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What’s the best fence post material from this selection

Started by HemlockKing, June 18, 2021, 03:26:39 PM

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HemlockKing

I have, tamarack, black red and white spruce, white pine, red maple, red oak and aspen. Are any of those fence post worthy? I want to log fence. I'm thinking probably the tamarack? 
A1

SwampDonkey

Tamarack. You haven't much for cedar in NS do you? Some along the Fundy and Halifax area. Too bad to, cedar will last 40 years. The slow grown kind.
"No amount of belief makes something a fact." James Randi

1 Thessalonians 5:21

2020 Polaris Ranger 570 to forward firewood, Husqvarna 555 XT Pro, Stihl FS560 clearing saw and continuously thinning my ground, on the side. Grow them trees. (((o)))

HemlockKing

Quote from: SwampDonkey on June 18, 2021, 04:25:20 PM
Tamarack. You haven't much for cedar in NS do you? Some along the Fundy and Halifax area. Too bad to, cedar will last 40 years. The slow grown kind.
None around my parts SD. Love cedar too
A1

barbender

Tamarack would be the "least bad" choice, IMO. It is one of those woods that does pretty good for rot resistance if it isn't in ground contact. Once it touches the ground, not so good. Cedar is about the only post that will last that we have in northern climes.
Too many irons in the fire

Chuck White

None of those listed are "really good" fence post material.

If you have any available up there, get some Black Locust, it's what the Amish refer to as the permanent fence post!

Other than that, of the ones you listed I "think" the Tamarack would last the longest!
~Chuck~  Cooks Cat Claw sharpener and single tooth setter.  2018 Chevy Silverado and 2021 Subaru Ascent.
With basic mechanical skills and the ability to read you can maintain a Woodmizer  LT40!

HemlockKing

Quote from: Chuck White on June 18, 2021, 08:57:28 PM
None of those listed are "really good" fence post material.

If you have any available up there, get some Black Locust, it's what the Amish refer to as the permanent fence post!

Other than that, of the ones you listed I "think" the Tamarack would last the longest!
What's listed is the only species available to me unfortunate 
A1

HemlockKing

I'm not about to pay for wood from a yard, or ever again, this recent climb pushed me to it, so what's on my land is what I got, maybe I can do certain things to make them more rot resistant
A1

Ed_K

 Would rapping the below ground part with a plastic bag and somehow taping the top of the bag to keep wet out work??
Ed K

farmfromkansas

Sounds like you guys need to buy a semi load of hedge posts.  I have a neighbor who might be willing to oblige you.  They do cut quite a few hedge posts. Don't think they have any available right now, and hedge posts are not the straightest.  The crooked ones last the longest, they took the most time to grow.  Hedge posts last a long time in Kansas, I have taken out a few skinny posts that were in the fence when my dad bought the farm 70 years ago.
Most everything I enjoy doing turns out to be work

SwampDonkey

Different climates will effect the life of a post. The dryer and colder the climate, the longer it will stand. :)
"No amount of belief makes something a fact." James Randi

1 Thessalonians 5:21

2020 Polaris Ranger 570 to forward firewood, Husqvarna 555 XT Pro, Stihl FS560 clearing saw and continuously thinning my ground, on the side. Grow them trees. (((o)))

HemlockKing

Quote from: SwampDonkey on June 19, 2021, 04:46:34 PM
Different climates will effect the life of a post. The dryer and colder the climate, the longer it will stand. :)
It doesn't need much integrity it's more ornamental I suppose, or to keep people from driving into my seedlings. 
A1

SwampDonkey

You should be able to get 10 years out of it and by then spruce will be 8-12 feet high.
"No amount of belief makes something a fact." James Randi

1 Thessalonians 5:21

2020 Polaris Ranger 570 to forward firewood, Husqvarna 555 XT Pro, Stihl FS560 clearing saw and continuously thinning my ground, on the side. Grow them trees. (((o)))

HemlockKing

Quote from: SwampDonkey on June 19, 2021, 04:59:26 PM
You should be able to get 10 years out of it and by then spruce will be 8-12 feet high.
Yeah you’re probably right. I’m going to treat the bottoms with sealant and see if I can’t come up with something else.
A1

mike_belben

Red maple is horrible about rotting out.  4 yrs to dust if the bark stays on. 


Red oak is pretty bad too but might go up to 2x as long as red maple IF the sapwood is removed and the heartwood is treated.. Thats by observing it in tree house application out of the dirt but unpreserved and open to rain.
Praise The Lord

SwampDonkey

I have a nice little grove of straight up white cedar on my land where I go for posts. All kinds of fence post sized trees, I just thin through them when cutting for posts. Like going to my own wooden post depot. :D I can actually buy them pretty cheap locally, all debarked and sharpened, $3 a post, at Chester Grant's. ;)  And cedar bark don't slip easy in the spring, best to let them dry some and the bark will pretty much fall right off. ;D
"No amount of belief makes something a fact." James Randi

1 Thessalonians 5:21

2020 Polaris Ranger 570 to forward firewood, Husqvarna 555 XT Pro, Stihl FS560 clearing saw and continuously thinning my ground, on the side. Grow them trees. (((o)))

John Mc

Quote from: Ed_K on June 19, 2021, 07:23:18 AM
Would rapping the below ground part with a plastic bag and somehow taping the top of the bag to keep wet out work??
I coated the underground portion of some posts with roofing tar. I did the whole underground portion and up to a few inches about ground level. (My posts were sunk about 4'+ deep). They were Hemlock, which has some rot resistance to begin with, and a pressure treated post that was rated for "above ground" use (All I had available). I coated them and stuck them in the ground about 10 or 12 years ago, and they still seem fine. I dug down a few inches around one a couple of years ago, and it was still solid.
I've since been told I could probably have gotten away with just coating the bottom and up the sides a few inches (to keep the end grain from soaking up water, plus the area from a few inches above ground to about a foot below ground (the "bio-active" layer of the soil). I've not tried that, however.
If the only tool you have is a hammer, you tend to see every problem as a nail.   - Abraham Maslow

Gary Davis


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