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Boundary Wire and Flags

If you have a boundary area more than about a quarter acres, you are going to need some extra boundary wire. To estimate the amount of wire you need, pace around the path of your boundary wire and multiply that number by three to get the total amount of boundary wire you need. Remember most systems already come with 500 feet of boundary wire.

Boundary wire comes in a variety of thicknesses. Thick wire (a low guage number) is though by some people to be more resilient but is stiffer, making it harder to work with. Thinner wire (a high guage number) is what we prefer since it is more malleable and tends to stay in place more easily.

Which wire should you get (18 gauge vs. 20 gauge wire)?

We recommend the thinner wire 20 gauge, it is cheaper and almost as resilient as the thicker wire for practical purposes. The only types of things that are likely to cut the thin wire (power mowers, edgers, aerateors) are going to cut also going to cut through thicker wire just as easily. In fact almost all manufacturers include 20 gauge wire with their systems.

Another option worth remembering is that you can also get 16 gauge wire at your local hardware store (Home Depot, Loewes and even some Walmarts) which is really thick. It is pricey, but useful particularly if you run out of wire while installing a fence and need some more now. Ideally you want to avoid mixing different guages of wire, but it you do it is not the end of the world, but your boundary width may vary a bit where you used the different gauges.