Electric Netting - ARGGHHH! Need help!!

[Scatterknit]

I wanted to give the girls a nice big area to run around in during the day. I bought 160 feet of great looking dark green electric netting from Stromberg's. I am having a terrible problem setting it up and it came with very little instruction. Can someone help?

First, it's not in a completely flat place so I can't get it to stand up straight. In some sections, about 3-4 inches of the bottom of the netting lays on the ground and I can't get it tight enough not to do that. I expect that part of it laying on the ground would short it out. Am I right about that?

Likewise the top line sags, a lot. There is a groove in the top of the stability pole - can I pull that top line and wrap it around the pole a couple of times to tighten it up?

Third, it's in a lightly wooded area. If a predator wanted to, it could climb a nearby tree and jump in and avoid the electric shock altogether.

Has anyone tried to use this in a wooded area? What is your experience? Any tips?

I haven't tried to hook it up to the juice yet.

I'm thinking about just setting it up without electricity and let them run around inside it during the day and hope that the dogs will keep predators away. I think most of my predators are nocturnal - possum, raccoons, coyote. They'll go in their coop at night, but I'm not home during the day to keep an eye out. It's within a big fenced backyard but it's not predator proof.

I messed with it all day in the Georgia heat and ended up pulling it all out. Now it's in a tangle. I have made such a mess.

Help???

 

[centrarchid]

First show a picture of setup.

Tighter is better with respect to how much fence touches ground to short. Still fence is designed to have more grounding than typical fencing, that is why so many Joules required to run it.

You can pull out some slack by looping excess over posts.


Most predators are not sharp enough to use trees as you describe.

 

[thomasboyle]

I use 200' of net fence, and have had very good success with it. I'm not familiar with the brand fence you have, but mine has 5/8" fiberglass posts built in every 7 feet, and this works very well in uneven terrain. If needed, you can get 1" fiberglass posts (very sturdy) and use them in corners or where ever you need more support. You can zip tie a built in post to the 1" post. Don't use wood or metal posts, as they can short out the fence. Most net fences do not electrify the very bottom line, as that would reduce the shock of the fence due to the high amount of ground contact. I did some tree trimming in my yard, to make it harder for tree climbing predators (mainly raccoons) from climbing from tree to tree.