Electric Fence Posts, cont’d
Thin Fiberglass Posts: Plastic step-in posts can be used with various small temporary electric fences; but for those fences not designed specifically to be portable, a better choice is thin fiberglass posts. These three-eighths and half-inch posts (see products 09-03 thru 09-08) are very flexible, so they make poor corner, end, and gate posts. However, they make excellent line posts that can hold a wide range of round post insulators and are both longer-lived and less damage-prone than their plastic step-in cousins.
These posts are pointed at one end, and you may actually be able to install them by simply pushing the pointed end a foot or so into the ground. If tapping with a small hammer is needed, each bundle usually comes with a convenient drive cap, or if there is no drive cap simply put a thin piece of wood between the post and the hammer to avoid damaging the top of the post.
To deal with corners, ends, and the sides of gates one can simply use thin fiberglass posts set into the ground at an angle to compensate for any bending. A more elegant solution is to use another sort of post such as thick fiberglass posts or steel T-posts, both described below.
Thick Fiberglass Posts: These make good posts not only for large and small temporary electric fences but also for permanent electric fences. Indeed, the Geotek Company has designed an entire system that is elegant, affordable, and effective exclusively with fiberglass posts (see Complete Fiberglass Fences). Of course, how far one should go in using thick rather than thin fiberglass posts depends on the degree of permanence and elegance desired. As noted above, a rough and ready combination of thin fiberglass line posts and heavier (5/8 to 7/8 inch) corner, end, and gate posts (see products 09-08D thru 09-10A, and 09-33 thru 09-50) can produce a good small rough-and-ready temporary electric horse fence. On the other hand, if one wants a permanent electric horse fence with stout components and four or five runs of polybraid or wide polytape, it is best to use at least 7/8 inch line posts, special 2-inch corner, end, and gate braces with earth anchors, and dip and ridge posts wherever the ground goes sharply up or down. (See products 09-53 thru 09-60).
