what is

[coxy]

stronger hemlock,white pine, or red pin most of our red pine around here have  5 limbs per bud whorl don't know if that makes a difference  one other thing does anyone in NY know where to get hard wood treated

[Mountaynman]

for what bub hemlock has been the framing lumber here for 200 yrs tough and seasons well pull it off the mill and nail it up none of the pines are as tough larch is a little tougher and more rot resistant

[BargeMonkey]

Hemlock. And mountain man is right yes larch is just as tough and rot resistant but good luck finding alot of it. Anything 2" and up that comes off our mill other than dunnage or pine slabs is hemlock. Biggest thing is shake, I've got some stuff here I cut this fall and it looked great, didn't open up bad, started sawing it and it's not looking so hot now.

[coxy]

a friend of mine wants to put something down for bridge planking the planking now is red oak 3x8 that was treated over 50years ago

[Ox]

Hemlock is strongest and easiest to mill IMO.                                                                                                                 
White oak would be better for planking than red oak.                                                                                                           
Try treating with old motor oil - it kept hay wagons around here in tip top shape for decades which is really saying something when they sit outside all the time with wet hay down in the cracks.                                                                                                         
Red pine is a pain in the butt to mill flat because of those stinking knot rings every few feet.  The only time I can mill flat is with a brand new blade and only for 1 log.  Then gets wavy no matter what I try unless I go veeeeeerrrrrrrryyyyyy slow through the knots.  It's maddening but I like the wood.                                         
Find some black locust and mill that up for planking, you'll never have to worry about it again for the rest of your life.

[coxy]

know one knows any one who treats hard wood    ox don't dare do the old motor oil trick it going over the beaver kill river and there are hundreds of fisher men that go under that bridge so could you just see the look on there face  when they got dripped on with some old black oil  :D :D

[newoodguy78]

Out of the ones you listed hemlock would certainly be my first choice.
Do you by chance have access to locust? That dang stuff is unbelievably tough. And it is already "treated" Mother Nature made it that way  ;)

[coxy]

I have never see a locust tree with in 20 miles of here and when you do see them the farmers have the rights to them  how would elm be don't know if I could find enough of them either

[BurkettvilleBob]

I think you'd be lucky if any of those softwoods lasted for more than ten years. Hemlock is the strongest, but still not very total resistant. I would vote for locust as well, oak second.

[BargeMonkey]

 How much locust do you need ? I might have some 😂  you go 7-8 miles either way of my sawmill and there's piles of it. You would be lucky to get 10yrs out of oak untreated.

[coxy]

so how long would locust last untreated  how strong is larch how long would that last untreated

[newoodguy78]

I've had more than one farmer tell me the only thing the only thing that will outlast a locust post is a stone one ;). Don't bother treating it it's a waste of money . Not sure about the larch

[Mountaynman]

the only thing to make sure to do with locust is saw it and bang it together fast or you will not get nails in it gramp used to keep a grease pouch with him when we fixed fence and dip the nails in grease  to pound them in.

[Ox]

The old timers used to say to put a rock on top of your locust fence post and when the rock wore out it's time to change your fence post.  Locust for the win here. 
Larch/tamarack will actually last pretty decent.  Fellers around here use it like pressure treated stuff for porches and such. 

[newoodguy78]

X2 to what mountayman said the stuff literally gets hard as a rock .
Ox  how does larch stand up in a post type situation? I've never used it much but the little I have was impressed with it. I've heard they used to use it for water pipes and well shafts.

[Ox]

I've been told it'll last like pressure treated does today, which ain't bad.  20 years?  30 years?  Who really knows.  Nothing outlasts black locust except maybe stone and concrete.  The wood is amazing and I wish I had more of it.

[BargeMonkey]

Coxy I will give you a call.

I've seen 40yr old locust posts that's haven't rotted off. All our fence here on the farm is green locust or treated telephone poles. It's miserable to drive nails or staples in, and once they are in they don't come out easy. Honestly if I was using it for decking I would drill it and use carriage bolts. 20+yrs if it's 2"+ and it was gapped a little to keep from collecting junk in between the boards.

[Ox]

There's fence posts still up from over 60 years ago.  They're a little thin next to the ground but they're still doing their job.  Simply incredible.  These are your typical starting size - around 6 - 8 inches.

[newoodguy78]

Bargemonkey,
Next time you need to put nails into a locust post try fluted masonry nails. Had an old timer show me that trick it works well. If you ever figure out how to get staples driven into them I'm all ears  ;D :D

[BargeMonkey]

 We use 1-1/2" barbed staples hanging fence and 90% of the time they go ok, once they go in they don't come out. 😂 with the 8' woven wire you don't always drive the staple home, fence kind of floats if your in the middle of a panel. We use a Kinghitter pounder behind a NH TN 70, you want to be real careful with a small post especially the pressure treated ones, I've got to put it on next week, take some pictures. Drive a 8"x16' locust post 4' deep. 👍

[mike_belben]

Any experience with white oak fenceposts?  I see a lot of them around here for cow pens among the single wides

[Stoneyacrefarm]

None around our way in western mass that I've seen.
Mostly PT.
Cedar or Locust.

[mike_belben]

I live in tennessee now but im from ludlow mass actually. Never even noticed a white oak up there, now im surrounded by em

Heck i never noticed anyone poor enough in mass to turn limbs into fencing.  Money money money

[Stoneyacrefarm]

Quite a change for you.
That's for sure.
You went from being a yuppy to a hillbilly.

[coxy]

 :D :D