A pristine, verdant bowling green is a quintessential delight of the British summer.  Proud clubs and owners spends hours  getting the green in prime condition.  And it only takes one fox, badger or rabbit to mess it all up.  That will lead to hours of wasted playing time, hours of extra work and, of course, additional expense to put it all right….and who is to say it won’t happen again the next night?

Electric fencing is a very simple solution designed to protect bowling greens from unwanted visitors.  It is quite easy to install, inexpensive to run and it will not hurt people or animals. You do not need any special licenses to run a standard electric fence, although if it in a public space, you should place a warning sign every 50 m on the fence.

Most bowling greens use either 4 strands of steel wire, running around the fence posts, or electrified netting that runs around the perimeter of the area that needs protecting.  Both of these options should keep out unwanted visitors, who typically get one shock and then learn to stay away from the fence in the future.

The components of an electric fencing kit required for a bowling green or small sports field are as follows:

• Fence posts.  If you already have wooden posts, you can use these same wooden posts by screwing in ‘insulators’ to run the electric fencing wire through.  If you do not have any posts, you can purchase 3ft plastic electric fencing posts (available in green or white), that have metal spikes which can be driven into the ground.  You will need one electric fencing post every 10 m.  Alternatively, you can use electrified netting, which comes complete with posts.

• If you have wooden posts, you will need ring insulators or staple insulators to insert into the wooden posts to hold your wire.  The Insulators not only hold the wire, but they also stop the electrical current from running through the conductive wooden posts and into the ground. It is vital that the wire never touches the wooden posts.
• You will need stranded steel wire OR an electrified net.  This comes down to personal preference – both will do the job.

• The energiser is the most expensive part of the kit and the most complicated part to select.  If you have easy access to mains power, you should select a mains energiser.  Mains energisers tend to be the best value for money and are the most reliable.  If you do not have access to the mains, you can select an energiser that is run by either a 12 volt rechargeable leisure battery, or a 6 volt replaceable battery.  This comes down to personal preference. 12 volt batteries are quite heavy to move around (very similar to car batteries) and will need to be recharged on the mains every 2 to 3 weeks unless you have a 10 watt solar panel to charge the battery for you.   9 volt battery energisers are smaller and easy to move around, but you will need to replace the battery every 3 months or every 9 months, depending on the battery you purchase and your usage of the energiser.  Fincically, 12 volt and 9 volt energisers all work out at a similar price, when all is said and done.

• An earth stake is a critical part of the it – without it your fence will not work.  The energiser you select will determine the length of the earth stake required. Most earth stakes are between 50 cm and 1 m.  The earth stakes must be driven as far into the ground as they will go.  During very dry spells you may need to water your earth stake!

• Electric fence gate handles and gate handle insulators allow you and the players to easily open the gate without getting a shock.
• Electric fence warning signs.
• Electric fence tester – so you can test that your fence is working at its peak, especially at the start of each season.

Setting up the fence is easy.  All the energisers come with instructions.  The process will take anywhere between 1 hour and 4 hours, depending on the type of fence you have selected and the size of the green you are protecting.  This time does not include the installation of wooden posts.

We have 2 electric fencing kits especially designed for bowling greens.  The first kit uses wire and the second kit uses electrified netting.  The energiser in both kits can be used on a 12 volt battery or from the mains.  If you would like a 9 volt battery, please don’t hesitate to give us a call and we can easily switch one in.  All of our electric fencing kits come with a 1 year warranty (with a 2 years warranty on the energiser).

If you have any questions about designing your electric fence, or about how to install your electric fence, please don’t hesitate to give us a call.  We help people get started with electric fencing everyday!

FarmCare UK

Electric Fencing Specialist

01323 406212