a extra step I don't need for my application... If a gate is open, the dogs aren't in the yard.
 
Connect burial wire (insulated black rubber coating) and run under the gate in the ground. Doesn’t have to be deep.
 
amnesia said:
Connect burial wire (insulated black rubber coating) and run under the gate in the ground. Doesn’t have to be deep.
Click to expand...

Yeah, probably like spark plug wire (for a reason).

Just has to be deep enough to avoid mechanical damage.
 
amnesia said:
Connect burial wire (insulated black rubber coating) and run under the gate in the ground. Doesn’t have to be deep.
Click to expand...

JohnFreeman said:
Yeah, probably like spark plug wire (for a reason).

Just has to be deep enough to avoid mechanical damage.
Click to expand...

I have the wire.... I guess the question is is there any benefit other than maintaining the continuity of the fence when a gat is open... Which I don't care about, because if the gate is open, the dogs aren't out and we generally don't access the gates as a primary entry route.
 
NCMedic said:
I have the wire.... I guess the question is is there any benefit other than maintaining the continuity of the fence when a gat is open... Which I don't care about, because if the gate is open, the dogs aren't out and we generally don't access the gates as a primary entry route.
Click to expand...
It’s cleaner and one less thing to worry about.
 
How are you maintaining continuity now when you open and then close the gate?
 
Sometimes the gate kits (like what you posted a pic of) will get oxidation on the parts where they touch, and then the fence on the back side of the gate will be weak and the dogs can get out. By running a permanent wire under the gate you'll have maximum power to the fence.

Plus, I have found that it is better to run the heavy insulated wire inside something like black poly or old garden hose. That provides an extra level of insulation and makes it easier to replace the wire should it ever be needed.

If you omit the buried wire, then be sure that the "hook" end of the spring gate kit is on the hot side of the gate. That way the spring is dead when you disconnect it.

I've done away with all of my spring gate kits and gone to burried wire exclusively. For one thing the springs were always shorting out against the metal gates or hitting the posts or ground when I opened them. I got tired of getting zapped. I've added fence wire where needed to the metal gates to keep the dogs from getting through them, and the hot wires takes care of it elsewhere.
 
The ground wire is taken care of...stakes in the ground, right? The hot wire is fed from the charger and fed around the perimeter of your fence.

If you don't bridge the gap in the fence, the HV will go only as far as the first gate. I'd not trust the spring thing in NC weather.
 
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NCMedic said:
I have the wire.... I guess the question is is there any benefit other than maintaining the continuity of the fence when a gat is open... Which I don't care about, because if the gate is open, the dogs aren't out and we generally don't access the gates as a primary entry route.
Click to expand...

No
 
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Carolinatlc said:
How are you maintaining continuity now when you open and then close the gate?
Click to expand...
The poly wire is just run around the inside perimeter in a continuous length.... If I have to open the gate, I just step careful over the wire.
 
Scsmith42 said:
Sometimes the gate kits (like what you posted a pic of) will get oxidation on the parts where they touch, and then the fence on the back side of the gate will be weak and the dogs can get out. By running a permanent wire under the gate you'll have maximum power to the fence.

Plus, I have found that it is better to run the heavy insulated wire inside something like black poly or old garden hose. That provides an extra level of insulation and makes it easier to replace the wire should it ever be needed.

If you omit the buried wire, then be sure that the "hook" end of the spring gate kit is on the hot side of the gate. That way the spring is dead when you disconnect it.

I've done away with all of my spring gate kits and gone to burried wire exclusively. For one thing the springs were always shorting out against the metal gates or hitting the posts or ground when I opened them. I got tired of getting zapped. I've added fence wire where needed to the metal gates to keep the dogs from getting through them, and the hot wires takes care of it elsewhere.
Click to expand...
This makes sense. And I didn't think about the gate still being energized based off hook placement 🤦‍♂️
 
As scott mentioned eventually oxidation after a couple years degrades the performance threw those handles if you dont have another path for power to pass underground.
 
I have a dog pen and goat pen. Both have electric along bottom but I didn't use the spring at gate. I just used wire and the yellow handle. Spring was way to flexible and made wire very springy.
 
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