American Farm Works 16 ft. Expandable Electric Fence Spring Gate Kit

After 5 years of being willfully contained by the web aisle guard, Palomino Princess decided that it was time for a break out. A trip to TSC, some creative junctions from the hot wire, and stretched this puppy across the aisle way. "Fire in the Hole!!" And I hid...and my wait was rewarded! A *POP*! A snort! A clatter of hooves and Her Highness bolted back to where her chubby buttocks belonged. Money well spent!

I wanted this to be perfect, but there are issues. First, there are no written instructions. There is a drawing that three people were confused by because it really doesn’t explain how to hook this up properly. The details are not in an expanded drawing. The company also didn’t put out a video that I could find, so that was a major problem. Next issue, I have concern over the plastic pieces that hold the spring. I do not see them holding up for very long. There are only two holes to screw them to wood post (screws NOT included), and the attach points for the spring are not very beefy. That’s a lot of potential for failure, so I will be thinking of a better way to make the spring gate attach. It is a cool way to span a hot section of electric fence across the gates, though, so I’m giving three stars for the idea and the spring. The spring is easy enough to hook up and remove for access, and the way it is connected means that it does not have the potential to shock someone or short out when it is open. I have various widths of metal gate and five foot wooden fence. I added posts with three strands of hot wire to keep dogs in and bears and deer and coyotes out. I put one spring across the main entry gate, just a couple of inches over the gate. It doesn’t sag down and touch the gate, and I’m hoping the coil of the spring will confuse the deer enough to keep them from jumping it. I wanted it close enough to the gate that the other animals will contact it if it they put paws up. There are other items you will need that aren’t included. Insulators for securing a wire to your posts; a length of 20,000 volt rated insulated outdoor wire, long enough to span the gate opening and go up to the spring and up to your electricity source or hit fence. That wire gets buried, so you should also get a piece of conduit for the wire so it doesn’t get damaged. Because there was no way to know what was needed before the spring arrived, I had to order the extra bits and wait. If you need the gate up quick, be sure to order all the parts at the same time.