white oak pole barn

[nailbender]

Hey,

I am new at this so I am not even sure if I am going about this right.  Open to suggestions.

I just moved to southeast kansas from the Mississippi gulf coast and I bought 40 acres with alot of timber.  So, all of a sudden, I have a bunch of wood questions.  At this minute, I am building a pole barn that will wind up being equipment storage, wood shop, dry firewood storage, a place for the deep freeqe,etc.  I have alot of good white oak (tall, straight) and I started wondering if it would be suitable for my thirty or so poles that I am gonna need.  I wish that somebody would give me some ideas about how to use these poles.  Is white oak suitable for this part of the country?  Do I need to strip the bark and treat it?  Any ideas about building with round tapered poles?  What about drying it?

Carpentry is my trade and just my favorite thing to do, but I have limited experience in using the timber from my own property.  I really don't need another full time job.  But if somebody can help me with some ideas, I would like to explore the options.

[SeeSaw]

Welcome to the forum,

You could use white oak for your posts but you will find it's a lot heavier than if you were building with pressure treated SYP or Fir etc.  Not that that's a problem but it is a fact.  Also, if you were to do this I don't think you would want to bore holes in the ground and sink them 3-4 feet like you would with pressure treated poles.  However, you can bore holes and use a sono tube, keep the top of the tube above the grade between 8-12 inches, fill it with concrete and set a bracket in the concrete and set your posts on top of that.  Secure the posts to the bracket with bolts and straighten them then they will not rot like they would if they were in the ground.  Some guys have been known to pour a slab and just build on top of that too.

You can also build with round poles but if you have not done this before, it makes the job more time consuming and a bit more frustrating.  But, it can be done.  I would reccomend having at least two sides sawn and squared if not all four.  Try the search button at the top and put in some key words and you might be surprised what you will find.  This has been discussed before and I know there is a lot of good info here.  Hope this helps!

SeeSaw

[Dodgy Loner]

The poles would absolutely need to be stripped, and it would be even better if you could square them up to remove the bulk of the sapwood.  The sapwood has no rot-resistance.  White oak is a moderately rot-resistant wood and may last one to several decades in the ground, depending on many variables.  You will get more life out of them if you set the poles on top of a concrete slab rather than in the ground.  You may consider trying to find some used power poles instead of your white oak.  My dad and I just purchased about 300 lineal feet of pressure-treated southern yellow pine power poles for our pole barn for only $1 a foot (plus $75 for delivery).

[witterbound]

Why don't you find a local sawyer to come to your place and cut the trees into square timbers?  I doubt it would cost that much.

[WDH]

My dad and I just purchased about 300 lineal feet of pressure-treated southern yellow pine power poles for our pole barn for only $1 a foot (plus $75 for delivery).

I smell a sawshed in the making ;D.

[Brad_bb]

White oak seems a little too premium for pole building construction.  I would save the white oak for Timberframing or the like.  Pole buildings are somewhat life limited due to the way they are built (poles in the ground) and lack of finishing.  The pole style needs the poles in the ground for lateral support.  Did you ever consider timber framing?  It would probably take more time to do, but is much nicer and could last much longer if done properly.  You would also be anchoring the posts to piers or footings for lateral support, unlike pole style.  If you are trying to save cost and determined to go pole building style, I like what others have suggested, telephone poles or treated SYP.  You could also used posts made form three 2X6's nailed or laminated together.You can even make those last longer by sleeving them in the ground with something like the http://www.postprotector.com/

White oak is my favorite of hardwoods and it takes a long time to grow. I like to use it wisely, and for the best purposes.

[SamB]

Since you're asking about stripping bark and taper, I'll assume you're thinning smaller trees. White oak will make good post. They will be easier to work with if milled square by boxing the heart. They'll last longer if attached to masonary footings above grade IMO. Welcome to The Forum.

[nailbender]

Hey fellas,

Thanks for the responses to my questions about using white oak poles for my new barn.  Being as this is the forestry forum, I kind of expected everybody to be "pro" poles.  As it turns out, though, I got some pretty even handed pros and cons-- real fair and balanced-- very practical where money and time are concerned.  I am still not sure which way I will go, but you've given me some good info to start with.

By the way, does anybody know a sawyer here in Southeast Kansas.  I'm not sure that woodbowl would pull his mill up here from Fla. for this job.

Thanks again for the warm and helpful welcome.  I'll keep you posted and I'll keep reading.

Nailbender

[Dodgy Loner]

My dad and I just purchased about 300 lineal feet of pressure-treated southern yellow pine power poles for our pole barn for only $1 a foot (plus $75 for delivery).

I smell a sawshed in the making ;D.

Your sniffer is working well :D

Nailbender, check the upper right corner of the webpage; you should see a tree that says "Find-A-Forester-Sawmill" below it.  Click there and see if anyone near your area is listed.