Fence post

[rmm]

Not sure if this is the right place to post this, but I've been cutting cedar posts and have been having trouble sharpening them, and was wondering if anyone here cuts post. Just looking for some pointers. Thanks

 

[Mac88]

We have about 1000' of cedar post fence line. Posts were split on a bandmill and set with a posthole digger. They're not pointed. Any cutoffs you have left over are firewood, so you're in the right forum.

 

[woodchuck357]

Stand them on a block, hold and turn with left hand

double bit ax choked up about a third of the way up the handle in the right hand. Don't make them to sharp, leave about one to one and a half inch blunt. The chips dry fast and make great kindling.

 

[Icehouse]

First let me welcome you to AS, sure you will have a good time here. Now about your posts. Back in the day when I was a much much younger person, I made posts on weekend and in summer, from cedar borrowed from state land. Sold thousands of posts, but the where never sharpened. Posts were buried with a straight end not driven. Have seen the round ones with pointed end but were not cedar. I guess those posts can be driven but they aren't cedar, cedar would split to easy. Don't know if I have helped or made things worse. Good luck, and again enjoy AS.

 

[husqvarnaguy]

You will probably have better luck just digging a hole and really packing the dirt around them.

 

[Iska3]

The only time I put a point on any wooden post is when we would fence through a marsh or wet land where we couldn't dig a hole. Then again, we spend more time picking rocks so we couldn't pound down many posts even if we wanted too. Most of our holes were dug and flat bottom post were used.

 

[Foragefarmer]

Get the right machine and you don't need to sharpen them.

Sorry, I am a fencing contractor and really like my new skid steer mounted driver.

If you are using a mechanical driver you don't need to sharpen them and they are less likely to kick off on a rock. If you are doing it old school with a 2 man hand driver then a sharpened post is best. Take your cedar post and brace it firmly. I always used a loader bucket and sharpened my points with a chainsaw. As stated before leave a slightly blunt tip.

Eastern red cedar doesn't break any more often with a post driver than pressure treated pine. I have the occasional client that wants that old school look.

 

[rmm]

If you are using a mechanical driver you don't need to sharpen them and they are less likely to kick off on a rock. If you are doing it old school with a 2 man hand driver then a sharpened post is best. Take your cedar post and brace it firmly. I always used a loader bucket and sharpened my points with a chainsaw. As stated before leave a slightly blunt tip.

Eastern red cedar doesn't break any more often with a post driver than pressure treated pine. I have the occasional client that wants that old school look.[/QUOTE]

I am driving them by hand that's the way I've done it on every farm I worked on in high school. If you go to any of the local hardware stores that sell posts they sell a lot more sharpened ones than not. A buddy and I are cutting posts to use on his fathers farm and some to sell. he has a pto driven table saw that works good but I want to be able to sharpen them by my self too and I don't want to use the table saw when he isn't around.

 

[homemade]

I've always had good luck with packing pea stone around post after its dug out. Little to no compacting needed and keeps the post "dry" so it won't rot. It also makes leveling the post much easier.

Sent from my Nexus 7 using Tapatalk HD

 

[cantoo]

I did a pile of cedar posts for apple tree stakes. Posts were 4 to 5" dia, we sharpened them using a chainsaw and a 3' long plywood box that was 6" square at one end and tapered to 3" on the other. Box was laid on a wooden table about 3' high and fastened down, jamb the round post into the plywood box then cut the 4 sides off to make them sharp. Other guy pulls the post out and puts another one in. Safest way to do it and can be done safly with one person. The next truck load we bought already sharpened, they were rounded just like a pencil.

 

[Foragefarmer]

Duplicate

 

[Foragefarmer]

I am driving them by hand that's the way I've done it on every farm I worked on in high school. If you go to any of the local hardware stores that sell posts they sell a lot more sharpened ones than not. A buddy and I are cutting posts to use on his fathers farm and some to sell. he has a pto driven table saw that works good but I want to be able to sharpen them by my self too and I don't want to use the table saw when he isn't around.

I have been to Vermont a couple times and could see how that would be the way.

What do you get per cedar post? The last time I bought some here I paid $6 per post.

The pressure treaters around here treat very few pre sharpened posts and those generally get sent north.

I bought the skid steer mounted driver for steep tight terrain.

 

[rmm]

I did a pile of cedar posts for apple tree stakes. Posts were 4 to 5" dia, we sharpened them using a chainsaw and a 3' long plywood box that was 6" square at one end and tapered to 3" on the other. Box was laid on a wooden table about 3' high and fastened down, jamb the round post into the plywood box then cut the 4 sides off to make them sharp. Other guy pulls the post out and puts another one in. Safest way to do it and can be done safly with one person. The next truck load we bought already sharpened, they were rounded just like a pencil.

When you use the chainsaw witch way do you cut do u you cut like when you sharpen a pencil or the opposite?

 

[rmm]

Foragefarmer I believe the going rate around here is 2-3 bucks a pice for a sharp 6ft post. it sometimes depends on the size, some guys I've seen advertise lower prices for smaller diameter posts. this is something new for me my buddy and his father used to sell a pile of fence posts years ago when there farm was in operation.

 

[Foragefarmer]

Foragefarmer I believe the going rate around here is 2-3 bucks a pice for a sharp 6ft post. it sometimes depends on the size, some guys I've seen advertise lower prices for smaller diameter posts. this is something new for me my buddy and his father used to sell a pile of fence posts years ago when there farm was in operation.

Dang, if I ever need a tractor trailer load I know where to look. Kind of like locust posts from West Virginia.

See here in Va. we are building a lot of stream exclusion fence under government cost share funding. Fence has to be built to the Va 382 standard. A 6' line post would not meet the standard 7' lines min. 4" diameter and 8' brace posts min. 5" are needed. Except cedar and locust posts need to be 6" min. and all cedar posts need to have > 50% heart wood. Also since a lot of farmers have heard of the 382 standard they want you to quote any other fence as built to that standard.