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Cedar power poles

Started by Bruno of NH, August 07, 2022, 01:53:39 PM

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Bruno of NH

I have the opportunity to buy a large quantity of cedar power poles .
It is said they have been cleaned of hardware. 
The hardware doesn't bother me , but could I get sick from sawing them.
I have read on here to cut 6ft off the bottom and should be alright? 
There is no red cedar to saw around here could be a good money maker if I can buy them right.
Your thoughts Folks 
Thanks Bruno 
Lt 40 wide with 38hp gas and command controls , F350 4x4 dump and lot of contracting tools

Magicman

I see no problem and if the buying/selling prices are right you should make some jingle.  :)
Knothole Sawmill, LLC     '98 Wood-Mizer LT40SuperHydraulic   WM Million BF Club Member   WM Pro Sawyer Network

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terrifictimbersllc

I sawed about 4500 board feet of them once, with a carbide blade. Because there was dirt in the cracks. I didn't see anything wrong with it, They were not treated. I would do it again. This customer had a number of poles that looked just like them except that were green color, we did not saw those.

In our area the power company has replaced these poles over recent years and there were a lot of them around that people were sawing.
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caveman

 

 

 

Not long after John and I bought the LT-28, we sawed some transmission poles for his uncle and father-in-law.  We were able to get good production since they were round and good size.  It did not hurt that we had a lot of help.  It took us a day and a half to saw these two trailer loads.  If I recollect, we used nine blades due to metal strikes and grit in the cracks of the poles.  I would jump at the chance to get some transmission poles to saw again.
Caveman

tule peak timber

Here they are considered toxic waste. I've been offered an endless supply from a place in Los Angeles for free but worry about my waste stream sawing them. Where I'm at I sell almost zero-dimensional lumber but if you have a market ---go for it ! 
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kantuckid

I have never ever seen a cedar power pole based on what little I know? In my childhood in rural KS there were lots of crooked poles used for telephone lines-they looked sort of like a small locust. I'd be concerned if they'd had that treatment power poles get after they've aged a bit-that's some nasty stuff indeed. My BIL was a foreman for one of those contract treatment co.'s who drill treat and plug power poles. 
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Patrick NC

From what I understand cedar power poles were not usually treated with anything due to cedars natural resistance to rot. If it was me, I'd go for it. 
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tule peak timber

The free poles here are cedar and doug fir treated with creosote which is why they are free. I've cut plenty of the 6X6 temp poles that are old and treated with arsenic and copper and pentachlorophenol's and they were REAL blade killers. Wasn't worth it. I just stay in my little lane. Free stuff was too good to be true. Could be completely different for you though.
persistence personified - never let up , never let down

scsmith42

Different parts of the country have different poles.  Around here they are treated syp, so not a good choice for sawing.

In other parts of the country, there are cedar poles that only have the butt ends treated.  Cut off the butt end and they can make some gorgeous, rot resistant lumber w/o the negative health concerns from milling treated lumber.

I'd go for it if I were you.
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thecfarm

I have not seen them poles for years. And I mean years. They were all replaced with what was called Black Jack, just short poles for telephone. Not many places around with short poles. As I drive around here in Maine, there are no power for maybe a Â½ mile and those Black Jack poles are used for the telephone or cable. Seem like land phones are fewer and fewer now.
Speaking off that seem like the electric poles are getting taller now. Many are being replaced with taller ones now.
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Hilltop366

Cedar makes nice wall shingles, especially white cedar, untreated they turn grey the red cedar tend to turn a darker colour and look mouldy.

Gere Flewelling

I would agree with others that purchasing old cedar poles is a wise move.  My potato farmer cousin  up in Aroostook County in Maine has a in-law that been sawing them for years without issue.  He gets some monsters from the high tension lines.  They are pretty large diameter.  He claims the treatment is only an inch or two in.  My cousin says he saws some beautiful lumber out of them.  I happened by a local hobby mill set up here in my town a few years ago where the guy had just received a log truck load old cedar poles that were probably 16-20" in dia.  His little hobby mill was not liking sawing into them.  One big pole was 75% gone in the inside due to ants.  So much for insect resistance!  He wasn't able to make a straight cut on any of them that day.  I was glad I didn't decide to purchase one of those mills.  I could imagine I would have lost interest pretty quick back then and probably not be into it today.
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beenthere

Gere
QuoteOne big pole was 75% gone in the inside due to ants.

