Got questions? We've got answers! With over forty years of experience in agricultural fencing, the professionals at Kencove have seen a thing or two. In "Fencing FAQ" you'll find answers and solutions to fence questions, obstacles, and misconceptions for greenhorns and veterans alike.
This is a common question and an important one! We recommend at least one output joule per mile of fence. Some energizer packaging will advertise "stored joules," but the more helpful rating to go off of is "output joules." It's important to make that distinction as the output joule rating will be about 70% of the stored joule rating. Keep in mind, excessive vegetation load as well as braided twine or electric netting will have more resistance than smooth bare wire. It is possible to oversize your energizer and create "induction." Induction is when the sphere of energy that travels along a conductive strand is made bigger (by an excessively larger energizer) and results in voltage jumping to other nearby components like metal tube gates, gate latches, non-insulated strands, etc. Sticking to the one joule per mile rule of thumb will likely give you the best results for your situation.
You should aim to have at least 3ft of ground rod for every output joule. For example, if your energizer has an output joule rating of 6, you would want a minimum of 18ft worth of grounding. Ground conditions may dictate how long of a ground rod can be installed, so this recommended footage can be cumulative. You could accomplish 18ft of ground rods by three 6ft rods or six 3ft rods. Ground rods should be connected by one continuous strand that leads to the ground terminal of the energizer. It is a good idea to place the ground in an area that is consistently moist and damp, and at least 50ft away from any other existing utility ground bed system.
As far as post diameter, industry standard recommends using 6-7" wide posts for all end posts and corner/bend posts, which are referred to as "primary posts" or "king posts". This means at any corner, bend, change in direction, or gate opening, the post taking the brunt of the tension will be a 6-7" post. Such fence features would also require bracing, including areas of the fence line with major dips and rises. When build braces, your primary/king post should be a 6-7" diameter post, while the other vertical post, referred to as a "secondary" or "queen" post should be a 5-6" diameter post. The horizontal post used to span the gap between the two vertical posts should is typically a 4-5" diameter post. Line post size is less critical than bracing post size. The standard line post is 4-5" but smaller posts can be used as well as posts of alternative material, like T-posts, fiberglass posts, or composite posts. 8ft long wood posts are the industry standard, but height of fence material and frost line may dictate what length of post you use.
The length of an H brace should be 2x the height of the finished fence. For example, if your top high tensile strand is at 48" or you're installing 48" woven wire, Your H brace should be 8ft long. This means you would use an 8ft long 4-5" post as your horizontal. If you're building 8ft tall deer fence, your H brace should be at least 16ft long. This can be accomplished by using a 16ft horizontal post or building two back-to-back 8ft long H braces that share a middle post. There is no harm in maing your braces longer than 2x the height of the fence. Adding length to your braces will only increase strength.
There are a lot of numbers thrown around in a woven wire label but they all indicate something and can help you quickly make sense of that particular wire configuration once you know what they mean. Let's use an example a real label...
13 / 48 / 6
The "13" indicates how many horizontal strands make up that wire configuration. These strands run continuously from the beginning of the roll to the end and can be counted from top to bottom like rungs on a ladder. Here, "48" tells you how tall the woven wire is. This example would be 48" (4ft) tall. The "6" refers to the "stay spacing" or the space between the vertical wires, in this case 6" between each one. If you can picture woven wire, this indicates how wide each of the "squares" would be. This comes into play when choosing the best woven wire fore certain species. It is always best to select a stay spacing small enough to prevent animals from sticking their heads, legs, etc. through the fence.
You may come across labels with additional number, such as 13 / 48 / 6 / 12.5. The "12.5" in this case would indicate that the wire is 12.5ga wire, which is a standard size found in agricultural fencing.
When choosing between different styles of woven wire, you will likely see three different knot styles, they may go by different names but we will refer to them as hinge-joint, S-knot, and fixed-knot. Hinge-joint is usually the most economical knot style, animal pressure and push and shift these knots from left to right, potentially creating larger stay spacing they intended. S-knot, or Fastlock, uses a piece of wire to create a knot that resembles the shape of an "S," hence the name. This style is stronger the the hinge-joint. The strongest knot style is fixed-knot. This knot style uses a separate piece of wire to make a continuous junction at wire intersections that resembles a diamond. The tail is then tightly wrapped around the vertical wire below the knot. Fixed knot is the strongest and most secure knot style.
As a rule of thumb, you should have a minimum of 10-watts for every output joule of your energizer. So, for a 3 joule energizer, you would want at least a 30-watt panel. In cloudy climates, it's not a bad idea to go bigger. This will help capture more solar energy, compensate for a lack of direct sunlight, and keep your energizer operating at its full potential.
Most energizers you see today will have a voltage range of 0-12kV. This is true of a .25 joule solar energizer and a 24 joule mains energizer. The important factor in getting the most voltage out of your energizer is properly sizing your energizer to your application. We recommend 1 output joule per mile of fence as a rule of thumb for sizing an energizer. Don't expect a .5 joule solar energizer to power 5 miles of fence around the perimeter of your farm, regardless of what the product label tells you. When you combine a properly sized energizer with an adequate ground bed (at least 3ft of ground rod per output joule), you should experience effective voltage on your fence line. Energizers are made with a maximum voltage of 10-12kV, buying a larger energizer with a higher joule rating will not increase voltage. Maintaining your fence, managing vegetation, and providing adequate grounding will give you the voltage you are looking for, provided the energizer is the proper size for your context.
The amount of voltage required to effectively deter livestock and wildlife will vary from species to species. Provided are some general guidelines for common species, but keep in mind every animal is different and may have more or less of a voltage tolerance threshold. Cattle usually start to respect even a single strand of electric when the voltage reading is at least 4.5kV, give or take. Less than that and they may push their boundaries, more than that and you will likely have their attention. Cattle tend to explore with their noses, which provides a moist, conductive surface for an electric strand. Sheep and goats usually require greater voltage than cattle do to their lack of natural grounding and greater insulation from hair and wool. You will want the fence to be "hot" when you train them to electric. The higher the voltage reading, the better, but 6.0kV or 7.0kV may be the lowest you can accept for containing sheep and goats. Many people use multiple electrified strands or even electric netting to contain sheep and goats, but it is possible to train them to a single strand system if done properly and high voltage is maintained. Pigs are sensitive to voltage and can to be trained quickly and easily to respect electric fencing. Similar to cattle, their fleshy noses make great conductors. Depending on the breed, they tend to be on the less "hairy" side, which provides better contact than sheep and goats. Like any animal, pigs should be trained with maximum voltage to reinforce good behavior, but once trained, they can respect 3.0kV and higher. Horses are similar, they should be introduced to electric fencing with maximum voltage but can learn to respect a shock from 3.0kV or better. As stated, every individual animal is different and will respond to voltage differently. The key is thorough training, building fence that suits the animal size and behavior, and maintaining as as much voltage in the fence line as you can. There is no substitue for maintenance!
Electric netting is different from other fencing any many ways including numerous electrified strands and greater conductive resistance. For those reasons we recommend a minimum of .25 output joules per net. For example, 4 nets linked together would require a minim of 1 output joule to adequately electrify them all. Energizers have ratings for "stored joules" and "output joules," output joules are the best rating to go off of when choosing an energizer.