# How to ground electric fence in frozen earth...HELP!!!



## Harmony_Meadows (Nov 4, 2007)

Okay, bright star that I am, I was smart enough to put the fence posts in for my winter paddock before freeze-up but I completely forgot the ground rod! :smack

I knew it was too easy! Now we are running wire tomorrow (braided poly rope, 3 strands for about 2 1/2 to 3 acres) and setting up the charger and what not. Now this is a very temporary fence. We only found out in mid December that we actually had a lease on this new place, so it was a quick job until I can put something a bit more sturdy in. We have posts about every 12-14 feet. The horses, one 15hh Belgian cross mare (looks exactly like a Belgian but smaller) and a 32-34" mini gelding will be coming on Sunday. Neither has a history of escapes or fence leaning...yet. We have 2 34" mini donks coming in April, but the ground might just be workable (enough) by then. Any bright ideas as to how to ground the fence safely? If we really have no other options, hubby might be able to drill down a couple feet with a long masonry bit, but we would like to avoid that headache if at all possible. 
Any suggestions to get dumbo here off the hook??:hammer:


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## haypoint (Oct 4, 2006)

Just set the ground rod into the hole DH drilled and pound it in with a 10 pound maul. You are nearly past the frost anyway.


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## wr (Aug 10, 2003)

Harmony_Meadows, you do need to get below the frost line for your ground rod to be effective so I'm really hoping you're not up in the northern part of the provinve. 

haypoint, in my part of the world, a couple feet is nowhere near the frost line. At this time of year, our frost line is typically 6 - 8 feet.


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## akane (Jul 19, 2011)

A winter ground rod in northern parts of the world needs to be _deep_ or it won't run the fence. Winter is an issue because of the need for very good grounding in cold climates. Our fence actually does not run all winter.

Personally I find braided rope and electric tape to be a better containment fence than anything else including the vinyl boards. Even if the electric is off if you run 3-4 strands depending on the size of your horses and get them really tight they still won't go through it. Tight is the key though or they'll reach through to eat and stretch the rails as their body just keeps going. I've built sturdier round pens and corals out of electric tape pulled tight with many many rails than the metal gate ones you can buy. I wouldn't trust those metal gates to hold back some of the horses I was training but I was taking in horses that had never been touched and holding them in electric tape pens with no electric. It looks like a solid board fence and with enough tension doesn't give enough they want to try getting out. Plus you can extend it to a good 10' with fiberglass rods on tposts so they don't try to jump.

I'd go ahead and run your fencing lines even if you can't get the grounding rod in and they may not even bother with it. 90% of the time my fence doesn't run and they know when it's off. I only have one escape artist who likes the neighbors hay field and the rest stay put. The only wire on this place is a perimeter fence at least 5' from any fence holding a horse because that setup is the first time we've never seen an injury. We had injuries yearly with every fence imaginable until tape fencing. I haven't seen one in 10 years since so that is my permanent fence. If they do seem interested in wandering maybe you can find something designed to shoot rods though harder materials like concrete and borrow it. I'd try a construction company and see if someone knows of something and would put in a grounding rod for a small fee.


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## Harmony_Meadows (Nov 4, 2007)

WR we will be in Quebec just 50km from Ottawa. Frost could be an issue, but we are also on The Shield, so rock is a big factor too. It could take quite a few holes to find a spot we can get below the frost. On a good note, it has been very mild all winter execpt the last 2 or 3 weeks, so we may be lucky and it is not too deep yet. I know there is also an old outdoor water line that fed an auto waterer out towards the back of the property. If I can find it and if it is not still connected to the house, that may be a temporary fix. 

Thank you guys, I will try to get the rope as tight as I can. Hopefully spring will be with us soon!


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## DanielY (Aug 25, 2011)

Take bag of charcoal brickettes and pile them on the ground. light them and let them burn out. scrape off ashes (don't allow to freeze again) and dig out what dirt got thawed out. if needed trill from the bottom of that hole or just start driving the ground rod. once rod is set fill the hole back in.

Best shot I can think of. Might have to modify it as you go. maybe half a bag of charcoal then dig out and then burn second half of bag. Whatever it takes. Ice can be melted.


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## haypoint (Oct 4, 2006)

wr said:


> Harmony_Meadows, you do need to get below the frost line for your ground rod to be effective so I'm really hoping you're not up in the northern part of the provinve.
> 
> haypoint, in my part of the world, a couple feet is nowhere near the frost line. At this time of year, our frost line is typically 6 - 8 feet.


This winter has been very, very mild. While normally a deep snow cover insulates the ground from freezing real deep, this year there hasn't been much snow. But instead of snow, we have had rain and milder temps. Frost will go deeper in areas where the snow has been plowed away and there is a lot of traffic to drive down the frost. The amount of ice on the Great Lakes is at record lows. At the Sault Ste. Marie border, construction codes call for footings below 4 feet to be sure they are below the frost line. 6-8 feet? Wow!

So, with that in mind, I assumed the frost levels on both sides of the border were about the same. However, if you can poke that ground rod into the ground, you should be able to drive it through frozen ground. Using a pick axe, I once dug a hole 3 feet deep in frozen gravel and clay. Wasn't easy, but do-able.

I'm talking about a ground rod, like the one used to ground an eletrical system for a home. If you were thinking of an electric fence rod, it won't work.


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## Judy in IN (Nov 28, 2003)

If you have electricity at the barn, you can hook into the ground rod for the breaker box. That's what we did, and it works a treat.


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## Harmony_Meadows (Nov 4, 2007)

Hi all,

Thank you so much for all the great responses. I am happy to say we have found a solution....we have a untility pole right across from the pasture, with a nice big groundwire holding it up. We can hook into that for the time being. It is not a perfect solution, but will definately work in the short term. Again, thank you so much for the great ideas.


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## fordson major (Jul 12, 2003)

Harmony_Meadows said:


> ...we have a untility pole right across from the pasture, with a nice big groundwire holding it up. .



is it the pole ground wire or the anchor? anchor would work not the line ground!! congrats on getting 50 k outta town!! we used to be 50k out but then the city grew!


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## CIW (Oct 2, 2007)

Utility poles around here have a copper ground wire that runs from top to the bottom of the pole. If yours has one it could be utilized on a temporary basis.
Also if you have a steel well close by a ground could be connected to that.


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