The ants were only there due to the decay/rot. Not the ants causing the problem. Rot came first, ants just followed the soft, wet rotted wood. 
south central Wisconsin
It may be that my sole purpose in life is simply to serve as a warning to others

dogone

    I am in the middle of a 100 cedar pole project. They have had 99% of hardware removed. There are two types: one treated butt which I cut off; the other have holes drilled with plugs of some anti rot inserted. These caught me off guard.                             The first two inches is a plastic material but the next foot is really hard brittle material. Buggered a blade before I figured it out.
     I cut six feet off those now. Makes beautiful lumber and stone dry.
    

Gere Flewelling

beenthere- Thanks for pointing out the relationship of the ants to the cedar wood.  I guess I didn't completely understand what I was seeing.  I certainly makes sense.  GF
Old 🚒 Fireman and Snow Cat Repairman (retired)
Matthew 6:3-4

Nebraska

If you had much of a livestock industry around the treated pole butts make really good heavy gate posts or corner posts. Selling them would be an avenue to get rid of the treated  parts.

chep

I helped a friend saw some cedar power poles years ago they were yellow cedar from the pnw. Gorgeous lumber came off of them!

boonesyard

We saw all kinds of cedar power poles. Cut off the treated butt end and the rest has been great. I'd take all you could get.
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Bruno of NH

I'm going to look at the poles this week , he also has 4x6 's that where cross ties and braces . 
The price of red cedar is very high .
I'm hoping I can make a deal and saw beams , trim and maybe get some t and g run out of it.
The reclaimed market is strong in this area .
Lt 40 wide with 38hp gas and command controls , F350 4x4 dump and lot of contracting tools

dogone

    The days of using butts for corner or gate posts is long gone here. Take way to much work to dig that big a hole and tamp it. Pound an eight inch post and get on with it.

Magicman

Not here, fences are built with large posts for corners, bracing, and gates.  Those cut offs gnerally  will need a top cap to protect the centers from moisture/rot.
Knothole Sawmill, LLC     '98 Wood-Mizer LT40SuperHydraulic   WM Million BF Club Member   WM Pro Sawyer Network

It's Weird being the Same Age as Old People

Never allow your "need" to make money to exceed your "desire" to provide quality service.....The Magicman

Bruno of NH

I went and looked at the cedar poles and Doug fir cross ties.
They are very nice.
I brought some samples home to saw out to see how it looks.
Then I need to work out a price with the guy that owns them.
Lt 40 wide with 38hp gas and command controls , F350 4x4 dump and lot of contracting tools

petefrom bearswamp

Bruno, go for it
I sawed a lot in the early 2000s made nice lumber but the sawdust is not nice to have blow in your face.
Here they were all incised and butt dipped and I cut the end off.
I worked for the Osmose wood preserving co. treating standing utility poles in  59 thru 62.
Black jack poles were treated with creosote using the old full cell method and bled a pool of creosote out on the ground at the base.
These were supplanted by the empty cell process and were much better and used less creosote.
Empty cell poles had a vacuum applied after pressure treatment to remove a lot of the creosote.
I also sawed a lot of these, but in retrospect that was probably a mistake.
urban poles were a pain as they had lots of staples in the which set off the metal detector and I usually just did a visual for hardware.
Ruined a few blades but not too many.
The plugs seen in the bases of poles were most likely put there by the Osmose company.
we would sound and bore, (hit with a hammer and bore a  hole to look for decay) and then plug the hole.
If a pole had a hollow in the center we injected a preservative in and plugged the hole.
This was good money but too much travel, I left when I got married.
Mill has been gone 2 years now and surprisingly I dont miss it.
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Nebraska

Osmose boys were through my place last week checking things. I wouldn't want to mess with the dude running the shovel digging around the holes. He was jacked. Miserable hot job they started at first light and were done by 2:00.

petefrom bearswamp

Nebraska I was pretty jacked in those long ago days too, 175 pounds and mean as a snake, no not really mean but it makes a good story.
Im now 25 to 30 pounds heavier and the fluid is gone from the jack.
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