sawing Telephone poles - Advice

[E-Tex]

i received a call from a builder today.  He has 7-8, 60 foot telephone poles.  he will cut into 16' lengths and would like 4x8's, 4x6's, and 2x6 for fencing. 

I know I should be concerned about Nails and Creosote DUST.....

Is there anything else I should ask him, or be concerned about before I pursue further?

Thanks, Lance

[WV Sawmiller]

   I would just say no thanks.

[47sawdust]

Cedar or fir okay,but take a pass on the treated.

[E-Tex]

if I can get 60-65 cents a bf....would you?
I'm not afraid to throw him a higher number !

[Dave Shepard]

I will never cut any treated anything. Not just for the health and toxic waste concerns, but also the corrosion issues on the mill. 

[slider]

I don't think they make creosote poles anymore but best avoid them. That dust will do your skin bad not to mention your lungs. The new stuff i would not want to breathe .

I might do poles for myself but not for anyone else . If you do , cover up and use a respirator .

[E-Tex]

yes, the dust is my main concern.  I do not want to breath this stuff at all.

my plan was to cover up all body parts and wear a respirator.

ya'll are pretty much scaring me now (or at least my thoughts on bf pricing are rising).

thanks for the comments......keep more coming.

Lance

[E-Tex]

I spoke with a creosoting company here and they advised "STAY AWAY" from it (the dust, too hard on blades, etc....)

they brought up that the Dust is an Environmental Hazard and has to be properly disposed of.

I'll be passing on this.

Thank you for the responses.

[Magicman]

Thank You for passing this up.  I told a guy No last night wanting me to saw RR ties.  NO is he correct answer when folks call wanting anything treated sawed.  Just say no.

[E-Tex]

I told the builder NO on the poles.....he understood.

Also, he has Pecan he wants sawn up for cabinet lumber.  Turned out well after all.

[moodnacreek]

I've done them. Gotta have a metal detector and a circle mill.  Would not want to do it in warm weather or with a slow dusty feed.

[kelLOGg]

My next door neighbor asked me to saw utility poles. I said no. He found a mobile sawyer ~40 miles away who said yes. Then my neighbor proceeded to arrange for delivery (sight unseen) of the free poles which he was told were metal-free. About 30 to 40 were dropped off in a pile by his property; they were the worst looking crap I had ever seen - broken ends, splits, 7' to about 18' long, 6" to 13" diameter AND loaded with metal. Some people just ask for trouble and we neighbors will have to smell creosote in the coming hot weather as the poles slowly stew in the sun. If he was your neighbor what would you do? Sorry for the rant but if I can discourage anyone to saw creosote poles I will.
Bob

[Southside]

Every year I get several calls from folks who scored free poles or free RR ties and they want them sawn - the answer is always NO.  One guy admitted to me that he had already tired to saw them with a chain saw and about killed his saw and for sure killed the bar and chain without even cutting one of them.  There is a reason they are free - it saves on the disposal fee.  

[Sixacresand]

Never again!

[curved-wood]

Here is a referrence for customers : it is a sawmill close to Sherbrooke , Canada, that is specialized in sawing treated wood, tel post , etc.
TRED?SI
Their disposal of the slabs and sawdust is done enviromentaly OK and legal.

 I had planed some treated wood for a good customer and never again. My employee had  a big rash and we spent more time in cleaning than in planing ! Since usually my shavings go to beeding for animals, we had to seperate it, dispose of it, could not burn it....quite a mess. NEVER NEVER AGAIN

[ToddsPoint]

My wife is retired from the electric company and always corrects me when I say "telephone poles".  She says they are "utility poles"!  They've been "telephone poles" to me since I was a little kid and everyone seems to know what I'm talking about when I say "telephone pole".  Telephones came before electricity, right?  Gary

[Ianab]

But if the pole is holding a fibre optic cable.... It's neither electric or phone. But its a "utility".

Yeah I know its semantics.😉

And I would avoid sawing them no matter what they held up.

[Magicman]

I just smile when I see "telephone pole" used as a generic term.  I worked in the telephone industry for 32+ years and climbed and worked on many "utility poles".  For what it is worth, the actual pole owner is paid rent by the non-owners for each attachment that they place on the owner's pole.

he will cut into 16' lengths and would like 4x8's, 4x6's, and 2x6 for fencing.

Back to the original intent; doing this will produce a product with little or very reduced life as a post.  A load of poles is placed on a trolley and rolled into a sealed container where a vacuum is pulled before being pressurized.  The poles then are a virtual shell with the outside and ends being heavily treated and with a minimal amount of treatment reaching the core.  Removing this shell exposes the internal sparsely treated portion which will quickly rot if placed into the ground.  Using cut off poles as fence post again removes this treated end and leaves the bottom of the post untreated.

[Dave Shepard]

 In some places they are telegraph poles. They are rented by the vertical inch, as my town found out when we ran or new fiber lines. 

[E-Tex]

......... They've been "telephone poles" to me since I was a little kid and everyone seems to know what I'm talking about when I say "telephone pole"........  Gary

yes sir......"telephone" poles! ;D

[Magicman]

And every refrigerator is a Frigidaire.   :D

[Southside]

Just don't ask for an excavator in the south or a dozer out west, they are trackhoe's and Cat's, no matter who made it.  Thinking about it in Maine the snowmobile trails are all called "Ski-doo" trails and as far as I know other brands are still allowed on them. 

[terrifictimbersllc]

In Liberia every suv is called a Jeep.

[petefrom bearswamp]

Sawed bunch about 10- 15 yrs ago.
I agree with sixacresand never again.
Too much hardware and very noxious dust.

[Flintlock427]

I have sawn a lot of house piling, that has a concentrate of 2.5 pcf ,I have not seen any rot and some are in use in salt water ,but it is very bad for you if you don't protect you self use  tyvex suits  and full face respirator .