Cedar poles

[EZ]

Are all cedar telephone poles treated with something. I'm going to saw nine of these for a guy and would like to know what I'm getting myself into.  ;D
EZ

[Larry]

They are all treated with some kind of preservative.  5' above the ground line their will be a brand mark that gives all the information on the pole.  If the code doesn't make sense post it and I can decipher it maybe.

Creosote is the most common preservative and will cause a red skin rash similar to sunburn on some people along with lung irritation.

I have sawed a lot of poles but my mill throws the sawdust away from me.  I also want the wind at my back, full skin covering, and a dust mask.  Never worried to much about it but I spent a lot of years climbing those suckers, drilling them, and cutting them off with a chainsaw when they had served their purpose.

[Minnesota_boy]

The poles I sawed were creosote on the bottom and Osmose CCA above that.  CCA is Chromium Copper Arsenate.  The Materials Safety Data Sheet says that the sawdust and slabs are to be buried, not burned.

I think I got my lifetime supply of arsenic on that job.  I'll never take another like it.   :(

[Larry]

Forgot to mention their will be a lot of tramp metal in the normal pole.  I only saw the big ones off of transmission lines out in the country.  Chainsaw 4" off the butt as their will be a date nail their and usually a couple of big staples.

[Frickman]

The tramp metal and preservatives are the two main reasons I will never saw another phone pole on my current mill again. A third minor reason is that the circle saw will tend to tear or cut out long stringy pieces of fiber which promptly clog up the sawdust blower pipe. They also wrap themselves around every axle and shaft they can find. If I ever get a bandmill maybe I'll change my tune. For now I'll let all you other guys have all the fun.

[EZ]

Thanks for the input guys. I kinda figure that there would be metal in the poles so I ask my wife if she would go buy me a new metal detector today, hope she gets a good one.
EZ