Pressure treated?

[DixieReb31]

I saw a video of a guy that said he was going to show how to pressure treat your own lumber.  It got my attention so I watched.  He had several 6 x 6 posts that were going to be placed in the ground about 36".  What he did was torch the end of the post and up each side about 3.5'.  He torched them pretty good too. Said this procedure changes the molecular structure of the wood and hardens the fibers.  He then used a 1:1 ratio of diesel and burnt oil and used a paint brush to "paint" this mixture on each side and bottom where he burned the posts This is suppose to last 30 plus years if done correctly.  Has anyone here ever used this method? If so, was it successful?

[D6c]

I've seen several videos of people flame treating siding to make it more weather resident.  A charred surface is probably like charred wood from a burn pile.... lasts a long time.
Back when the midwest was being surveyed out for the first time, surveyors would often times bury charcoal at the location of a section corner.  That way if the marker was lost it could still be located with certainty if you found the charcoal, which would stay in the ground for many decades.

[Truefire]

I think he's on to it.  Essentially exactly what our forefathers did.  They used rot resistant species a lot such as Osage Orange for posts and such...many of which are still in the ground today but when they didn't have those species at their disposal, a version of this is exactly what they did.  The old timers used this method in building their homes actually.  On the same token but different angle, isn't this about what the old creosote power poles are.  They're not charred but the coating makes those fibers impermeable.  You know, come to think of it as I'm typing just now, the native americans used the char methods for waterproofing of hand hewn timber canoes 

[Don P]

Take a look at this from the forest products labs
Charring does not preserve wood. (fs.fed.us)

[SawyerTed]

The Japanese Shou Sugi Ban method of preserving wood does use charring but also includes an oil treatment as well.  Charring alone does not preserve wood but rather opens it for additional weakness and decay.  The oil treatment makes the difference.

[Ianab]

It's also traditionally used on Sugi wood, which is Japanese Cedar. It's a naturally durable wood already.  The charring and oil improve on that even more. but it wont just magically make any wood super durable. 

Sugi is most closely related to American bald cypress, hence the similar durable nature of the wood. 

[Joe Hillmann]

You can find all sorts of videos and posts on forums of people using charring and/or used oil to treat wood to slow or prevent rotting.  None of them ever come back 10 years later to show of their method worked or not.

[snobdds]

On the ranch we dump oil into a 55 gallon drum.  We soak fence post in it for a few days.  

Those fence post seem to last forever...

[UncleMoustache]

Was that the video from the Flowering Elbow guy?  He has some interesting stuff.
I don't have any knowledge about it all, but it looks interesting.

https://www.youtube.com/c/FloweringElbow/featured

[Joe Hillmann]

On the ranch we dump oil into a 55 gallon drum.  We soak fence post in it for a few days.  

Those fence post seem to last forever...

What type of wood are the posts?
For years I thought I should treat some wood with oil then bury it along with an untreated piece in the back yard.  Then I could dig it up every year to see how it holds up.  Had I done it when I first thought of doing it I would have 8 years of results.

[kantuckid]

A wood post in WY is a far cry from one back east, or especially one down south. very common to see wood cabin remnants out west from many years ago that would be long gone in warmer climes, etc.. Burn pile wood lasting a longtime is also not down in the ground same as a fence post where the termites live. 

[moodnacreek]

It has been said a long time ago that charring and motor oil dipping don't really work.  So we never gave it much thought around here because even when the e. red cedar was gone we had locust. Now, on my place at least, only the expensive treated is reliable thanks to the termite invasion.  So if there was something that could be put in or on locust post bottoms that would be great. At this time it would be worth boring and plugging like the power line people do but they can use the restricted creosote.  Perhaps used motor oil would be enough to stop the termites from going all the way.

[mike_belben]

There is so much heavy metals and carbon in filthy old detroit motor oil i suspect itd kill anything.   You can case harden steel by quenching in it after a carburizing flame. 

[kantuckid]

If a large post is soaked in crankcase oil does the EPA come after you? ;D Seriously, if it does work, then some small amount of soils been poisoned. Old guys poured used oil in a post hole sometimes. One hardcore, depression era KS farmer neighbor of mine put his used oil in various containers, let it sit a couple of years and settle out them used it again. I'm talking about low compression antique engines, not newer stuff. If ya ever drove down I-70 west of Topeka, you saw his farm. K-state grad too!  

[DixieReb31]

Was that the video from the Flowering Elbow guy?  He has some interesting stuff.
I don't have any knowledge about it all, but it looks interesting.

No.  That wasn't the video.  Can't remember who it was.

[snobdds]

If a large post is soaked in crankcase oil does the EPA come after you? ;D Seriously, if it does work, then some small amount of soils been poisoned. Old guys poured used oil in a post hole sometimes. One hardcore, depression era KS farmer neighbor of mine put his used oil in various containers, let it sit a couple of years and settle out them used it again. I'm talking about low compression antique engines, not newer stuff. If ya ever drove down I-70 west of Topeka, you saw his farm. K-state grad too!  

The post are allowed to dry before being put into the ground.  
Posts here don't rot because of water.  They dry rot as the wind and high uv take their toll.
Oil is the only way to keep them alive.