Electric Fence Install

Electric fence ins only as strong as its wekest link so attention to detail is more important than how the fence is installed.

When you have chosen the equipment required for the application planned, installing electric fencing is not difficult and there are a few simple but critical areas to keep in mind. Electric fences are not designed to be robust impenetrable barriers but instead rely upon animals changing their behaviour as a result of receiving a shock.
Rule 1. Make sure that the conductor (current-carrying rope, tape or wire) touches ONLY plastic - nothing else. Not wood, metal, vegetation or concrete - Isolate it totally.
Rule 2. Make sure you have an efficient earth to return the current back to the energizer when the animal touches the conductor.
Rule 3. Train the target animal to respect the fence
And that is it. Follow those three simple rules and your fence will deliver the "sting" you are looking for.

Installation
1. The first step is to locate all of your corner post, gate posts and end posts.
2. Install all corner and end posts, but do not install the bracing just yet. Do not install your in-line gate posts yet.
3. You now need a guide wire or rope to establish a good straight fence line. Since we are going to install a rope fence system we recommend that you use rope for your guide wire. It will later be used as your bottom rope. Take some time to stretch your guide wire - i.e. snap it up and down and get it tight and straight. If you have a rise in the lay of the land, go to that point and make sure that you have a straight line going over the rise.
4. You can now install your bracing to your corner posts and gate posts. With the guide wire tight you can line your bracing up so that the ropes are all straight. Corner and end posts should always be wood, metal or concrete. Plastic horse posts are not intended for corners and do not have the strength to withstand tension in the fence. 
5. The next step will be to install your line posts. The distance between posts is entirely at your discretion. The further apart they are the more the conductor wire will sag and if it is a tape, the more it will flap in the wind. It is better to place the posts so that the line will follow the topography of the ground, ie; in the hollows and highest points. A 5 to 10m interval between posts is fine. The in-line posts may be either wooden posts with suitable insulators attached or plastic horse posts pressed into the ground.
6. Now, you will have all your corner, end, gate posts and line posts installed. So you are about ready to stretch your rope.
7. Mark all your posts, indicating the location of your strands of rope. It is quite simple to take an old yard stick or something similar to use as a template. This will assure that your rope is equally spaced thru-out your system.
8. Corner insulators are now installed at the heights required. The conductors need to be aimed at the animals' most sensitive organ, the one they use the most to investigate unusual objects - that is the nose. It is wet, very sensitive and the majority of animals use it to test out un-known features. The nose-height of the resting target animal dictates the positioning of the first line. The second line should be sited in a position so that if the animal crouched to get under the first line it will again get the nose or the top of the legs if a horse is using a blanket to insulate it from the top line. If there are animals of different height then you must cater for both. These may be adjusted to suite your own requirements. 
9. Now you are ready to start attaching and tensioning your rope to the posts. Attach one end to the end insulator, looping it thru the insulator, and then use a rope clamp to secure it. Using a broomstick or dowel though the center of the reel, walk the rope to the other end reeling out the rope behind you. Attach your rope around the other end post and tension your rope - do not over tension. After you have achieved adequate tension, secure the rope with a clamp. Make sure to use proper joins and tight connections throughout.
10. Now you are ready to attach the rope to all the line and brace posts. Allow the rope to "settle in" for about 24 hours, and then re-tension the rope.
11. Install your energiser and grounding and energise your new fence.