Telephone poles???

[KjBarnwood]

I have an opportunity to get quite a few used telephone poles for free.  Does anyone have any experience or advice on using them for building?  I was wanting to use them for uprights in a barn and for staging logs for cutting. 

I was planning on cutting just enough to get a square face.

I know to expect quite a bit of metal, I usually only cut reclaimed barn wood so I am use to it, but I was told they would rot very easy.  I thought they would last much longer than treated 6x6's.

Oh and I have good ventilation.

Any help would be great.

Thanks Keith

[millit]

I tryed one once i will never cut another not good to breath that stuff

[beenthere]

....................., but I was told they would rot very easy.  I thought they would last much longer than treated 6x6's.
..................Thanks Keith

Keith
If the poles are now without rot, they shouldn't "rot very easy" in a building where they would likely be protected from the weather.  If they were removed because they contained rot, then I'd not use them.

[deeker]

I have cut quite a few telephone poles, split in half lenghtwise for cabins.  I will have to take and post pictures.  I am working on cutting train tressle beams.  For barn siding.  They stink!  I would use a metal detector and take my time.
The dryness of the poles dictates the end use.  Really dry ones will split and crack as they are cut.  Medium dry, about 16 to 25% MC and they will work as square beams.  It has to do with sand and dust in the cracks.  Too many cracks in the freezing and thawing of their lifespan makes the decision for you.  But any drier and forget that idea.  Good luck!


Kevin Davis
Ruff Cutts

[KnotBB]

Just a heads up on poles.

One of the chemicals used in treating poles is Penta with a shelf life forever and not available as a consumer product any more.  It absorbs through the skin and can cause anaflexic shock in some people, like can't breath.  Better to use the pole without cutting it and stirring up the penta.

Steve

[getoverit]

I'll wade in on this one...

I dont saw any more due to health problems, but I have sawed my share of telephone poles.

I wouldnt saw another penta treated pole for any amount of money. They stink and you cant get rid of the stink. They stink for YEARS and the sawdust created by them stinks. While the lumber is excellent for fences and barns, you dont want any of this stuff near where you will be living, like a deck or house. Did I mention that it STINKS??

The green poles are a breeze to saw but the EPA has decided that the sawdust is toxic and has to be disposed of in a VERY expensive way. You are not supposed to burn the waste, according to them. The lumber is good for most any outdoor building project and will last for decades. Be aware that in some poles the heart of the pole actually doesnt have any treatment at all because the chemicals didnt go that far into the log when it was treated. If you are going to saw these, do it on someone else's land and make sure they know in advance that the sawdust is considered toxic. Have it in writing that THEY are responsible for any cleanup that may need to be done.

Creosote poles stink. The creosote will cover your mill and you will smell it for months, if not years. The creosote will burn you if the sawdust blows on your skin while you are sawing. Creosote  will gum your blades terribly and you wont get much out of a blade because of it.

[bandmiller2]

Keith,poles are fine for what you intend, I wouldn't cut them,just trim the ends.If you must have a straight edge allow for 2x6 shimmed to plumb.Unless your a teenager you wont have to worry about them rotting in a barn.Frank C.

[thecfarm]

KjBarnwood,welcome to the forum.Probaly not the answers you are looking for,but they are truthful and real life answers.If you want more of just about the same answers,go to the top of the page and find search and type in telepone poles and I think you will find alot of posts on the same subject.
By the way,what have you got for a mill?Do you saw part time?

[Kelvin]

actually telephone poles are made out of a lot of diffent things and treated in different ways.  THey usually have a stamp or plate to tell you what it is.  Some old one i've got seem to be old untreated cedar, maybe the butts were creasote, but either put them in the ground or cut them off.  Otherwise the treated ones are like cutting old deck timbers with arsnice and whatnot.  Some have a aluminum cylinder inserted in them with some termite posion and what not near the base.  Kinda weird, but its there in some of them.  Try find the old cedar ones, real nice.  People here fight over them at the power company yard.  You can just leave them round and put a flat on them with a chainsaw where you need to.  I'd handle it as little as possible and wear respiroator when making sawdust.  Treat as any other toxic thing.

Kelvin

[KjBarnwood]

Thanks guys!  I knew they weren't the best to cut, but they were free.  Not sure if I will do it or not, but if I do I will be careful.  I think I will use a few as poles for tree stands on our property.

As for me, I'm a part time sawyer (Timberking B-20) with next to no experience in cutting new lumber.  I reclaim old barns and cut that up.  I guess I started with the hardest first!  I'm use to nails, rocks, and damaged blades.  I am trying to start cutting some new wood, and I really want to get into burls and stump wood.

So expect a lot of questions in the future. ;D

Thanks for the info.

[Faron]

Welcome, KJBarnwood,  We built our saw building out of electric line poles.  They had been 5 feet in the ground, and we put them 4 foot.  That way we have good creosote at ground level, where rot is most likely.  Never sawed them, just leveled them up as best as we could.  If I had more, I would build another building that way.

[Woodchuck53]

Morning, the building I am installing my mill in as I rebuild it is 25 years old. No telling how old the poles were. We eyeballed them center on the blade and ripped them into. Some were very dark and some were lighter. When I installed them I wrapped 2 layers of 30# roofing felt around their bases and put them 3' in the ground. Every so often I  would pour engine oil from when I changed oil. The other day I pulled up 2 of them to make room for my edger to be inline with the engine drive. They were fine and I would do it this way again. The rule of thumb my dad taught me was clean the mill and then saw poles. Then clean the mill up. Seems to have worked for us. The flat surface sure made it nice to bolt the 2x12's against for the barn loft. Also easy to string line layout. Hope this works for you. Have a great one, Chuck