Pine or Cedar?

[justallan1]

The boss has a calving shed/barn with a hay loft that is built with 8x8 studs every 12' there about and they are rotting to the point that there are 6-10" height differences between corners. He wants to jack the thing up and replace the studs/posts and I'm wondering if old cedar telephone poles will be strong enough or do I want to saw some out of pine? The existing ones are pine and some of the walls are sided with 4x4s, the rest are 2x4s. This thing was built pretty near bullet proof and is going to weigh bunches.
Thanks in advance.

Allan

[razor]

Utility poles make fine posts. Just avoid the fully treated creosoted ones. "Blackjacks" we called them. Usually those are Lodgepole, Red or Southern Yellow pine. Even with heavy slabs removed the smell of creosote will last for years. They don't produce blackjacks anymore.
WRC poles are usually treated only at the butt if creosote is used or CCA Peg (green stuff) for the full length. They make fine timber for sheds and such.
Some of those old pine or DF poles are incredibly dense. Almost like oak. You wouldn't have any strength issue with those. I have used WRC poles for projects such as yours with no issues. If you are setting the poles below grade I would (and have) sawn my timber from the butt end and taken advantage of it's pre-treatment. This assumes of course that your salvaged poles were pulled out rather than cut-off and felled.
Every pole has a supplier stamp about 10' from the butt. It will tell you what species the pole is.
Good luck

[ST Ranch]

Allan -I assume the existing 8x8s are dug into the ground for support? IF so, have you considered replacing them with concrete pillars [sauna tubes] instead?

Also are you thinking of replacing the entire 8x8 pole of just the lower portion that is rotten and then use a lap slice and metal gusset to "fishplate' the joint?

I would use the cedar instead of pine-much better resisting rot. If the poles are not to big in diametrer [telephone vs big power poles], you might leave them round and only replace the lower portion of the 8x8s.  If you saw them, cedar dulls blades quickly and a face mask and glasses are mandatory.

I sawed some WR cedar power poles a few weeks back - they were not the dark 'black jacks", but rather more of a buckskin or chestnut color, and not the grey of an untreated pole - I think they were ligfhtly creosoted and therefore not pleasant to cut. - I will be using thepole as much as I can in the future for fence posts [I will saw them into 1/4s].

Tom

[justallan1]

On this barn the only beams that go higher than the first floor are the corners, other than that they are basically studs that go about 8' and are buried. We'd talked about just sistering in new ones and using all thread to hold them together, but I'm thinking even if it takes longer we need to set them in the ground like the originals. For whatever reason the "siding" wasn't staggered and all the joints are centered on each stud, so a quick band aid just won't work.
We have plenty of cedar power poles to use. I'll just square up a bunch of them.
Thanks for the help.

Allan

[ST Ranch]

It sounds like a pretty big project - I have about 3 pole barns/sheds with varying support poles starting to rot out as well - I am going to try to use above ground joints with fishplate and bolts, but have yet to figure out how to jack up the sagging sections as I replace/repair the pole - Cedar sounds like a good choice for your repairs - I will probably use it as well- good luck with the rebuild.
Tom

[justallan1]

My thoughts on lifting the barn would be to use cribbing and a 30 ton bottle jack on each side of a pole with the siding off. We'll probably gain a bit on the pole on each side where we can just shim it until we get to that one. I have a laser level, but if we get within a 1/2" I'll be happy.

Allan