18 Gauge or 20 Gauge
What gauge of wire comes with the system? Should I get 18 gauge or 20 gauge wire? What if I have a really big property?
Our experience has been that anything that cuts through 20 gauge wire also cuts through 18 gauge wire. The natural predators of boundary wire are the power edger, lawnmower and aerators (in that order). These three devices cause the majority of breaks in boundary wire.
Both the 18 gauge and 20 gauge wire are pretty resilient to all kinds of blunt trauma such as cars and pedestrians.
A common myth is that the thicker 18 gauge wire transmits the signal better. This is not correct. The 20 gauge is just as good, even for 20+ acre properties.
All that said, the thicker gauges of wire are not particularly expensive so if it makes you feel any better knowing that you have a thicker gauge of wire go for it. Most kits come with 500 feet of 20 gauge standard. We can upgrade most kits to 18 gauge, just use the wire drop down box on the purchase page for any of the systems, or go to the boundary wire section 0f our store.
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{ 2 comments… read them below or add one }
I unfortunately have a bad case of moles in my back yard. Have you run across any problems with the moles chewing through the buried wire? Will constant mole activity disrupt the buried wire? I know strange question.
ADMIN – Hi Tad,
Moles, gophers, etc do not usually cause problems with the wire, (I suppose because wire is not particularly tasty). However, we do hear of the ocassional case where the mole will chomp right through. We don’t have any great solutions for that problem – maybe someone has a solution?
Can you mix 20 gauge wire with 18 gauge wire in the same system or does it all have to be the same gauge?
ADMIN – Hi Laura,
You want to avoid mixing very different gauges of wire, because the sections with thicker wires will produce a wider boundary signal than the sections with thinner wire.
You can mix 20 gauge and 18 gauge and the system will work fine, but be aware that the boundary will be wider in the 18 gauge sections than in the 20 gauge sections.