Electric Fence Posts
Electric horse fences go all the way from using no posts (if they are on an existing barrier fence) to employing 6 or 8 inch diameter wood posts driven four or more feet into the ground. Between these extremes come a diverse array of electric horse fence posts with differing degrees of portability, weight, and strength–the main types being plastic step-in posts, thin and thick fiberglass posts, painted and galvanized steel T-posts, and T-posts covered in vinyl sleeves. Here are some basic points about each type:
Plastic Step-in Posts: Plastic step-in posts are the super-convenient first choice for portable electric horse fence. These posts have slots and holes studded along their length for all manner of electric fence conductors (including electric fence polyrope, electric fence polybraid, electric fence wire, and electric fence polytape up to 1.5 inches wide), so one needs no insulators. Nor does one need an extra set of hands to hold the bunch of posts while using two hands to set one in. Instead you can hold a bunch, take one out, insert it into the ground by stepping on it, and go on to the next post. Then simply insert one or two runs of polyconductor into the appropriate slots on each post, set in some tent pegs (see below), insert the ground rod into the ground, hook up the ground rod and conductor to the two terminals on the charger, start up the charger, and you’re done–all in as little as 10 or 15 minutes.
The main drawback to step-in posts is that anytime they encounter sideways stress they tilt. To correct this (mostly for corner, end, and gate posts) one can set a couple of tent pegs (product 09-105) into the ground on the side opposite the post’s actual or potential tilt, connecting them to the post with any convenient cord, line, wire, or twine.
There is a tendency to forget that a lot of the step-in post goes into the ground. So a 4-foot step-in post yields a fence height of more like 3 feet, which is barely tall enough for a portable electric fence designed to contain ponies. For this reason we sell step-in posts that are have 60 or even 72 inches out of the ground (see products 09-99, 09-100, 09-14, and 09-106). Besides plastic varieties, we also offer a thin metal step-in post (product 09-103), whose ease of transport makes up for the need to clip on a small plastic insulator in the course of installation.
