What Is a Freestanding Electric Fence?
If you’ve started investigating electric fences, you’ve probably already realised that there are lots of different options out there! Some are simple; some are managed. Some use mains power; others use solar panels.
Let’s take a closer look at a very specific type of electric fence: the freestanding electric fence. What is it, where is it used, and what else do you need to know?
What Is a Freestanding Electric Fence?
A freestanding electric fence, as the name suggests (and as you can see from the old fence in the image above) is an electric fence that is installed directly to fence posts or droppers. It is not combined with any kind of mesh or panel fence, and the electric fence itself forms the whole barrier.
Where Is Freestanding Electric Fence Used?
As you can imagine, you can’t simply install a freestanding electric fence anywhere you like. In fact, in most places, you need to ensure that any electric fence you do install is either high enough or on the inside of another fence structure so that members of the public cannot accidentally touch them.
This is true even if you have warning signs on the fence and even though most electric fences these days are non-lethal.
Freestanding electric fences are most often used in remote places. They might be used on a farm or ranch, somewhere where there is no traffic or pedestrians passing through, to keep animals in or out. They might also be used in wildlife preservation areas, again, to keep animals in or out.
Portable free-standing electric fences are sometimes set up around temporary camps in places where geologists or other scientists are working to protect them from local wildlife.
How Is a Freestanding Electric Fence Built?
Freestanding electric fences are the simplest kind of electric fence. They usually consist of simple fence posts or droppers, often y-sections or t-posts, or sometimes wood posts.
Insulators that are designed for the type of post being used are attached directly to the posts, and minimal tensioning equipment is used where necessary to keep wires taut.
The wires themselves are strung along the fence, and the whole system is connected to an energizer or energizers. In this case, multiple energisers would not be used to create zones, but rather if there is a very long freestanding electric fence to ensure that they can power all the wires required.
Who Can Install a Freestanding Electric Fence?
If you’re looking for a fence company that installs freestanding electric fences, you could try companies that do other kinds of electric fence or talk to companies that do agricultural fences.
As simple as this type of electric fence is, there aren’t that many companies that do install this type of fence system, so you might have to do some searching to find one to help.
Another good option is to talk to electric fence product manufacturers and distributors, who might have a list of contractors and fence companies they supply in your area.
As far as electric fence systems go, this is one that you are most likely to be able to tackle as a DIY project.
