How well are your posts treated?

[oregonfarmfencer]

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[West Fork Fence]

What kind of wood is that?  4" diameter, I'm assuming?   Nice set of pictures you uploaded, by the way. 

[oregonfarmfencer]

3 hours ago, West Fork Fence said:

What kind of wood is that?  4" diameter, I'm assuming?   Nice set of pictures you uploaded, by the way. 

Thanks. 4" diameter CCA lodgepole pine. 

[West Fork Fence]

I added some pictures for you. At first glance, I would have thought that to be a pretty bad post. All wood is not created equal, and it appears that you have a well treated post, assuming the retention rate is up to snuff, and there really is that much heartwood in there. If that were southern yellow pine, it’d be a five year post at best. 

The pic with the last paragraph outlined in red should be of particular interest. You are entitled to test results. 

[oregonfarmfencer]

Thanks that's interesting. They are supposed to be 25 year posts. CCA lodgepole pine, ACQ Doug fir, and Penta Doug Fir are the only posts readily available here. All 3 that are sold locally here in our experience are poorly treated. Virtually zero penetration of the treat! The pines would last 5 years give or take a few. Not good for business to say the least. 

We import these from Canada, they are not AWPA certified, but do meet Canadian ministry of agriculture and BC highway construction standards. There are several that were installed around here in the mid to late 90s as part of VSP trellis systems, still standing strong. In recent years trellis installation has gravitated towards all steel. 

We've experimented a lot with posts. We had one customer specifically request ACQ Doug Fir, within two years the fence had experienced approximately 50% post failure. 

And of course all our steel posts are still standing.

 

[West Fork Fence]

43 minutes ago, oregonfarmfencer said:

Thanks that's interesting. They are supposed to be 25 year posts. CCA lodgepole pine, ACQ Doug fir, and Penta Doug Fir are the only posts readily available here. All 3 that are sold locally here in our experience are poorly treated. Virtually zero penetration of the treat! The pines would last 5 years give or take a few. Not good for business to say the least. 

We import these from Canada, they are not AWPA certified, but do meet Canadian ministry of agriculture and BC highway construction standards. There are several that were installed around here in the mid to late 90s as part of VSP trellis systems, still standing strong. In recent years trellis installation has gravitated towards all steel. 

We've experimented a lot with posts. We had one customer specifically request ACQ Doug Fir, within two years the fence had experienced approximately 50% post failure. 

And of course all our steel posts are still standing.

 

SS40 Class III.  Problems are over, and easier to install. 

[oregonfarmfencer]

8 hours ago, West Fork Fence said:

SS40 Class III.  Problems are over, and easier to install. 

How's the cost comparison? 

[West Fork Fence]

1 hour ago, oregonfarmfencer said:

How's the cost comparison? 

It depends.  Cheaper than creosote for us, but that’s just the front end. 100 years divided by 25 years equals a whole lot cheaper than anything you can buy. Nailing down efficient availability was the toughest part for us, but we figured it out.  I’ll ask my guys about the left coast, and where you should look.  Just loaded another pic for you. Took over a year to square that deal. You can’t judge book by the cover. Test results are a must these days. 

[oregonfarmfencer]

I know this past spring we paid $22 for 2 7/8" x 10' raw oil pipe. Hard to justify when we can get a 4-5" x 8' wood post for under $7. Don't think people, or their pocketbooks, would go for it around here. But using galvanized pipe would definitely set a guy above and beyond the competition. Interesting to see the different solutions people have found in different parts of the country. 

[West Fork Fence]

51 minutes ago, oregonfarmfencer said:

I know this past spring we paid $22 for 2 7/8" x 10' raw oil pipe. Hard to justify when we can get a 4-5" x 8' wood post for under $7. Don't think people, or their pocketbooks, would go for it around here. But using galvanized pipe would definitely set a guy above and beyond the competition. Interesting to see the different solutions people have found in different parts of the country. 

There is more to it than that.  Shoot me a text, and I'll tell you what I know.  Eight One Two 798 forty six 0 four.  Not an appropriate conversation for the entire interwebs to find.  

 

Also, this is way cheaper than you think. 

http://protechmachinery.co.uk/html/products/P30-contractor.html

[RCCM]

I think the bottom line over here with our treatment is it doesn't work, regardless of treatment penetration.   Timber species is important but since 2004 when the arsenic was removed from the CCA treatment they may as well be spraying them in green paint for the level of protection it offers.

[TheRedwolf]

All my treated posts are rotting off and only 6 years old.  Green treated wood posts are junk.